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Single quarter lasts record-breaking 85 hours on Armor Attack
Armor Attack, an arcade game from 1980, was part of two record-breaking achievements this week when John Salter of Oakland, Ohio shattered not only the previous high score, but also the previous record for longest time played on a single credit. As reported by Patrick Scott Patterson, Salter managed to hold out for 85 hours, 16 minutes before he finished his run with 2,211,990 points. Although the game itself ran without pause, Salter himself took power naps throughout his marathon, using extra lives he'd built up as a buffer so that he wouldn't lose. The previous record for longest gaming session on a single credit was 84 hours, 48 minutes, set by George Leutz on a game of Qbert. The previous high score on Armor Attack was 2,009,000, set by Tom Larkin in 1982. We assume that shortly after his victories, Salter removed his glasses, revealing that he was Superman all along, and flew off into the sunset. [Image: Cinematronics]
Watch the Spelunky run that set a new high score record
On February 21, Twitch user Bananasaurus_Rex (the gaming community really does have the best handles) set a new high-score record in developer Mossmouth's much-loved roguelike, Spelunky. The history-making run took seven and a half hours to complete, with a final tally of $3,105,850. Bananasaurus is known in the Spelunky community for being the first recorded player to beat the game's final boss using an eggplant in single-player mode, as well as being the first recorded player to have killed the game's ghost monster. You can watch the $3.1 million run above. [Image: Mossmouth]
Kickstart a gaming history book, have dinner with Molyneux (and more)
Rusel DeMaria's High Score: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games is one of the most seemingly ubiquitous volumes in the "canon" of writing about games -- you've definitely seen that cover before, right? Well, it's not as ubiquitous as we thought. It's out of print.DeMaria is working with a publisher to release a 3rd edition of the book, updated with "expanded coverage and insight into the period roughly from 2000-2011." But he needs money to fund the 4-6 months of intensive research and possible travel required to get the book up to date. And for that funding, he has turned (of course) to Kickstarter.Contributions will earn backers potential copies of the book, along with various optional bonuses. The $250 tier includes dinner with your choice of classic gaming personalities: Shiny Entertainment (and Gaikai) founder David Perry, Oddworld's Lorne Lanning, composer Tommy Tallarico, Trip Hawkins of EA, 3DO, and Digital Chocolate, John Romero, Will Wright, Sid Meier, Peter Molyneux, and many more.
Steve Wiebe publicly attempting to best his own Donkey Kong high score
After much back and forth earlier this year, currently, Steve Wiebe is sitting comfortably atop Twin Galaxies' worldwide leaderboard in Donkey Kong. But that's not enough for Chicago's Logan Hardware. The soon to be re-opened hardware store has hired Wiebe to not just teach a Donkey Kong class, but also to spend nearly five hours attempting to best his own high score on January 15. The public is free to attend the attempt, whereas the class costs $12 -- if you're looking to snap a pic with Wiebe or to have him sign your ultra limited edition laserdisc copy of King of Kong, ponying up the $12 is probably your best option. If that weren't enough, Logan's throwing in a free t-shirt and the chance to ask Wiebe what he really thinks of Billy Mitchell's hot sauce brand. And, surely, the answer to that last question is priceless.
Star player earns success in Sin & Punishment contest
Nintendo and "official" game score authority Twin Galaxies have named a winner in their Sin & Punishment: Star Successor contest. "Andrew F." from Milwaukee, Wis. claimed the title with his 68,126,154-point score in Level 3 of Treasure's Wii rail shooter -- on hard mode, of course. And using the Wiimote and Nunchuk, of course. For his feat, Mr. F. wil be awarded two black Wiimotes, two black Classic Controller Pros, two Zappers and a plaque. His achievement will also be submitted for consideration in the Guinness World Records 2011 Edition. In addition, he received a commemorative Joystiq post for his achievement. This has been Joystiq Post About Andrew F.'s High Sin and Punishment 2 Score 2010, In Honor of Andrew F. Seriously, though, that's an awesome score.
Steve Wiebe is the King of Kong again
Billy Mitchell must be pissed. The certified "Video Game Player of the [20th] Century" has lost the Donkey Kong world record -- again -- to longtime rival Steve Wiebe. Wiebe nudged Billy's July 31 record of 1,062,800 points with a masterful 1,064,500-point effort, achieved on August 20 and confirmed today by score authority Twin Galaxies. The two rivals memorably starred in the 2007 documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. Hank Chien, who ever so briefly enjoyed the limelight, falls to third on the all-time leaderboard. [Pictured: Billy Mitchell; photo credit: Joshuah Bearman]
Man 'beats' Bejeweled 2 after playing for 3 years
digg_url = 'http://www.joystiq.com/2010/04/30/man-beats-bejeweled-2-after-playing-for-3-years/'; We admire all forms of dedication -- even the absolutely insane forms. A California steel contractor named Mike Leyde recently displayed one such type of persistence by playing a single round of his casual game of choice, Bejeweled 2, for 2,205 hours and 51 minutes over the course of three years. In that time, he collected 4,872,229 gems, earning the game's highest calculable score, 2,147,483,647, at which point the score display got really perplexed and went blank. (Check out a video of Mike's achievement after the jump.) According to PopCap, Leyde is the first person to ever "beat" Bejeweled 2. That's one way of looking at it, we suppose. Another way of looking at it is to say that everyone else who's ever played Bejeweled 2 is a quitter. Yeah, that's right. Why don't you follow through with something for once in your life? Sheesh.
Meet the new King of Kong
If your internet hasn't been abuzz with rumors about Hank Chien, the new King of Kong, then maybe you've been frequenting the wrong chat rooms. "He literally appeared out of nowhere," people are saying. "He was locked in a basement with the game and a 6-month supply of canned foods," some have claimed. Since setting the Donkey Kong high score, Chien has been "pelvis-deep in cocaine and highly-desirable sexual partners," one reporter wrote. If you want the real scoop, look no further than this Details interview with Chien, whose record-breaking score of 1,061,700 on a Donkey Kong arcade machine has propelled him into internet notoriety alongside celebrated characters like Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell. The young champion, however, knows how quickly fame can come and go. "My score is very beatable."
Steve Wiebe sets Donkey Kong Jr. world record
Steve Wiebe, the lovable protagonist from the documentary The King of Kong, recently became too impatient to wait until E3 to crush a classic gaming high score. Twin Galaxies, the unofficial scorekeepers of global gaming records recently announced that Wiebe had set a new high score of 1,139,800 for Donkey Kong Jr., surpassing the previous record of 1,033,000 set by Ike Hall. Meanwhile, our high score on Donkey Kong Jr. Math goes untouched, as it has remained for nearly two decades. Bring it on, teacher man.
PSA: Richter can't swim in Castlevania
High-Score has posted yet another video of Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles in action. This time, we see Richter crossing a bridge ... but watch out! That kid can't swim ... Certainly, a shaky boat ride will mean his doom.
The fourth stage of Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles
As this player from High-Score continues to go deeper into the Dracula X Chronicles, he reveals some of the castle's more challenging dangers. See all sorts of traps attempt to (successfully) kill the player not once ... but twice. See also:The third stage of CastlevaniaThe second stage of CastlevaniaThe first stage of Castlevania
The third stage of Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles
The latest video from High Score's week-long Castlevania series highlights some of the incredible animation featured in the game. Take particular note to the way the spear-wielding skeleton moves. It's quite articulate. However, we're concerned about Belmont: does he have arthritis? He seems really stiff, don't you think?See also:The second stage of CastlevaniaThe first stage of Castlevania
The first stage of Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles
It might have sexy, modern 3D graphics, but its gameplay is decidedly old-school. High Score's week-long Castlevania feature goes through the first five levels in the game. Bust out the old whip, and get ready to destroy everything in your sight.
Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles opening cinematic
The Dracula X Chronicles is bringing classic Castlevania gameplay to PSP ... in style. In celebration of their upcoming "Castlevania Week," High-Score has uploaded the opening cinematic to the upcoming PSP exclusive. Certainly looks atmospheric, no? High-Score is promising even more great stuff next week, including interviews, and a look at the remastered Symphony of the Night that's included on the UMD. When you're done watching the intro, don't forget to check out some of the screenshots from our updated gallery. %Gallery-3224% [Via Gamespot]
Wii Warm Up: Enter initials
Dude, so we were playing some Alien Crush, and we killed the bonus stage with the dragons over and over again. We totally scored like five billion points and it was so AWESOME that we had to call everyone we knew and tell them about it. Okay, we're embellishing a bit. When we say we "totally scored like five billion points," we mean that we "continue to be awful at Alien Crush despite playing and loving it for eighteen years." But without our humble admission, you'd have no reason to doubt us! And that leads into our discussion.Simply put, we want leaderboards. We aren't going to get online play in VC games any time soon (or ever,) so we'll ask for the next best thing. We want to be able to see the high scores for games that, you know, have scores. We don't need prizes or anything. We'd be motivated enough by the idea that we could put our three-letter tag (mine: JC!) at the top of a nationwide or worldwide list if we were any good, which we aren't.Are high score leaderboards worth doing? Do you see value in friendly competition like this? Or did you always flip right past the high score page in old gaming magazines? Perhaps most importantly, what are your high score initials?
Competitive Brain Age: Joystiq pwns
At the Nintendo booth, people have been constantly queueing for Brain Age. Calculating by yourself is fun, but it doesn't come close to the competitive thrill of remembering your times tables faster than the next guy.We're proud to say we won our tournament, coming in with the respectable (for day three of E3) time of 28 seconds. Interestingly, the runner-up (with a very close time) was also a girl, with the two guys taking over twice as long to finish -- draw what conclusions you will from that.
