Catheter not required

April 4, 2004 12:58 PM

Asteroids marathon.Twenty-seven hours of game play and it's only good for fifth place. "In the history of recorded video game world records, no other record is as unique as that on the classic Atari game 'Asteroids' according to the Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard. And the reason for that is simple. It is the oldest, unbeaten world record in our database, after more than 22 years of compiling and tracking world records on classic arcade, home console, pinball, hand-held and PC-based titles."
posted by cedar (17 comments total)

having read the thread, all i can add is: what a waste of a life
posted by quarsan at 1:28 PM on April 4, 2004

Fifth place only? Man, what a loser. Fourth or nothing for me baby.
posted by ciderwoman at 1:35 PM on April 4, 2004

So, if I need to take a break, I just let myself die while I'm using the facilities?

Also, [e-mail]? Little bit cocky, aren't we? According to the record books, you didn't even place.
posted by graventy at 1:46 PM on April 4, 2004

keep in mind the reason he got 5th was because the machine physically stopped working. had he been able to continue, i'm sure we would all be crushed under his asteroid mastery...or something
posted by bob sarabia at 2:05 PM on April 4, 2004

A subpar craftsman always blames his tools.
posted by chicobangs at 2:19 PM on April 4, 2004

Has NASA heard about this fellow yet? I'm sure he'd be a good match for them.
posted by Guy Smiley at 2:32 PM on April 4, 2004

What the #1 record is is conspicuously missing.
posted by abcde at 2:58 PM on April 4, 2004

The number one record, it says in the article, is like 80 hours straight with a high score of 40 million+. Which is kind of inspiring but also kind of sad.
posted by Spacelegoman at 3:16 PM on April 4, 2004

Soon enough, they will start with the mandatory drug testing... "he was taking caffine pills and uppers!"

Honestly, this whole thing seems a bit silly, but hey if that is what they want to do, more power to em.. Plus you gotta admit, that is a lot of entertainment for 25 cents.
posted by Pink Fuzzy Bunny at 3:24 PM on April 4, 2004

Reminds me of this guy (also a Twin Galaxies link.)
posted by Cyrano at 3:28 PM on April 4, 2004

I respect it.

I mean, d00d. He played for over a day, straight, no stopping. That's firkkin' impressive. It's endurance. It's dedication. It's a triumph of the human spirit, or something like that. Can we get that 'Seabiscuit' guy to do the film version? It'll be rad.

When I was at art school, there was a kid who, as a 'performance piece,' played Pac-Man on the Atari 2600 for two days straight, lending the second controller to whoever wanted to hop in. It was a tribute to nothingness, wasted time, caffiene, and sore eyes. I certainly loved the boy for the effort. And it provided a good nexus for the gamer geeks for a couple of days. Which was also cool.
posted by kaibutsu at 10:35 PM on April 4, 2004

Isn't art school itself a tribute to wasted time?
posted by Spacelegoman at 3:55 AM on April 5, 2004

The number one record, it says in the article, is like 80 hours straight with a high score of 40 million+. Which is kind of inspiring but also kind of sad.

Sadder still, is the eventual fate of he who held the crown:

Missing Asteroids Champion To Receive Posthumous Award
posted by glenwood at 5:34 AM on April 5, 2004

i'd like someone to tell me what kind of job it is that allows you to go do things like play video games for days at a time, nonstop, and still get paid enough to afford to buy food and not live with your parents. (does this williams guy live with his parents? article didn't say. my guess is "maybe".)

'cause, uh, i wanna apply. are they hiring?
posted by caution live frogs at 8:24 AM on April 5, 2004

There's Unemployment, Disability, Having lots of savings with little overhead, and many other ways to live free for a while and hang out at the arcade/YMCA/pizza parlor/rec center and learn how to run board after board after board after board after board (after board) of Asteroids or whatever.

Some of us were just born to live the life of a bon vivant.
posted by chicobangs at 2:40 PM on April 5, 2004

Games tester, but you really don't want to go there. As a profession, it comes with a "be carefull what you wish for" caveat.

Games designer comes close, especially if you work for the publisher, rather than an actual developer who might have the audacity to expect you to do some actual work every so often.
posted by inpHilltr8r at 3:55 PM on April 5, 2004

having read the thread, all i can add is: what a waste of a life

His or yours?

That thread was soooo tedious.

Hmmm, maybe mine...
posted by Dirjy at 9:47 PM on April 5, 2004