R.I.P. Doris Self

November 13, 2006 9:19 AM

R.I.P. Doris Self, the world's oldest video game competitor. In 1983, she achieved a world record score of 1,112,300 points on the arcade game Q*Bert. Two years later, her record fell, but she was encouraged to continue playing by Pac-Man record holder Billy Mitchell, who delivered a Q*Bert arcade machine to her door. Doris would play Q*Bert five nights per week from 1-3:00 AM in the morning as an alternative to taking pills for sleeping. She continued playing Q*Bert competitively well into 2006.
posted by Otis (20 comments total)

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Nice post, Otis.
posted by Dr-Baa at 9:24 AM on November 13, 2006

Okay, I know you didn't mean this Billy Mitchell, but the very idea of him retiring after the court-martial and consoling himself with video games is amusing.
posted by pax digita at 9:26 AM on November 13, 2006

look on my works ye mighty...........
posted by sgt.serenity at 9:36 AM on November 13, 2006

@#*!
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:39 AM on November 13, 2006 [1 favorite]

This makes me sad for both her death and that it reminds me of all the games I obsessed over as a kid, Q*bert, Dig Dug, Zaxxon, Sinistar, Robotron, ugh. My nerves get jittery just thinking about them.

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posted by effwerd at 10:03 AM on November 13, 2006

Q*bert was a hero to most, but he never meant shit to me.
posted by Mayor Curley at 10:07 AM on November 13, 2006 [1 favorite]

Awesome. Wouldn't it be great if we could all say this in the end?:

". . . this is my life and I feel like I’ve packed four lifetimes into my years and don’t plan to stop now."
posted by veggieboy at 10:09 AM on November 13, 2006

@!#?@!
posted by papercake at 10:09 AM on November 13, 2006

At her request, she will be cremated and her ashes will be taken out on a casino boat and dropped into the ocean.

I like this lady. Great story, sorry to see her go.
posted by mediareport at 10:12 AM on November 13, 2006

My first reaction to this was pure and beautiful. Now, sadly, I have moved on to Q*bert cartoon flashbacks. [youtube; Q*bert part is about 35 seconds in]
posted by veggieboy at 10:16 AM on November 13, 2006 [1 favorite]

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f27/NationalKato/q-bert.jpg
posted by NationalKato at 10:32 AM on November 13, 2006 [4 favorites]

**!!*@##

She sounds like an amazing woman. Too bad it takes obituary posts to discover people like this.
posted by vacapinta at 10:50 AM on November 13, 2006

By all accounts an amazing human being. @!#?@!, indeed.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 10:52 AM on November 13, 2006

The Billy Mitchell link is adorable! Put such a smile on my face.

Get this man some Visine, stat!
posted by elr at 1:52 PM on November 13, 2006

I know you didn't mean this Billy Mitchell, but the very idea of him retiring after the court-martial and consoling himself with video games is amusing.

I don't have the equipment to run it, but I've been told the graphics in Warbirds 1926 are atrocious.
posted by dhartung at 2:49 PM on November 13, 2006

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Thanks for this, Otis. The video on the last link was great.
posted by revgeorge at 4:04 PM on November 13, 2006

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(And good find Otis!)
posted by JHarris at 7:36 PM on November 13, 2006

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posted by tehloki at 7:41 PM on November 13, 2006

Damnit, I forgot the actual '.' at the top. So,

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posted by tehloki at 12:30 AM on November 14, 2006

Sounds like a cool lady. R.I.P. Doris
posted by applemeat at 5:19 AM on November 15, 2006