Posted on 04/07/2010 11:14:17 AM PDT by Arec Barrwin
Asteroids Player Smashes 27-Year-Old High Score (Update)
By Chris Kohler April 5, 2010
On Saturday, John McAllister sat down at a friend’s house near Portland, Oregon to play a game of Asteroids. By Monday, he was still playing.
At 10:18 p.m. Pacific, he scored 41,338,740 points, a new all-time high score. In doing so, he beat a record that has stood for over 27 years.
The official Asteroids high score of 41,336,440 is the longest-standing record in gaming history, having been set on November 14, 1982 by 15-year-old Scott Safran. He stayed awake for three days to accomplish this feat.
Once you master the basics, Asteroids is simply a game of endurance: Can you keep from falling asleep? And if you can, will the arcade cabinet you’re playing on stay glitch-free and powered up for three days straight?
McAllister’s marathon attempt was streamed live over Justin.tv. Even as of this writing, you can watch a close-up of the Asteroids monitor, or a full view of the room where the celebration is ongoing. The high score remains unofficial until it is recognized by the videogame referees at Twin Galaxies.
Every few hours, once he had racked up enough extra lives, McAllister got up from his barstool, paced the room, ate a sandwich, then sits back down to play. A last-minute bathroom break Monday evening almost cost McAllister the title: He got down to only two ships remaining before rallying back.
This story has been updated from the original version, written while McAllister was still attempting the high score
“It got so bad, I was so addicted to the game, that I played for three days straight. I didn’t even get up to go to the bathroom.”
“Let me get this straight, you didn’t go to the bathroom for three days?”
“I said I didn’t get up!”
I hate that game. Of all the video games I have played that one sucks the most.
The sounds of that game - the droning beat of deep notes that gradually sped up in tempo, constantly interrupted by the high-pitched “pew, pew, pew” of the lasers. Crap, it’s coming back from the far corners of my mind! Make it stop!!
If you loved arcade in the 80’s, I highly recommend the indy movie “Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade” about setting video arcade records. There is a follow up that was not quite as good called “The King of Kong” that you can watch on Netflix.
There is an entire subculture built around these games, and if you liked them, it’s fun and amazing to watch- if you don’t get it, it’s still sort of amazing. You sort of can’t believe your eyes with these people. Check out the second link below.
Also be aware there are several movies called “Chasing Ghosts” - some are horror, etc - the one I am talking about is “Beyond the Arcade” and a documentary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HrXIu5ibYk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZfITj0166w&feature=related
My sons and I laughed all the way through this movie.
Larry, you gave me a well needed laugh today when I was out on the road.
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