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Games Entertainment

World's Greatest Gamers, Unite 105

Posted by Hemos from the get-together-right-now dept.
SamMichaels writes "Zophar's Domain had news of a press release from Twin Galaxies, the people who've tracked the high scores in games since 1981 (got famous in 82). They're looking for the top gamers to be published in a special commemorative edition of Twin Galaxies' "Official Video Game & Pinball Book Of World Records", which is the industry's official record book. The search is for gamers of "every game, every genre and every platform, whether old or new"."
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World's Greatest Gamers, Unite More

World's Greatest Gamers, Unite

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  • emulation w/o representation :) (Score:3)

    by rfsayre ( 255559 ) on Friday February 09, 2001 @02:03PM (#442775) Homepage
    Does anyone know how they deal with emulators, differences in platform, etc.?

    Besides the obvious possibility of using capabilities like flash saves to get high scores, how do they determine if a player has used technology in an unfair (unjust?) way?

    If you set the world record for a game on a MAME cabinet, does it count?

    What if you set the record for a Nintendo game using the "Advantage"?

    It reminds of that scene in The Wizard where the Lucas character had a power glove...

  • Are you saying that online communities aren't a feasible way to make money? You might want to tell this to the hundreds of companies that have based their business plans around the idea. Like, say, slashdot.
  • No matter what the activity someone is going to take it to seriously and become obsessed with it. Cars, gambling, football, cooking, etc. Instead of banning something outright since my child *might* become obsessed with it I'll introduce them to as much as possible. Moderation is the key - a little bit of this, a little bit of that. In the end I'll teach them how to decide what they like, don't like, and how not to get carried away with it.
  • Wouldn't it be a good idea to have a female section, like they do in the Olympics?

    Kind of reminds me of the Home Improvement episode, when the two older boys told their brother what their parents were doing in their bedroom, making all sorts of noise. ( Somersault competition, I think it was )

    Who won?

    Your mom won. She always wins!

  • I spent many of my early years in front of beloved Tandy 1000, which was my only computer until 1994 BTW. And I seem to be in perfect health, able to carry on a conversation with someone and happily married.

    Well there you go then, the exception that proves the rule. Statistically speaking there's always somebody that turns out differently from the norm...

  • Twin Galaxies' scores I believe are either verified by the presence of a referee, or by actually videotaping the entire game!

    This applies to arcade games, and MAME scores are verified by recording your game file into a MAME input file and then sending the recording to a site such as www.snipercade.com or marp.retrogames.com

  • My wife watches that show okay? I promise it wasn't me.

    Anyways the episode is one where Grandpa's memoires are sent away to the big publishing company and what do you know : They want to make a book out of it! Just send us $XYZ thank you. Of course the scam was that to cater to his egotism/narcicism and a feeling that people really gave a crap (which they really don't) they'd get him to pay for the "first publishing" which of course would be the last.

    Who, except for the people who are in such a book, would buy such a book? I highly doubt anyone...

  • Actually, its not that hard at all. Its called Video. Set up your Video Camera and start recording. Then they can watch as the score rolls over.
  • ...clone since about 1994. I can't seem to locate one. It has become something of a hobby of mine: searching the WWW in vain for a good Pong. There are many silly variations on the theme but no Nolan Bushnell-era emulators. Why? If someone happens to know of a good one, please post it here, by all means!
  • I agree, perhaps we can "get rid" of those that don't hold the same ideals as us, eh?

    And please define #1 nation, you seem to be a little to aggressive with that #1 stuff. Does anyone have to be #1? Why can't we all just get along. I will play my games, you will censor people and we will all be happy!

    Let us go through these:

    1) Then only criminals would have guns.
    2) You would not be able to post your last comment becuase it might offend someone.
    3) Kids working graveyard shifts would not be able to help their single mother pay bills

    And that ends the lesson for today.

    =-=-=-=-=
    "Do you hear the Slashdotters sing,

  • "All your base are belong to us" You've gotta have it in there. Somewhere.

  • Repetitive redundancy (Score:3)

    by Enoch Root ( 57473 ) on Friday February 09, 2001 @02:46PM (#442786)
    [...] "Official Video Game & Pinball Book Of World Records", which is the industry's official record book.

    No kidding? Are they world records?

  • While it might be a good idea to ensure that there are some females featured in the book, there shouldn't a special section for them. What is there that prevents a female from doing as well as a male in the virtual world? If it's lack of enthusiasm, that's the whole point of ID'ing the best. The high scorer in Space Invaders didn't achieve that score because s/he (since I don't really know which) didn't want to play it, s/he got the score through sheer force of will and enthusiasm to waste a chuck of their life on a game.

    I can't say for certain since I haven't searched, but I'm fairly sure that there are females in the record book. Since the press release indicates that not everyone who holds a top score will get a feature in the book, there is a judgement call to be made for who does get in. I would hope that TwinGalaxies would ensure that at least one female would get in. For what it's worth, even though I'm not likely to have a shot at getting in, I'd be more than willing to give up a slot in the book (for high scores in Bank Heist, Frantic Freddy, Heist, Jungle Hunt, and...oh crap...I need to submit it...Venture [twingalaxies.com]) if it meant that a female could be included. Should a female be included in the feature section, certainly. Should TwinGalaxies start track seperate records for female, nope.

    -sk

  • now when it comes down to the old netware game snipes... im the best hehe LOL!
  • I absolutely couldn't stand that game. Your character was about as slow as my own couch-potatoed ass. And switching from horizontial to vertical movement (or vice-versa) while being chased was impossible.

    Thanks for spoiling my trip down memory lane. Burn all Burger Time games!

    -sk

  • In Europe it is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to hold a job.

    That is fucking bullshit. Where do you get that from?

    Plus you're doing what most ignorant North Americans do; you speak of Europe as one nation.

    Granted, with the EU that's what it might look like soon, but they all are independent nations like Norway, which I'm from. Or Sweden. Or Germany, Belgium, France, Italy etc.

    To be frank; you really sound like a 60-year-old with a grudge. Or a Nazi. Or both.
  • Well, I know on rgvc, they used to ban emulator scores, but TwinGalaxies has a Platform option for "Emulator", so it would appear that they do allow them to some extent. They do track different platform versions of a game seperately, so I don't have to beat the high score on Atari 2600 Frogger to be the top ColecoVision Frogger player. As far a controller differences, pretty much anything is fair game, although I think they might draw the line if you came in with an Atari 2600 joystick wired up to a computer that knew the right patterns for Pac-Man.

    -sk

  • Don't forget to check out Bill Kendrick's wonderfull rendition of this game called Circus Linux. You can find it at New Breed Software [newbreedsoftware.com] along with a slew of other great games.

    No, I am not spamming, I just happen to think his games are great.

  • Kibo is the Panty Cat champion of the world.

    But you knew that.

    K.
    --
  • My brother and I used to switch off on that Atari 2600 great, Megamania (by Activision)--a game played by about three fewer people than Circus. Our record is three and a half hours on one game. We taped the joystick button down so that our hands wouldn't cramp up so badly from playing.

    This should at least win an honorable mention for pathetic wastes of time. Speaking of which, does anyone remember the deal Activision used to have for their Atari 2600 games where, if you achieved a threshold score, you could take a picture of the television and send it in to get a free patch or badge or something identifying you as "Grand Master of Megamania" or somesuch? Those were so cool.
  • I am quite the avid Tetris player (and relatively good, too) so I went to check my top score. On the original NES version I once got 470,000 pts (starting on level 15 and ending on 23). That is only good enough to put me at #63! I frankly don't believe some of the scores (like the top score of 999,999; that is just wrong and impossible), but I actually have video of my top score. I'm going to find it and have them put my name up.

    On the other hand, I know I can do well enough to crack the top 20 in the Gameboy version. I guess fewer people posted their scores on it.

  • I have a new UID, but I've been around for a while (about 2 years). Never believed in logging in before. I just decided (very, very recently) to start gathering some of the Karma I've been missing. My mistake has been posting as AC and losing out on all of that.

    I wasn't poking fun at his UID - and the comment was a JOKE. Then again, I'm certain that yours was too, but I just wanted to clarify.
  • Ho about who can run a 5K the fastes, but only moving while playing a game? would that be a sport?
    :)
    oh, juggling is a sport
  • Football is much less strategic, and much more tactical. The play is reset and begun anew after every down. You have no such luxury in chess.

    Also, both sides are equal athletically in chess, and there is no room for "luck". In football you have to choose your offense and defense at the same time, guessing what the other is doing. In chess you can make the move knowing fully the opponents position at the end of your move.

  • I believe that the only scores acceptable in the book are those that have been made in a tournament. It's assumed that the people running the tournament are keeping things fair and watching out for cheaters. You are NOT allowed to simply submit your score unverified.

    A lot of the scores in the book are artifically low, that's why. Especially in the home video/computer games, I've seen much higher scores. But there's no way to prove you got the score legit, therefore they don't qualify for the book...

    During some tournaments a few years ago, I managed to make it in, though, for a few pinball machines :-) (Josh Lehan)


    Super eurobeat from Avex and Konami unite in your DANCE!

  • I'm curious as to how high the scores in Hextris have gotten. Does anyone still play this game? Myself, I've become slightly addicted to it and I'd like to see if my 452,960 at all measures up. At least that game actually stores scores on disk so I won't lose that.
  • So, you're going to pay to get access to a site just to see who score 345,000 points on Bad Dudes in 1990? And don't even start about the ad revenue earned by websites. Like, say, the other 97% of the online business world. Where's all the dot-com trillionaires now? Items like this are much better served as coffee table books, with updates provided online. Given some nice pictures of the games, and game cabinets if arcade/pinball, it could be nice to have to remind us of the good ol'days.
  • Anybody remember Duck Hunt? Heh - it was fairly simple to cheat with that light gun. Just point it at a bright light :)

    Oh wait... uh... yeah - I have the highest score ever! A million ducks!

    Hmm... guess you're not impressed. Well... I beat Super Mario Bros. Can that count?
  • The same people who buy books like the Guinness Book of World Records. Just because you're not in the book doesn't mean you wouldn't find it interesting.
  • If they wanted to at least give the illusion of being complete, they would at least include two of the greatest games ever:
    • Pong
    • Hunt the Wumpus

    BTW, I can beat anyone in either of these...
    Must keep.. strait... face.....

  • Not only is this childish and petty

    Not to criticize you or anyhing (because I think you have a great and valid point), but...

    ... you're new around here, aren't you?
  • #1 nation as in the country that nobody dares fuck with. Like we USED to be before the Iranian hostage crisis and Vietnam.

    So ? The criminals have guns now. At least they know how to use them and won't shoot their friends by accident.

    2) Well that's a good thing right ? I don't want to offend someone, that infringes on their constitutional right to happiness.

    3) Kids should not be working. Period. In Europe it is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to hold a job. This is because they recognise the importance of a stable home and an education. How can you study when you are flipping burgers until 4am ???

  • > I, for one, would like to know who the world's greatest PONG player is.

    Well, in two words: "I Am."
    --Nolan
  • Although certainly honorable, the results of this study won't mean much because of the difficulty to compile. A good hypothetical example might be the old Sienfeld episode where George finds his old frogger game with his high score intact. Do you think George would come forward? No, only current video game junkies would come forward. While junkies, I'm sure, are a good correlate with expert skills at video games, I'm not sure they would be a good correlate with the best ever.

    -Moondog
  • I think you are missing the point.

  • I'm almost positive I hold the universal record for (unintentionally achieved) losing percentage in Starcraft. With a record of 2-53 (both wins were linkdeath from opponents).

    Do ignominious records make it into the book?

  • Zork (Score:1)

    by derf77 ( 265283 )
    I wonder what the criteria for being the world's greatest Zork player is.. memorizing every move in the game and typing them as fast as you can?
  • I wonder how they verify these sorts of things.

    Although I'm sure a lot of people stop and take a screenshot/photo when they make a big achievement, how easy would it be to forge/alter it. Photos are probably a bit "safer" than screenshots, because of the equipment that would be required to alter a photo, but I would imagine it would be fairly easy for a person to take a screen-shot of a decent score and then "enhance" it somehow. Is there any other way of verifying such things?

  • Atari 2600 Circus (Score:5)

    by Tyrannosaurus ( 203173 ) on Friday February 09, 2001 @01:53PM (#442813)
    I once scored over 4,000 on the Atari 2600 game Circus. (Anybody remember that one? You were a clown, bouncing around and popping balloons. Sweet. Eat your heart out, Quake 3 Arena!) I imagine that's some kind of record, considering only 9 people ever even played that game...

    ---
  • It's going to be hard to keep track of early games. I know many people that flipped the score in Defender and other Atari 2600 games. Games that only went so far before reseting the score to zero will be next to impossible to record. Maybe I will have to take out a patent on one-click alien shooting and say that I did it first.

    =-=-=-=-=
    "Do you hear the Slashdotters sing,

  • Juggling isn't athletic? I would hope you've actually tried juggling 3, 4, or 5 clubs or balls for a few hours before telling me that it's not athletic. Sheesh.

  • why a book? (Score:3)

    by Ben Schumin ( 312122 ) on Friday February 09, 2001 @01:53PM (#442816)
    This is exactly the kind of thing web pages are designed to do, so why are they putting this in a book? It would be much more useful as a searchable database online.

    With a huge chunk of information like that, they could create a community around people who are trying to get high scores on video games. Message boards about your favorite games where you can communicate with other people who like the same games.

    I realize part of the reason they are publishing this book is to stroke the egos of the people involved, but they could really do so much more. It's disappointing to see the opportunity to create a new online community wasted.

  • Definately mod this up....i actually did laugh out loud.

    (ok I stayed in my chair)

  • I, for one, would like to know who the world's greatest PONG player is.
  • I am quite a keen female gamer, though I don't really like the blood and guts type games, like Quake IV and all that, I do enjoy games like The Sims and Civilisation.

    The problem is that the gaming world seems to be terribly dominated by men. Wouldn't it be a good idea to have a female section, like they do in the Olympics? That way, despite females probably not being very good at it (they are outnumbered and not as enthusiastic), there will still be a place for them to go.

    I think that playing games is fun, but perhaps some people play them too much. I think playing games 24/7 is okay if you are doing it for money, but not if you are not, because it might just be dangerous. Thats why you are supposed to take a break every 2 hours for 15 minutes.

    I stiull break those rules sometimes though, tee-hee :P

    They fuck you up, your mum and dad.

  • I heard that the editors of the book will place an asterisk (*) by your name to indicate that you've moved out of your parent's basement and gotten laid.
  • not very good at video games are you?

    :)

    hummer
  • What methods are they using to know if the scores are valid? With all the emulators out there, I would think it would be easy to fake some scores.
  • Well, I don't know if you checked, but they don't have a section of scores for Hextris. I've played it a few times, but not enough to get the movement down. I can only 150,000 right now (after just a couple games playing). 450,000 sounds pretty amazing. You might be able ask them to put up a section for Hextris, though.
  • Are you currently high?

    _ _ _
    I was working on a flat tax proposal and I accidentally proved there's no god.

  • As fond as I am for the odd game or two it sort of disturbs me to see that some people take their game playing to such obsessive levels. When people started creating computer games back in the 70s I wonder if they ever realised quite how profoundly they would change society, and for the worse in many cases?

    I feel that whilst computer games can be beneficial and relaxing when they're part of a normal live, they have an addictive quality which makes people spend far too much time playing them, to the detriment of their social skills. We're seeing it now - too many people here on /. seem to know more about how to win a Quake deathmatch than how to deal with the opposite sex for instance. Spending all of your formative years in front of a computer leads to a level of social skills rivalling autism. Indeed, many of the symptoms seem eerily similar.

    Unfortunately, with recent statistics showing that computer gaming is an industry worth twice as much as Hollywood this trend seems to be accelerating. And parents nowadays seem more concerned with keeping their children quiet than fostering their social skills, which leaves them crippled when they finally have to enter the real world! How can this be right?

    Personally I think that children shouldn't be allowed to play computer games while they're young. Things like this and television do them no good - did you know obesity is on the increase in the under fives? My kids will be encouraged to play and have fun instead, and when they deserve a treat I'll get out something wholesome like Mary Poppins that we can all watch as a family.

    It's just not right to let your kids grow up knowing nothing other than Tekken Tag.

  • Online communites can make money. But all the information that they gather up will be stolen by other people once it goes on the net. An online community can make money, no doubt. But they could make more money by selling the information in the form of books. I'm sure these online communities are available right now.
  • Haha I can see it now. Female-Only servers, based of course on the honor system because of lack of a better option. Someone shows up and starts beating everyone else, and a few minutes later "are u a guy??? you dick!" followed by "i swear i'm a girl, briney spears rules!" or "h4h4 g1rlz sux0r"

  • Burger Time kicked major ass. Wasn't one of the guys that chased you a hot dog?
  • anybody can do minesweeper in 1 second by hacking the winmine.ini file. It's not encrypted, so just open it up and edit the thing in notepad.
  • Sorry - I remember getting 4,0012 points once. Just after I ran that perfect Pitfall game... yeah. yeah.

  • Personally I think that amish people shouldn't be using computers and posting to slashdot. Did you know that video games stimulate rapid development of a child's math and logic skills ? Did you also know that being dexterous and quick on the reflexes is a good thing ?

    Would you prefer to have people just watch TV instead without exerting any mental effort ? It doesn't take much brains to flip through 255 channels of boring, artificially flavored crap. How many episodes of V.I.P. can a person watch before going completely braindead and becoming yet another dead-end welfare statistic ?

    And to riposte your statement that children enter the "real world" crippled and disillusioned, well you're looking at the scene through stained glass. They're not crippled, their view of reality is merely different. They can see through the FUD and spot what's wrong with the world, even though they probably lack the power to do anything about it. Games are, for the most part, an art form. Art is a means to freeze life into concrete reality. Therefore games are indirectly teaching about life, something you must have abandoned long ago.
  • ...science has faltered in the face of overwhelming religious evidence. Praise Jeebus!
    ---
  • I wonder if anyone ever broke the 2-digit barrier playing BLAZEMONGER! and actually scored 10 points.

    My best game ever I played for almost a full minute, and only got an 8.

    DG

    Hi Dan!
  • Does anyone need to respond to this? Are you trying to be the bait?

    I spent many of my early years in front of beloved Tandy 1000, which was my only computer until 1994 BTW. And I seem to be in perfect health, able to carry on a conversation with someone and happily married. You make it sound like children who play games will be crippled socially. Now I will admit that there is alot more game playing then ever before, but this gross stereotype is wrong. There are always people in any one group that have problems. Be it a church group, gaming club, sewing group or anything else. You can't judge everyone by a few misfits.

    I know MANY people that exercise everyday, are married with kids and also happen to love getting a headshot in TFC.

    I will assume your account got hacked because anyone that says, "Things like this and television do them no good" I will assume is some 9 year old AOL kid who guessed your password and is trying to be flamebait.

    =-=-=-=-=
    "Do you hear the Slashdotters sing,

  • Has to be one of the best strategy games ever made, any one know what the record would be for that ?
  • There's a Twin Galaxies version of MAME, which
    has the pause function removed, and has its own encryption for recording games. These recordings are used on sites such as MARP (marp.retrogames.com) for tournaments and verifying hiscores on the main leaderboard.
  • Let me guess, you are an American right ? As a nation, we seem unable to see beyond our quest for immediate gratification of our senses, by violent video games such as quake and ultima online, or trash tv like springer, and WWF.

    Is it any wonder that things like Columbine happen when there are people with attidudes like yours out there ?

    The original poster made a valid point, you seem more intent on flaming him than contributing to a reasoned debate. Didn't you know that's what differentiates Slashdot from all the other lame sites out there. At least usually there is intelligent exchange of views.

    Please forgive my spelling and grammer, english is not my first language, perhaps as an outsider I have a unique insight into all that is wrong with our once great society.

    I have three suggestions that would improve things over night, and move America from being the laughing stock of the world, back to being a force to be reckoned with.

    1) Immediate outlaw of ALL guns in civilian hands. There is simply NO reason WHATSOEVER for a civilian to own a machine whose sole purpose is to kill.
    2) First amendment to be repealed. Free speech these days seems to cover porn, and hate-speech. Not what our foundling fathers had in mind I am sure.
    3) A 10pm Curfew for all people under the age of 18. This is common sense. No person of school-age has any reason to be on the streets at this time of night.

    These simple measures could set us back on track to being the #1 nation, a title which these days seems increasingly to belong to the enlightened countries of Europe.

    What do others think ?

  • Those games don't have any score or any actual ending (you can't "win"). I could think of a couple good ways to measure Ultima Online. Most PKs. I know a guy with 2000 officially. That most count for something. =)

    Maybe Ashren's Call could be judged by level, and EverCamp..erm Quest judged by who has the most uberloot and/or paid the most money for it on ebay.
  • There is also no conclusive proof that there are no invisible Telescope Gnomes who (delightful tricksters!) remove the lenses from telescopes and hold up carefully painted pictures of supernovae between the observer and the big hide with the holes poked in it.

    Don't laugh until you've done the research. Plane'arium workers consistently have large gardens, with many garden gnomes. Coincidence?

    Unlike others of their kind, they worked out Step 2 early in the game.
    ---
  • What was the last first person shoot to actually keep score? Not kills/frags, but actual points (for picking up treasures, finding secret areas, etc...as well as just geting kills?)

    Of the two most popular genres, FPS, and RTS, neither seem to base any real importance on points, just survival and time.

    I wonder if there's a reason for the slow disappearence of 'points'?

  • Re:Verification (Score:3)

    by Squirrel Killer ( 23450 ) on Friday February 09, 2001 @03:09PM (#442841)
    I [twingalaxies.com] got into the book by posting by scores to rec.games.video.classics back in 1996 when someone (can't remember who now) was keeping track. That must have gotten incorporated somehow.

    As for verification, on rgvc, there wasn't any. While I know that my scores were honest, I don't know it that held across all of the scores reported. Nowadays, there is more verification, but I'm not sure what all the codes that TwinGalaxies uses mean (ie most of my scores are listed as verified by referee [twingalaxies.com], but I sure as hell don't remember anyone else in the room when I posted that Bank Heist score.)

    I know a lot of these games lose a lot when you go back to them, but this might be enough encouragement for me to go back to some of them, just to post higher scores. I remember in rgvc that Lafe Travis kept inspiring me to greater playing heights. This is inspiration on crack - "You mean I might get put in a book for this?!?"

    -sk

  • Why?
    1. It already is [twingalaxies.com] online.
    2. It's cool to see your name in print.
    3. Beer has the Guiness Book of Records, why not gaming?
    4. A nice money-maker for an arcade in Iowa (and despite living nearby, I still have yet to make a trip to the mecca of gaming.)
    5. Why not?

    -sk

  • ...most first posts on /. ?
  • Does any one else find it slightly offensive that the "Best gamers" list is solely comprised of console gamers? Furthermore that largely the console or standup games in question are fairly old? How about Galaga or Space Invaders? It seems a little silly to forget all the people that play quake or UT, or doom, or god forbid even the multitudes that play Roller Coaster Tycoon or Sim City or Moo2

  • Chess is a serious game: Donkey Kong is not. Why? Because chess fully engages your intellect, while Donkey Kong and (most) video games merely engage your physiological reflexes.

    Applying egalitarian principles to games (of all things) is a very bad idea. Some games are actually more inherently worthwhile than others. This is why brilliant people have written voluemes on chess, while the only thing that gets written about most video games is penned by bepimpled unwashed mid-adolescent boys.You forget that before we can land that ship on Mars or navigate the asteroid belt or guide a nanoprobe through the human bloodstream somebody is going to have to invent the requisite technology. And I'll bet you that your average 17-year-old chess player will go on to invent more significant tech than your average 17-year-old Donkey Kong player.

    (So we're clear on this one, I'm writing this comment from the perspective of a 17-year-old chess player. Just thought you'd like to know.)

  • I claim The Legend of Zelda, Street Fighter II, and Contra (up,up,down,down,left,right,left,right,b,a,start!)

    --Dave
  • 89 seconds, set in 1995
  • Finishing Tetrisphere in the "Rescue" game.. too bad the "hide and seek" mode gets rediculously hard.

    Finishing Adventures of Lolo 1 and 2 (3 is freakin' hard)

    Finished Solstice.

    Finished The Guardian Legend in one game. I think I died once though.

    One game that is INSANELY HARD is the NES game Metal Storm after you enter a certain password. I think you have to finish the whole game in one life to get it or something... which isn't too hard.
  • I challenge the world to beat me in the card game "War". I used to always win (well... at least 50% of the time!) ...

    ... maybe it was because I was the only one who cared enough to pay attention. So what if nobody noticed that I took their ace with my 2?

    1... 2... 3... FLIP! I win again!
  • touch my score in Burger Time. I was kick a** at that game. I could get that puppy to roll over twice, not an easy feat but never underestimate the will of a hungry boy. I used to wonder where one could get a magical burger oven like the one in the game.

  • I believe that would lead to a very disapointing
    look on reality.

    I've met atlhetes that program, and barkeeps
    that played amazing chess. Chess, like all forms
    of entertainment, is simply that. It doesn't
    reflect skill, it reflects experince.

    Yes there is an a logic to chess, I will not deny that.

    But is there any less logic to Football? I think
    not. In fact, I bet they are about equal.

    The point is this,
    one) people do these things because they are
    entertaining in some way. If its watching football, or
    coaching chess. They are entertaining.

    Its a simple fact that bordeom kills,
    we all need amusement, we all desire entertainment.

    So before you pass judgement on a person obsessed
    with Donkey Kong, realize, somewhere, somebody
    thinks your a fool for your obession with chess.
  • money.
  • Excellent troll. Claiming that there is as much logic in football as in chess. Brilliant.

    -- Brian
  • I rember that game! It showed up in many diffrent incarnations through the atari/commodore years. I played it when it sported the name 'Clown Balloon' but patence limited me to like 12 points.
  • Funny that people chose football and chess for comparison. Both are based on the strategy of war. It's interesting that two so wildly different activities/games/sports are both based on the same thing.
    ---
  • This was mentioned in other stories about gaming records. They are simply filmed by a camera. Much harder to cheat then.
  • I wonder if someone's going to get in touch with Alex Rogan for beating 'The Last Starfighter'. Man! That was a keeler 80's Sci-Fi B movie!!

    --Chemguru

  • I've whiled many a day away with drool on my chin trying to take out a shambler with a shotgun, but could these people perhaps be taking their fun a bit too seriously? As a game addict I still feel a bit embarassed when I see phrases like "stellar accomplishments", "inner genius", and yes... "athletes" used to describe the process of jumping over the barrels being hurled at me by a video gorilla named "Donkey Kong". Video games are no more an athletic sport than juggling or burping the alphabet. Sure it takes practise and some skill, but that doesn't make it a sport.


    ---
  • You might think I'm lying, but honest - I was THAT good!

    I'm CERTAIN that I've been "ASSHOLE" more than anyone here! So there! Count me in!

  • Does Meatspace count as a gaming platform??

    I mean, Hell, I was never any good at Joust and my railgun sucks in Quake 3, but I'll take on any of you in a game of Charades [umd.edu]!

    -the wunderhorn

  • I can't claim to be the best (or anything close to it), but back around 1990 I got one of those arcade-style flattop Pong machines for $50. It died after a year or so, and I can't remember the high-scores, but I had friends who would play for well over an hour per game. Pretty ridiculous what people will do with their time when they're bored!
  • To be honest, I'm quite disapointed to see all this interest in keeping records and high scores for video games. I've always thought of gaming as a way to have fun and relax after a hard day. It's truly sad to see that our society has become focused on competition that casual pastimes like video gaming are subject to such close scrutiny and rivalry.

    I look back on my youth and some of my fondest memories involved staying up late having a sleepover at a friends house and playing video games until the sun came up. We did not care who scored the most points or who "fragged" the other players the most, but enjoyed the companionship and the act of playing the game itself. It's a shame that today's geeks feel the need to prove themselves by showing that they are better than everyone else. Not only is this childish and petty, but it ensures that at least one player does not have a good time playing.

    Sorry if this sounds too wistful, but I just don't understand the desire for such trivial competitions.

  • Is Chess a serious game? What about football? Yet society has no objections to glorify world class chess/football players, and all they really are are another form of entertainment. OK, so football builds physical stamina and strenght but the X-generation need a different set of skills if they're to land on mars and navigate the asteroid belt. Or guide a nanoprobe through your bloodstream.
  • I had that one in cartridge version for my commadore 64.

    Ah the commadore. Simpler days...

  • Well, I've been playing Hextris off and on now since you mentioned it on Saturday. I just got 459,415 points. Seeing as not many people play the game (since it is mainly a Linux game) you would rank pretty high on the list (if there was one). Of course, my personal best in Tetris is only good enough for 63rd place; so if all the good Tetris players played Hextris, we would rank about 70th or so??
  • Well...no offense, but according to the book [twingalaxies.com], 4000 wouldn't even get you listed. Unless, of course, you had it on the expert mode, for which nobody's listed a score yet [twingalaxies.com].

    -sk

  • You know what I miss... The negative worlds on Super Mario Bro's for the NES.. Where it was absolutly pointless except to say you did it.. Remember how you had to kinda jump backwards and have mario catch the back of his neck on the brick.. Then you went to the negative world...where you could not leave!!! Rock On! I wonder if ricky martin is this good? [aquara.com]
  • You have no constitutional right to happiness.

    The persuit of happiness, yes. But not happiness.

    --
  • > ending (you can't "win").

    You do realize "Sims" don't have a "winning condition" programmed into the game - that doesn't make them "less" of a game.

    Q. How do you "win" at Simcity?

    A. Whenever you accomplish whatever goals *you* set for yourself within the confines of the rules of the game.

    And on that note, I would argue, that, yes, you *can* win in MMPRPGs (It's Massive MultiPlayers Role Playing Games). You have a character template (skills, each character will have) and you max your base stats (str, dex, int, etc) and those skills. That character is "finished."

    You take your character to level 75 in EQ. They are "maxed"

    Or you take your Diablo 2 char to Level 100. That character is "finished."

    That is "winning."

    > I could think of a couple good ways to measure Ultima Online

    You missed:

    o) Most money
    o) Most rares
    o) Most kills
    o) Least deaths

    etc.

    Cheers
  • This reminds me of a good quote:

    "What would a good law-abiding citizen be doing walking the streets at midnight?"

    "Whatever the hell they want to be doing!"

    And controversial speech is exactly what the founding fathers had in mind.
    After all, they were controversial, they were having a revolution!

    --

  • Yar's Revenge had to have been my favorite 2600 cart. I remember scoring somewhere in the 2,000,000 area. That's gotta be some sort of record. Eh?
  • Seriously though, I think that at the highest level, football has as much strategy as a good game chess.

    I mean, on defense there is the: 4-3, 3-4, 4-3 and 3-4 blitzes and their millions of variations, the cover 2, zone, the zone blitz, the 46 popularized by the Chicago bears, ad nauseum.

    And on offense: the flying wedge(illegal now), the shotgun, the I formation, the split wing, the single wing, the pro formation, the T formation, ad naseum.

    A good coach has thousands of plays in his or her playbook and so does the opposition. A lot to take account of, therefore necessary for a good strategy to overcome one's weaknesses. Unlike chess where their is only one skirmish, football(and soccer for that matter) can have 100 or more skirmishes. Though, much like chess, football can be played by those ignorant of strategy. But, like chess, they often lose.

    Don't forget that like football, chess is nothing more than a game.

  • This is probably off topic, but hey, at least
    I admited it.

    I'm glad to see somebody has reconized my point,
    for it wasn't just a lame attempt at a troll.

    As somebody pointed out, chess and football
    both simulate war, and that is very true.

    Its life's nature to conquer, to be as sucessful
    as possible. Which includes, murder, killing,
    theft, and any number of other not so plesant
    possibilties.

    So yes, they are both forms of playing war,
    but if you look around you, that competiviness
    is in everything, and my belief (Not, not a flame
    or a fact, but a BELIEF). Is simple, we all
    run around trying to amuse ourselves, and trying
    to better ourselves. The only reason I even
    commented in the first place, is because of
    a judgement. Don't judge people, for I promise
    you, somebody is judging you. Makes it a very
    pointless circle.
  • One thing I noticed bout the site.. they've got top scores for PC and Mac games - but what-tha' no AMIGA high scores? Damned if my Record of 812-8 vs. Super Nashwan in Speedball 2 is going to be ignored because the don't have Amiga records!

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