Asteroids marathon world record attempt -- Live right now...

[opt2not]

This guy has been playing since Saturday!

Direct Video link:
http://www.justin.tv/johnmcallister#r=N5efCKg~

Chat:
http://www.aurcade.com/events/marathon.aspx

[Hewskie]

Very cool, Shot of the room here:

geeksquad94 on Justin.tv

[DeLuSioNal29]

What's the current record that he's trying to beat?

[opt2not]

What's the current record that he's trying to beat?

41.5 Million.

Also, in that Chat link, there's 3 cameras set-up:
1 of the Room
1 of the game
1 on John's face. 

[ark_ader]

Wow that's insane!

[javeryh]

How long does that take to get?

[opt2not]

How long does that take to get?

They mentioned John's rate is roughly 750,000 an hour...so, somewhere around 55 hours.

[Epyx]

Just watching...memorable quote:

He is doing strong...and smelling stronger

[DeLuSioNal29]

How the heck does he go to the bathroom?

[Epyx]

How the heck does he go to the bathroom?

 

Lol for some reason this reminded me of the Southpark World of Warcraft episode...those who have seen this will know what I mean

Mommy...Poopy!

In all seriousness though...how *does* he go to the washroom...and im praying there aren't piss pot breaks on the webcam.

[opt2not]

How the heck does he go to the bathroom?

 

Lol for some reason this reminded me of the Southpark World of Warcraft episode...those who have seen this will know what I mean

Mommy...Poopy!

In all seriousness though...how *does* he go to the washroom...and im praying there aren't piss pot breaks on the webcam.

He takes 5-8min breaks in between. He's got enough extra lives to be able to take pee, and eating breaks.

[Hewskie]

Yeah I had it on for an hour or so in the background while i was browsing earlier, it was pretty funny to see him just get up and walk away. He had so many lives it didn't matter at all. He made a sandwich, went to the washroom then just stood there and talked to his friends for over 10 minutes. When he went back to playing, he racked up all the lives he had lost within a half hour or so. He should be getting pretty close to the record now. Good stuff

Hewskie

[opt2not]

Just finished.
The estimated Final Score is 41,338,740 (apparently it might be higher) in 58 hours.

There was a point where he got down to 2 ships left, and had about 200K left to spare. A little bit of a scare, but he got he got his composure back and passed the record.

[WhereEaglesDare]

Wondering why he didnt just go for an even 42 mil?  sit the bar higher, i guess its already high enough to where nobody will attempt it any time soon.

Watched the game for about an hour last night.....  ::yawn::  Wow, edge of your seat action....

[javeryh]

So in theory he could play forever?

[TheShanMan]

Wondering why he didnt just go for an even 42 mil?  sit the bar higher, i guess its already high enough to where nobody will attempt it any time soon.

Watched the game for about an hour last night.....  ::yawn::  Wow, edge of your seat action....

Actually it was pretty edge of your seat there toward the end when he got down to just a couple of spare ships! There's a very good reason he didn't go for an even 42... He had been awake for somewhere around 62 hours, 57.5 of which were spent playing the game. He was hallucinating and generally losing it. His game play was dropping off quickly. In short, his body just couldn't handle it anymore.

So fun to be there in person (I was there at various points including the end). He felt bad for creating drama at the end, as if he has something to apologize for. But that just added to the excitement. He was totally losing it toward the end and he knew it, but fortunately he was able to buckle down and get it done. The room was dead silent though when he was losing all those lives and came so close to having the game end prematurely. He is one of the great stories in arcade gaming, with 30 records in the last year or so. He's also a nice guy. He's played games in my game room and even helped get my air hockey table upstairs.

We were told afterward that one of the feeds had as many as 1100 viewers at one point and that the chat got up to 300. It was pretty amazing to see word spread throughout the day yesterday on various websites.

And he actually beat it by another 500k I believe... there were several times when he forgot to count a score rollover as confirmed by some of the guys there that went and verified by viewing the recordings at 10x. However, they were keeping silent about that and I'm sure even John didn't know.

Congrats John!!!

[Epyx]

I guess for this game it really is about physical endurance...going 62 hours without sleep is brutal on the body...I used to do the odd 24 hour shift at Electronic Arts and I remember that being hard on my body and that was in my 20s...I couldn't imagine doing that now...let alone 62 hours...wow.

[Cakemeister]

I wonder if you could build up a huge number of extra ships and get enough time to take a 15 minute nap every four hours or so. You might be able to get a longer game that way.

[Malenko]

I wonder if you could build up a huge number of extra ships and get enough time to take a 15 minute nap every four hours or so. You might be able to get a longer game that way.

red bull and cocaine

[opt2not]

Yeah, it was pretty funny afterward when the crowd of people dispersed there. John was describing some of the things he was seeing and feeling during the last stretch, hallucinations as well as befuddlement from the lack of rest his mind and body got. The most I've stayed up for was 32 hours, I couldn't be able to rub to brain-cells together to do anything, let alone play a game of asteroids where I'd have to be quick to respond.

I wonder if you could build up a huge number of extra ships and get enough time to take a 15 minute nap every four hours or so. You might be able to get a longer game that way.

I thought about that too. He did take breaks, but they were for 5-8 minutes, and mostly for food and bathroom.  It's gotta be hard to fall asleep in 15 mins though, especially when you're mind is stressed about something looming, like a world record accomplishment.

[angryred]

I wonder if you could build up a huge number of extra ships and get enough time to take a 15 minute nap every four hours or so. You might be able to get a longer game that way.

red bull and cocaine

In one of the articles I read on this (should've bookmarked), it said he was actually going to have to take a drug test before the high score would be officially certified. As I understand it, the Red Bull would be OK (along with coffee, etc.), but coke or amphetamine use, etc., would disqualify the score. At first I thought it odd that Twin Galaxies could require a drug test, but I guess they could have you do it on your dime if you want the score to be posted badly enough...

[TheShanMan]

Yeah, afterward they realized the test kit they had was expired so someone went to the store to get a new one.

[Havok]

Drug test? What kind of bullsh*t is that? Did they do it for the guys in the 80's? In fact, some of the 80's scores were just called in. If you're on coke I would think you wouldn't be able to play properly anyways. Give the guy his freaking plaque already!

[opt2not]

Drug test? What kind of bullsh*t is that? Did they do it for the guys in the 80's? In fact, some of the 80's scores were just called in. If you're on coke I would think you wouldn't be able to play properly anyways. Give the guy his freaking plaque already!

I think it's different now that TG is affiliated with the Guinness Book Of World Records.

[Ginsu Victim]

Drug test? What kind of bullsh*t is that? Did they do it for the guys in the 80's? In fact, some of the 80's scores were just called in. If you're on coke I would think you wouldn't be able to play properly anyways. Give the guy his freaking plaque already!

I think it's different now that TG is affiliated with the Guinness Book Of World Records.

So you can still have a pint, though, right?

[WhereEaglesDare]

You know the Asteroids Record is cursed!  

On March 27, 1989, Safran was killed after falling six stories from his apartment balcony while trying to retrieve his cat, Samson.

Should of gotten a dog.

[opt2not]

So you can still have a pint, though, right?

"A pint of the black, gov'nah!"