Who says arcade cabinet games are dead? Not John Salter, that's for sure.
Salter, of Oakland, Ohio, broke the Guinness World Record for longest time playing an arcade game on a single quarter on Saturday, playing Armor Attack for a brain-melting 85 hours and 16 minutes straight. Power Leveled reported on the feat:
"Beating out a former record by nearly half an hour, Mr. Salter took out former record holder George Leuts' title once held by playing Q*Bert about one year ago," Power Leveled reports. "Having played Armor Attack as his title of choice, John Salter also broke through the score ceiling, demolishing a World Record for high score as well. Raking up 2,211,990 points, Mr. Salter grabbed up 10% more points than the previous record for highest score of 2,009,000 - a record held strong since September 25 of 1982."
Jeez, that's insane. Like, how did he eat? Or use the bathroom? How did his eyes not start to bleed and his thumbs not get serious charlie horses? Well, the article sort of answers that:
"John began playing Armor Attack last Wednesday and played through Saturday, working for over three days to grab the victory. In order to compensate for his loss of sleep, John strategically worked up the number of extra lives in his reserve to allow for bathroom breaks and short naps to keep his mind fresh for the world time record on a single quarter. This contrasts to the score record that Q*Bert holder George Leuts was looking for - he doesn't have the same luxuries while striving for the high score in Q*Bert, and both contestants actually only happened to break opposing records over their two, three day gaming runs."
OK, well that puts my mind a little more at ease about this guy's well-being. Good for him, I guess. Not my definition of a fun three days, but to each their own, I suppose.
