Forgotten Worlds - A New Kind of World Record

For the past few years, many arcade mavens, such as Billy Mitchell, Steve Wiebe, and Hank "Dr. Kong" Chien, have tried to take the top score on many arcade games.  Donkey Kong has been at the center of this competition, but it's only the tip of the iceberg.  Many other games beckon arcade aficionados to break new ground in world records.  One man is forging his own quest for greatness, but he's not going for a high score.  He's in it for the long haul.

Joel West has been playing arcade games and breaking records since the early '80s.  He was one of the gamers featured in LIFE magazine back in 1982 in Ottumwa, Iowa at Twin Galaxies Arcade and is also in the arcade documentary Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade.  He is the first gamer recognized by Twin Galaxies for holding the high score record to two arcade games at the same time.  He's been in competition for the top score for the arcade game Berzerk, a record he previously held.  This game has been known for having gameplay so frenetic, that two teenagers died from heart attacks after playing this game in the early '80s (no foolin', they died immediately after getting a high score).    While he doesn't hold the high score for Berzerk anymore, Mr. West is going for a different record: the longest single gameplay on one credit.  That means he must keep a single game going, from pressing start to "game over," for days without stopping.  For his shot at the record, he's aiming for 72 hours of straight gameplay.

His game of choice for beating the record is Frenzy, which is the sequel to Berzerk and considered to be tougher than its predecessor.  For those who don't know, in Berzerk and Frenzy, you play this guy with a laser gun.  You have to run through these rooms, shooting human hating robots and running from Evil Otto, this giant, robotic smiley face who comes back, even faster, every time you kill him.  There are certain elements of each game that differentiate between the two, but the gameplay is very similar.

Mr. West's first attempt at breaking this record happened at Big Bang 2010, a video game convention in Ottumwa, Iowa (if you want to know more about the arcade history of Ottumwa or the Big Bang events, check out an old article I wrote here).  He really wanted to break the record there to give the town a bit more press, but the Frenzy arcade machine there froze up only four hours into his attempt.  Undaunted, he recently tried again at New Jersey's Richie Knucklez Arcade during The Kong Off (which I talked about on the last Forgotten Worlds).  Unfortunately, he spent so much time traveling and setting up for the attempt that he didn't get a lot of sleep and tired out before breaking the record.

 Here, we see Billy Mitchell getting Joel West started

on his marathon run during The Kong Off

(photo courtesy of TheKongOff.com)

 
Despite these setbacks, Mr. West remains certain that he can claim a new world record.  He plans on returning to Richie Knucklez to make his third attempt.  So far, no date has been set for the event, but I'm keeping my ear to the ground and will let you know when he goes for the record again.  Until then, I wish Mr. West the best of luck.

If you want to see what Frenzy looks like, check out this video.



And, for no other reason than to make my wife happy, here's some pictures of red pandas.  Gawk at the random cuteness!

Aww...

 ...so charming.

 They just seem so cuddly.

Look, he's winking at you.

 They're even adorable when they're eating.

Okay, that was more cuteness than I could handle.  I hope my wife appreciates this.

I'll see you next week.  And, remember, keep your scores high and the quarters flowing.