In our modern age of reality television, John and Kate and Octomom, everyone seems to be vying for a piece of the celebrity pie. But many have forgotten that the fastest road to stardom lies in setting a world record. Why, just last week world records were awarded for the finest wool fleece as well as the most people to be licking ice cream simultaneously. Impressive, no?
Yes, there seems to be a world record for everything and the video game industry is no different. Video games have their share of records, both impressive and ridiculous.
In late April, Guinness World Records announced that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 had the most successful launch of all time. Not just for video games, but for any entertainment, including movies. Considering that the highest one-day take at the box office (Twilight Saga: New Moon) pulled in just over $72 million, Modern Warfare 2’s launch sales of more than $400 million stunts anything the movie industry has to offer. Now if you feel a sense of both awe and sadness at this fact, fear not — it simply reflects that you are both human and still sane.
Until Modern Warfare 2, the most successful entertainment launch of all time was held by Grand Theft Auto 4 (GTA4). But GTA4 still holds its share of video game-related records including the most voice actors and most licensed songs in a soundtrack. It’s also either fitting, ironic or quite simply tragic that it is both the most expensive ($100 million) and the most controversial (more than 4,000 articles) game every produced.
If you think that little good can come from playing a game like GTA4, just ask David Scherer. This 19-year-old swimming coach shattered a world record by playing the game for 55 hours straight to raise money for the non-profit swimming team he coaches.
Video game playing can be used both for good and evil. In September 2002, UK’s Faiz Chopdat refused to stop playing Tetris on his phone while on a plane. The fallout from this conflict was a world record for Chopdat — the most time anyone has been jailed for playing a video game. Chopdat received a jail sentence of four months for his passion for Tetris, which holds the record for the most prolific game, being found across 55 different platforms.
Equally prolific in the Guinness Book of World Records are some of the names that have come out of video games. Mario has appeared in over 116 video games and is part of the first franchise to sell more than 100 million copies. Link is the main character in The Legend of Zelda, the longest running adventure series and a series that holds the highest rated game of all time (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time). Finally, the name of Lara Croft holds records for the most successful female character as well as the most successful movie based on a video game, a great leap since the release of the first video-game-based movie, Super Mario Bros. was a total flop for Mario, though clearly it has not hindered his popularity since.
As video games continue to gain popularity and push the envelope in interactive entertainment, they will continue to establish and break world records.
When he’s not teaching junior high, St. Albert Catholic High alumnus Derek Mitchell spends his free time connected to a gaming console.
