

This speedrunner proves that the score Todd Rogers claimed to achieve isn’t even possible. There was ample evidence that confirms his cheating, including testimony from a speedrunner who dissected the game’s programming. Years later, it came to light that Todd Rogers didn’t actually get this score, and cheated. His time was established as the world record earning him a Guinness World Record and praise from Activision, the company that designed the game. In 1982, two years after the game’s release, a gamer by the name of Todd Rogers claimed a time of 5.51 seconds.

After the race is complete, the game would display your time on the screen. The aim of this game was to race across the screen while avoiding obstacles. This game has an incredible, and controversial history. One of the first games that were conventionally used for speedrunning was Dragster. History of SpeedrunningĮarly video games such as arcade classics like Pacman, Asteroids, Donkey Kong didn’t leave a lot of room for speedrunning since the goal of those games was to achieve a very high score. They do this because the speedrun version of the game interests them more than the casual experience. They will speedrun games they’ve never played, or at least very seldomly played. Some speedrunners treat speedrunning akin to freelance gigs. That being said, it’s not always the case that speedrunners are massive fans of the game and have played it casually a lot. Playing the game this way freshens up the experience and allows a player to squeeze more entertainment out of a game they have already played many times. Speedruns often take advantage of unintended bugs such as skipping entire sections of the game, falling through the floor, flying across levels, defeating enemies with ease, et cetera. Casual playing essentially involves playing the game as the game developer intended.įor players who have played the game casually many times, the only way to mix up the experience is by attempting to speedrun the game. These normal playthroughs are called casual playthroughs. It’s uncommon for the experience of speedrunning a game to be similar to playing the game normally. This is why, inevitably, some players decide to play the game a different way than usual. The problem with returning to a game, and playing it once more, is that it has diminishing returns of pleasure. It isn’t uncommon that a gamer who has a lot of nostalgia or fond memories of a game would return to that game. Passion for the game, and passion for gaming in general. In addition to the self-improvement and competitive nature of speedrunning a lot of runners cite passion as their main driving force. Is it simple to define why an athlete performs their sport? Well, speedrunning is not too dissimilar to sports! Each runner spends hours and hours training and practising the game in order to surpass their own and other runners’ speed records. This is a very difficult distinction to make, after all, each person has their own rationales and reasons behind the passions that drive them. In some games this requires collecting hundreds of collectibles and in other games completing this category is much more difficult. This category requires the runner to complete 100% of the game for the run to be complete. On the other hand, there is the 100% category.

Sometimes it involves manipulating the game in order for the credits to roll immediately upon starting, and sometimes it’s a long process of completing levels quickly in a race to the final level. This means that the runner has to complete the game by any means necessary as quickly as possible. For example, a game could have an Any% category and a 100% category.Īny% is the category, and ruleset, that is most commonly used in speedrunning. Often, a game will be divided into different categories. People who complete speedruns of games are called “runners” or “speedrunners.” We’ll discuss the motivations and the history of speedrunning a bit later, for now, let’s familiarise ourselves with some terminology.Įach attempt at completing the game is called a “run” by the speedrunning community.

Speedrunning is the act of completing a game or completing an aspect of the game in the fastest way possible. Minecraft Achievements Guide – Advancements - January 26, 2022.
