John McAllister is at this very moment working toward setting a new all-time high score in Asteroids and thanks to the technological marvel we call the internet, you can watch him do it.
This one is kind of time-sensitive so we’re not going to waste too much time on a prelude. Long story short: John McAllister, a locksmith from Washington state, is playing the classic 1979 arcade title Asteroids as we speak, striving to break the world-record high score of 41,336,440, which was set all the way back in 1982. And with more than 45 hours of play on the clock so far and 33 million points, he’s well on his way to doing it.
His quest has some interesting limitations. The old arcade stand-up can’t register scores greater than five digits, so whenever McAllister breaks 100,000 points, which he’s done many, many times, it resets to zero and starts over again. A counter has been set up to keep track of the running total, but what the counter can’t help with is the machine’s lack of a pause function. When our intrepid gamer needs to take a break, he has to park his little vector-drawn ship somewhere and hope for the best. It’s risky, but with more free lives than can be properly displayed on the game screen, it’s a strategy he’s been able to get away with so far.
The whole thing is being broadcast live, complete with random background chit-chat from McAllister and company, on Justin.tv and it’s actually a lot of fun to watch. Will the record fall? Tune in and find out!
via: Kotaku
Published: Apr 5, 2010 05:58 pm