Kitty McScratch: makes you want to actually kill yourself.
The 216-page book Guinness World Records 2012 Gamer’s Edition is out and it's so stunningly, depressingly hanging on the coat-tails of the games industry that it's almost enough to make you want to never drink any kind of beer again, ever.
So, in order to get people arguing about things - as is the way with today's media - here are some "records" relating to video games in the same way as Mario and Sonic are related to youth culture.
Are we being harsh? Look straight at Number 8 and then tell us.
TOP 10 GAMING RECORDS 2012
1. Longest Videogame Marathon
Tony Desmet, Jesse Rebmann and Jeffrey Gammon from Belgium played Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood for a whopping 109 hours straight.
2. Highest Fee Paid for a Videogame Advert Appearance
British actor Helen Mirren wins hands down for reportedly being paid £500,000 (almost €600,000) to promote Wii Fit in a series of television advertisements.
3. Fastest Lap on Mario Kart
South London native Sami Cetin left others in the dust with his record-breaking time of 56.45 seconds.
4. Longest Gaming Session in Freefall
Jesse Moerkerk from the Netherlands played Super Mario Galaxy 2 on the Nintendo Wii in mid-air in a wind tunnel for 18 minutes and 52 seconds.
5. First Woman to Win a Pro Street Fighter Event
Marie-Laure Norindr (20) from France, known to gamers by her alias “Kayane”, became the first women to win the Evolution Championship Series in 2010.
6. Most Expensive Virtual Property
SEE Digital Studios paid $6 million (more than €4.5 million) for the virtual planet Calypso in the online game Entropia Universe.
7. Most Prolific Dancing Game Scorer
Elizabeth Bolinger, otherwise known as “Kitty McScratch”, holds the no 1 position on the leader boards for more than 85 songs. To challenge herself, she likes to earn perfect scores backwards and blindfolded!
8. First Album to Debut in a Social Networking Game
In May 2011 infamously quirky pop star Lady Gaga arranged for GagaVille, a special modification of the popular Facebook game Farmville, in which players could unlock tracks from Born This Way before the album’s release.
9. Largest Competitive Pokémon Videogame Family
All five members of the Arnold family, hailing from a suburb of Chicago, Illinois in the US, competitively play Pokémon. Mum Linda, Dad Glenn, twins Ryan and David and daughter Grace all take part in international Pokémon videogame championships.
10. World’s Largest Videogame Controller
On display yesterday at London’s Liverpool Street rail station to promote the 2012 Gamer’s Edition book launch, the massive NES controller created by British engineering student Ben Allen weighs in at over 114kg.
The joypad stand is 30 times the size of a normal controller and requires at least two players to press or jump on the controls.
So, in order to get people arguing about things - as is the way with today's media - here are some "records" relating to video games in the same way as Mario and Sonic are related to youth culture.
Are we being harsh? Look straight at Number 8 and then tell us.
TOP 10 GAMING RECORDS 2012
1. Longest Videogame Marathon
Tony Desmet, Jesse Rebmann and Jeffrey Gammon from Belgium played Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood for a whopping 109 hours straight.
2. Highest Fee Paid for a Videogame Advert Appearance
British actor Helen Mirren wins hands down for reportedly being paid £500,000 (almost €600,000) to promote Wii Fit in a series of television advertisements.
3. Fastest Lap on Mario Kart
South London native Sami Cetin left others in the dust with his record-breaking time of 56.45 seconds.
4. Longest Gaming Session in Freefall
Jesse Moerkerk from the Netherlands played Super Mario Galaxy 2 on the Nintendo Wii in mid-air in a wind tunnel for 18 minutes and 52 seconds.
5. First Woman to Win a Pro Street Fighter Event
Marie-Laure Norindr (20) from France, known to gamers by her alias “Kayane”, became the first women to win the Evolution Championship Series in 2010.
6. Most Expensive Virtual Property
SEE Digital Studios paid $6 million (more than €4.5 million) for the virtual planet Calypso in the online game Entropia Universe.
7. Most Prolific Dancing Game Scorer
Elizabeth Bolinger, otherwise known as “Kitty McScratch”, holds the no 1 position on the leader boards for more than 85 songs. To challenge herself, she likes to earn perfect scores backwards and blindfolded!
8. First Album to Debut in a Social Networking Game
In May 2011 infamously quirky pop star Lady Gaga arranged for GagaVille, a special modification of the popular Facebook game Farmville, in which players could unlock tracks from Born This Way before the album’s release.
9. Largest Competitive Pokémon Videogame Family
All five members of the Arnold family, hailing from a suburb of Chicago, Illinois in the US, competitively play Pokémon. Mum Linda, Dad Glenn, twins Ryan and David and daughter Grace all take part in international Pokémon videogame championships.
10. World’s Largest Videogame Controller
On display yesterday at London’s Liverpool Street rail station to promote the 2012 Gamer’s Edition book launch, the massive NES controller created by British engineering student Ben Allen weighs in at over 114kg.
The joypad stand is 30 times the size of a normal controller and requires at least two players to press or jump on the controls.