Ever since William Higinbotham created the first ‘video game’ called “Tennis for Two” scoring, achievements and records have been an integral part of the gaming community and industry. With records and leaderboards and trophies to win, you can see how video games fit so perfectly in the famous ‘Guinness Book of World Records”. 

 

Tomorrow the ‘Guinness Book of World Records 2013: Gamer’s Edition’ will hit the stands, or if you were lucky enough to pre-order it , your doorstep. I’ve become a huge fan of this series over the past four years, I think it’s amazing what people are able to accomplish. It’s not all about impossible playtimes or outrageous scores (though that is part of it). I love the stats, the articles and the ordinary people that break the records.

 

I was lucky enough to get the book ahead of schedule this year and I now feel like I’m the Watson of the gaming world. One of my favorite entries goes to Brett Martin from Denver, Colorodo, also in the video, who achieved the world’s ‘Largest Collection of Videogame Memorabilia’.

 

In the video you will learn that Brett has obtained over 8,030 items and he really didn’t start collecting on a serious level until he was twelve. The collection is worth over $100,000 and it continues to grow to this day. Brett doesn’t sit in a dark basement starting at collectables, that’s what makes it great. Brett is a web designer, he got married and has children of his own now. He’s a regular guy, who loves games just like I do and if the video is any indication is an extremely fun guy to be around.

 



 

In a press-release sent to me earlier this week were these two stories:

Other incredible feats recognized in the Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition this year include Canada’s Chris Gloyd and Timothy Bell who achieved the Longest Gaming Marathon. The pair lasted an eye-watering 120 hours and 7 minutes on theResistance series.

 

South Korea makes it into the book for being the First Country to Ban In-Game Sales. In the summer of 2012 South Korea made virtual item sales illegal. The fine for breaking the new law was set at 50 million South Korean won ($42,000).

That is how I learned never to buy anything in South Korea when playing Diablo III. The book also contains really interesting pop-culture trivia and very well written articles and lists. There is the ‘The Top 50 Videogame Villains Of All Time’ who were picked by over 6,000 gamers. One of the best ideas, is the ‘Twin Galaxies Scoreboard’ which allows you to see how you compare with the best in the gaming world. (spoiler alert: I am not even close).

 

Here are some other interesting ones that I can point out as a preview:

 

Most prolific videogame music composer

• Tommy Tallarico is the most prolific videogame music composer. As of September 2012, the acclaimed veteran and pioneer of videogame audio has worked on more than 300 games in a career that spans 22 years.

Highest-grossing videogame-centered movie

• Tron: Legacy (USA, 2010) is the highest-grossing game-centered movie, smashing the competition with takings of $400,062,763 worldwide.

Most prolific videogame voice actor (female)

• As of November 20, 2012, the most prolific videogame voice actor (female) is Jennifer Hale (Canada), who has voiced 133 videogames.

Most prolific videogame voice actor (male)

• The most prolific video game male voice actor is Steve Blum (USA) who has made 261 credited appearances as of May 10, 2012. Even though he didn’t win, I felt like Nolan North was in every single video-game that was made in 2012.

Since Guinness was nice enough to send me advanced copies of the book, I would love to hand them out to some other gamers that would enjoy them. If you would like to be included in the giveaway just RT the Tweet below and you will be entered. Contest ends on January 11th, 2013 at 7pm EST when I’ll notify the winners. If you don’t have Twitter you can simply ‘like’ this article on Facebook below and you will be entered. Good Luck!

 

RT Enter to win a copy of ‘Guinness Book of World Records 2013: Gamer’s Edition’ follow @gamingexaminer & @gwrnews | bit.ly/Wuejrf

— Gaming Examiner (@GamingExaminer) January 10, 2024

 

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