Wednesday, February 23, 2011

 Longest video game marathon on a FPS: Irish gamers sets world record (Video)



 ATHLONE, Ireland -- An Irish gaming group (Gunna Scréach: Mark Gethingsand Tony Flynn, Lorcan McKennaand Pierce McKenna) has set a new World Record for the Longest video-game marathon on a first-person shooter (FPS), playing Halo: Reach non-stop for an epic 42 hours on Xbox 360, while raising money for Midlands Simon Community as well.
  Photo: Gunna Scréach team: Mark Gethings, Pierce McKenna, Lorcan McKenna and Tony Flynn pictured before they set out to break the 33-hour Guinness World Record for playing on a first-person shooter continuously. ( enlarge photo )

  The previous Guinness world record for the longest video games marathon on a first-person shooterlasted 33 hours and was achieved by the Rustler's Gamesafe team of Craig Johnson, Sam Smith, Thomas Stilliard and Steve Weavis (all UK).

Guinness World Records also recognized the longest marathon playing a football video game, which lasted 30 hr 1 min and was achieved by Michael Puterflam (Australia) who played FIFA 11 (EA, 2010).

 The four guys ? Wexford native Mark Gethings and Athlone natives Tony Flynn, Lorcan McKenna and Pierce McKenna ? set out to break the up-to-now reigning 33-hour record reached by a UK-based team (Rustler's Gamesafe).

  Gunna Scréach (Irish for blazing guns) also helped raise funds for the Midlands Simon Community in tandem with the event.

  Playing for 42 hours solid in Athlone's Golden Island Shopping Centre, the four guys also gave the public the chance to play head-to-head with them, charging ?2 per game.

  The Gunna Scréach team members had to play by some stringent rules set by Guinness World Records.

   Firstly, they could only take a five-minute break each hour, with at least one team member always playing Halo: Reach. And while the guys could eat on the job, getting some sleep proved to be a bit more tricky.

Speaking on Thursday, gamer Gethings said there was the option of saving up your five minutes to then take a nap. However, he said the team was "probably not going to sleep."

Mark Gethings said the genesis for the idea came about when he got an edition of the Guinness World Records one year for Christmas.

"I looked at the record for the longest video game played by a first-person shooter (FPS). Three girls had won the record for playing Rainbow Six Vegas 2, so I rang Pierce McKenna and said we couldn't have that!