Guinness World Records - the worlds-go-to guide for every possible claim made on planet earth - has released the first ever Gamer's Edition.
The book, covered with splashy photos in a well designed layout, delves into both the popular and lesser known areas of gaming trivia that are sure to appeal to many generations of fans, counting the 70's classics to the latest Xbox 360 release.
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| Breaking those records is going to take some time... |
For instance, did you know that Street Fighter is the first fighting game to ever use combos and has been re-released over 74 times? Or that Pac Man was the most successful coin operated game of all time? Perhaps you're already aware that 7 billion dollars are spent on games in the USA each year and that Tetris is the most ported game in the universe, having been translated to over 55 different computer game platforms, including mobile phones?
Well, if you didn't know all these wonderful and weird facts, fear not . . . you're not quite the social outcast your friends may say you are. And that’s why Guinness have come to the rescue.
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| Remember the days when games only cost 20 cents to play? |
The Book is divided into sections that deal with hardware records, record breaking games, and a list of the top 100 arcade games of all time, and each is sure to provide a healthy amount of debate amongst game enthusiasts. A host of interviews with the shining men and women who designed and created the games makes for some interesting reading.
A special index in the back of the book features an easy to reference list of all time high scores - so if you think you're good enough, you'll know just what score your going to need to beat to claim 'best of the best' honours.
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| The world's youngest professional gamer, 9 yr old Victor M. De Leon III, earns more money in a month than most of us in a year. |
And breaking scores is a pretty big deal these days as the latest hit documentary film 'King of Kong' has proved, made about the lives of the worlds two biggest Donkey Kong record holders. The book is extremely well researched in typical Guinness style and games are categorised by genres and consoles for quick reference.
Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008 contains 256 packed pages of gaming goodness and is now available from all good retailers and bookstores for $35.00 RRP.
Top 5 gaming trivia facts from Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008:
- 69,5552 - items available in EverQuest II
- 1,050,200 - Highest ever score on Donkey Kong (Arcade). Game lasted 2hr 39min.
- 9 million - Active World of Warcraft subscribers in 2007 according to Blizzard
- 33% - Percentage of South Koreans who have played video games online
- 1,073 - most action gamers on a single server (2004 Dreamhack Winter event - Counter-Strike).