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Asteroids Kill Screen Coming Up

OK, not really, but John McAllister's getting close to the Asteroids world record, and you can watch the final stretch.

If you had told my younger self that we'd be using the latest and greatest in computer technology to broadcast people playing Asteroids all around the world, I... well, I would have felt that maybe my life had meaning. Not that I was ever especially great at Asteroids.

But one John McAllister is doing exactly that right now, and it sounds like he's closing in on the game's world record. He's currently over 41 million points (which doesn't show properly on the game, as the score rolls over at a certain point) and he's still breaking the big rocks into little rocks.

Somewhere the 9-year-old me is completely losing his mind over how awesome this is. 34-year-old me is pretty into it, too. If the chat room dwellers are accurate, he'll be crossing into world record territory later tonight... provided he can keep it together, of course.
  

  
 You might tune in and see no actual movement. That just means that the guy's taking a bathroom break or something. 
 
UPDATE: 41,338,740 is now your new Asteroids world record, provided everything is properly verified as legitimate. Assuming it is, John McAllister is now the King of Asteroids! This beats the previous record of 41,336,440, set in 1982 by Scott Safran. Safran passed away after an accident in 1989.
Jeff Gerstmann on Google+

76 Comments

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Brunchies

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Edited By Brunchies

I missed it sadly, anyway grats to the guy for being able to play over 50 hours of asteroids and setting a world record.

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DystopiaX

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Edited By DystopiaX
@Zella said:
" @dezvous said:
" Weird, what is it about the 41,33#,### range that gets so tough? I mean you'd think if you came that far you might as well try really hard to obliterate the previous record. "
He'd been playing for 50+ hours, I think he just wanted to stop. "
he'd been playing over 60 hours with only bathroom breaks...i'd wanna stop too.
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Milkman

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Edited By Milkman

I could beat him.

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JoelTGM

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Edited By JoelTGM

At one point super close to the record he came back from a bathroom break, lost focus and was down to two lives.  Asteroids is intense. 

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Zella

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Edited By Zella
@dezvous said:
" Weird, what is it about the 41,33#,### range that gets so tough? I mean you'd think if you came that far you might as well try really hard to obliterate the previous record. "
He'd been playing for 50+ hours, I think he just wanted to stop.
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KillerBears

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Edited By KillerBears

still waiting on the film version of Asteroids

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Bilawal

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Edited By Bilawal

What's an Asteroid????? :S

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sho76und3wd

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Edited By sho76und3wd

Awesome.  High scores are fun!

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Winternet

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Edited By Winternet

Well, I am now waiting for the attempt to break 42 million. Anytime soon, right?
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thomasmolby

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Edited By thomasmolby

Thats amazing :)

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dezvous

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Edited By dezvous

Weird, what is it about the 41,33#,### range that gets so tough? I mean you'd think if you came that far you might as well try really hard to obliterate the previous record.

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sodiumCyclops

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Edited By sodiumCyclops

Well done! Cheers for me evening highlight Jeff.

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TheHT

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Edited By TheHT

Asteroids? lol alright, i respect that.

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zymase

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Edited By zymase

This is likely the high point of my day.  Awesome!

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Rebirth1337

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Edited By Rebirth1337

I was there! Thanks Jeff for posting this.

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Hot_Karl

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Edited By Hot_Karl

He did it! 
 
Mr. McAllister, you have the respect of all the duders here. Asteroids is a hard son-of-a-bitch game, and to get over 41 million points is a remarkable achievement. Congrats!!

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Crono

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Edited By Crono
@thenexus said:
" Lots of people in the chat keep spamming -  "HAHAHAHAHAH HE DIDNT BEAT THE RECORD THEY MISCOUNTED AHAHAHAHA" "
This is surprising?  A person's inner douche bag loves the internet.
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bigsmoke77

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Edited By bigsmoke77
@Andre: he probably thought "if anybody wants to stay up and play this game for two and half days. more  the power to them"
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mikenam

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Edited By mikenam

Hopefully there will be a quick replay somewhere on Giant Bomb

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Scooper

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Edited By Scooper

I hit play literally just as people clap his victory. What the hell.

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thenexus

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Edited By thenexus

Lots of people in the chat keep spamming -  "HAHAHAHAHAH HE DIDNT BEAT THE RECORD THEY MISCOUNTED AHAHAHAHA"

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Gloobus

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Edited By Gloobus

That was pretty awesome.  I tuned in about 2 minutes before he beat the high score. Kinda neat witnessing a record of such a classic game being broken live.

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Daveyo520

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Edited By Daveyo520

I've never seen someone break a world record before. It was something.

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mikenam

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Edited By mikenam

Freakin A, I just missed it

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Aussiepowa

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Edited By Aussiepowa

he did it
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Blackmoore

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Edited By Blackmoore

Congrats! He beat it.

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PowerBombYo

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Edited By PowerBombYo

Word! New record!

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Rasgueado

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Edited By Rasgueado
@Andre: He played for 57+ hours to beat the high score. How much more is really needed?
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heavyness

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Edited By heavyness

Congrats!  Fun to watch, even better to watch the record fall!

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ShartCarbuncle

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Edited By ShartCarbuncle

Pretty cool to see him beat the score live!

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AngerPanda

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Edited By AngerPanda

Woo, he did it!

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Levio

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Edited By Levio

Quick! Someone wakeup the guinness book of world records people!

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leburgan

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Edited By leburgan

he beat it!

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thejamster

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Edited By thejamster

wiki page has been updated

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andre

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Edited By andre

He beat the record and gave up immediately. A tad disappointing, but awesome nonetheless. 

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Foggen

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Edited By Foggen

I tune in and at that exact moment he's entering his initials.  Rad.

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Skald

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Edited By Skald

Holy shit, he actually got it?

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Zella

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Edited By Zella

Started watching just in time, nice to see him beat it.

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peepeepoopoo696

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Edited By peepeepoopoo696

Boom!

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timeshero

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Edited By timeshero

I think he just did it.

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thejamster

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Edited By thejamster

badass!

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dietmango

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Edited By dietmango

There you go he beat it. Gratz to him.

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mackgyver

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Edited By mackgyver

Awesome job  John!!!!!!!!!

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Beb_Jobel

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Edited By Beb_Jobel

NEW WORLD RECORD!!!

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Jettblackk

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Edited By Jettblackk

Kill Screen is the "end" of a classic arcade game...It runs out of memory, and resets...and apparently he made it to the record!!!

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LiquidPrince

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Edited By LiquidPrince

Done. He set the new world record.

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NakAttack

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Edited By NakAttack

and he did it

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raviolisumo

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Edited By raviolisumo

WOO. I was there.

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JammyJesus

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Edited By JammyJesus

He did it!
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The_Laughing_Man

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Edited By The_Laughing_Man

IT HAS BEEN DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!