Dutch gamers break world record by playing for 50 hours straight

by Mike Schramm on Jul 20th 2010 5:00AM

A group of six Dutch gamers played Red Dead Redemption for 50 hours straight over the weekend, garnering them recognition from the Guinness Book of World Records. The event took place at a Dixons store in the Netherlands, where six players started out as competitors, but eventually decided to keep playing and get the world record together. All six will receive recognition from Guinness, a $1300 prize and a Twistdock connector from the event's sponsor.

There are two things that make this stand out from your average weekend-long play session. First, we're talking 50 hours for all six gamers with no breaks. While that's definitely been done before (with less than healthy consequences), Guinness was there to put the official stamp on everything. So, until you get them to watch you play Final Fantasy XIII and all of its optional missions all in one sitting, this record will probably stand.

Source: VideoGamesBlogger, Twistdock Flickr

Tags: guinness, guinness-book-of-world-records, marathon, microsoft, netherlands, playstation, ps3, red-dead-redemption, Rockstar-Games, Rockstar-San-Diego, xbox

Reader Comments (74)

WTF. How is this a record? I finished Ocarina of Time when it first came out in a 73 hour marathon. It was my greatest ever gaming achievement, i was only young, and i felt really sick and dizzy by the end, but it was worth it. How is only 50 hours ANY sort of record. Send them around my place and i'll finish Borderlands without a nap to break that. Ridiculous!

you must have smelled pretty ripe.

I smelt bloody fantast....no ok i probably smelt aweful. I didn't care lol. I only got up to use the toilet, my mum was nice enough to bring me food for once. So many good memories. I also remember trying to convince my brother to get Turok 2 instead of Ocarina of Time since the publications i was reading put them at similar scores. He got OOT. I don't think i ever thanked him for it lol.

Nevertheless, i did end up with Turok 2 eventually, and loved that game too. Damn that was good on N64.

@Foetoid

73 hours to beat Ocarina of Time? Really?

@Acosta02

Well it did come out in 1998. I was only a few months into being 15, and all this 3D adventure gaming was very new. Bit of a shock going from the NES to the N64, didn't end up with a SNES till a year or so later. I did get it down to finishing it in under 12 hours straight.

In all seriousness, how could i contact Guinness to have them come around and watch me break the record. I'll take a character to level 50 in Borderlands to break it, or simply finish Mass Effect 1 and 2 in 1 setting. If i wasn't already playing through Prime Trilogy, that would be a great set of games to play in 1 sitting to smash the record. I'd like to be my own personal record anyway, might as well make some cash out of it, i could really use the money.

Ewww. It would cost a fortune for them to come around and see it happen. Nevermind the website says they don't pay their record breakers....tho this article says otherwise. Wtf?

@Foetoid 73 hours? wow...it only takes about 6 hours to do everything possible (if you know what to do)..you must've spent a LOT of time doing the wrong thing. the point of your post remains the same though. I know lots of people including myself who have played games for more than 50+ hours at a time...it's a dumb record

Yes well. When you're a 15 yr old playing your first Zelda game and your first 3D adventure game figuring everything out from scratch, it will take a while. 6 hours sounds too quick though. I've finished the game 17 times now, i can't imagine doing it in 6 hours.

@Foetoid The prize money came from the store, not Guinness. That's why the check says TwistDock Endurance Gaming.

@Foetoid I would go through the prime trilogy too fast to break this record. I'd get no more than 40 hours out of those 3 games, even at 100% hard mode completion. I've done prime 1, 2, and MGS4 in one sitting.

Did Ratched & Clank a crack in time(challenge mode) and most of darksiders in one sitting. Not sure how long that one took me.

@Foetoid

Yeah exactly what I was thinking!! I did that Ocarina of Time and again years later when Oblivion came out I burnt out my 360 after 70 hour game session.

@PurpleFries
Is that to show off or to say you have a deficiency?

I can't imagine speeding through games like you. I'm a sloooow player... I soak in games slooowwwllly... spending hours looking at a beautiful background and visiting towns when it would take most people minutes to pass through.

...it makes my game hours ridiculously huge (and my backlog as well)...
Now I'm not sure if that's a brag or an admittance to a disease.
Most likely the latter?

@Foetoid

Watch me play wow for a week straight... most of it is waiting around to get a raid together and chatting in trade chat anyways lol.

@Foetoid "How is only 50 hours ANY sort of record?"

I thought the exact same thing. Although two days straight seems relatively high, I'm sure there's PLENTY of people who have unofficially topped that record. Especially with some of the World of Warcarft addictions (as someone else mentioned) that people have.

@Foetoid

My question is how did it take you 73 hours to beat OoT? Even the first time through, damn..

@Foetoid The store where they broke the record sponsored it.

@Foetoid Oblivion, 200 hrs and i havent even joined the mages guild yet. oooooooooh.

Does it say GameStop in Dutch on their shirts?

@YoungJey

It says TwistDock for PS3 in english

@YoungJey We dont have a GameStop in The Netherlands.

50 hours in RDR, they must've been fooling around shooting birds or tree branches.

@jmtstan - I don' t know... I've been trying to finish RDR before I go to sleep and this damn thing just keeps going and going. I'm about to give up for the night, even though I wanted to send this back to Gamefly in the morning.

@jmtstan

Supposedly I Spent 3.5 days worth in RDR. Hunting is fun. >_>

@Faenix

yeah, that's how it helps them kept playing for so long

Yeah! Dutch pride :)

@AdamVdEnde Just nice to win something (anything)?

VIVA ETHPANYA!

@Assmar Touché sir, touché =)

@AdamVdEnde Sorry it's just that rubbing salt in open wounds is kinda my thing.

so €1000 for 50 hours between 6? That's €3.34/hr. Thats pretty rubbish pay! Grats still!

@jenniferhawkins

[!]

50 hours...? Lots of people have bet that and with more media attention like this I see Guiness getting a shitload of applicants. =_=

You can count on the eventual record holder to be a WoW or some other MMO player.

Some of those people look like they have a tan, which means they have been outside... this must be a fake, they are clearly not real gamers!

@Misterlee
Either that or they had a very bright big screen television.

@blahblah55
Yes, radiation burns, that must be it!

@jenniferhawkins

I am absolutely amazed I could have never guessed the douchebag of the day award could be given out so early. Bravo you have raised the bar on douchebags all over the world.

Congrats dudes. I remember putting in at least 45 hours straight on diablo 2 going crazy with my hammerdin, Javazon, and chain lightning sorceress.

So many fond memories.

This is nothing! I play 50 hour gaming sessions EVERY DAY!!!

thats awsome seeing as how red dead just keeps on going. and thats a good thing.

wow....50 hours straight is a world record!?!?

I've gone 26 hours straight with NO breaks before and while I had to pee like a racehorse after it, I could have gone longer....

most definitely need to get a crew together and beat this...

@Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi

It's most likely the highest record for a group willing to pay the ridiculous price for a record.

2 days without sleep sounds horrible i think the longest i have went is over 30 hours without sleep and i felt like shit and slept for like 18 hours after

but for 1300 dollars i would gladly play mw2 for 51 hours straight thats an easy 1300 bucks in my pocket

@Smokeydogg7

I've made it to about 40 hours staying up straight, after that it gets pretty hard when you don't have anything to do.

As far as sleeping though, my record is 22 hours on either one or two occasions, can't remember anymore. 18 is nothing. Hell, just a day or two ago I slept from 4pm-11:30am. (Woke up 2-3 times in the night, but immediately fell back asleep without even getting out of bed.)

@Smokeydogg7 76 hours without sleep when I was writing a last minute 16 page paper for a class.....and what they say about hearing and seeing sh|t after that long without sleep is true....NEVER again

@Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi

Yeah man, after about 60 hours without sleep not only do you see and hear crazy stuff, but microsleeps make it almost impossible to tell what's real and what's dream. Fun times.

After about 14 hours of gaming I have to pause, mute, and snooze. I really just stop caring otherwise.

so if me my wife and 2 of my friends all get together and decide to go for this together we all get 1300 a piece? if so god damn i need to get on this

@Smokeydogg7

Don't bother, it's not going to be enough to pay for the divorce.

Not only is the number unimpressive, but also the game isn't one I'd instantly think of to host a marathon in. There was a story a while back about a guy who played GTA4 for 40 hours, and then someone who beat his record. Both were fairly WTF stories, not only because the numbers were unimpressive, but I think the choice of game left people slightly confused as to why it was a special event. I just think some people are attention whores, and don't have more interesting venues to display it.

@ch3burashka

Would you prefer they play Final Fantasy 7?

I'd go for FFX myself. I could just play Blitzball for 50 hours.

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Dutch gamers break world record by playing for 50 hours straight

Reader Comments (74)

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 5:05AM Foetoid said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 5:25AM nighttime said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 5:29AM Foetoid said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 5:34AM Acosta02 said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 5:40AM Foetoid said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 7:02AM Foetoid said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 7:21AM Foetoid said

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Posted: Jul 20th 2010 5:07AM YoungJey said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 6:23AM XAQUZ said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 7:17AM AdamVdEnde said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 5:17AM jmtstan said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 6:33AM BananaBoat said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 8:06AM Faenix said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 9:10AM jmtstan said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 5:31AM AdamVdEnde said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 1:10PM Assmar said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 1:30PM AdamVdEnde said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 3:58PM Assmar said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 5:40AM maty said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 5:42AM Foetoid said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 5:52AM DarkTwisted said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 6:00AM Dance Love Pop said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 5:55AM Misterlee said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 9:54AM blahblah55 said

Posted: Jul 21st 2010 8:41AM Misterlee said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 6:21AM Stevetrop Man of Mystery said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 6:29AM Stevetrop Man of Mystery said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 6:39AM UzelessUK said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 6:59AM edge426 said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 7:18AM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 9:56AM blahblah55 said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 7:19AM Smokeydogg7 said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 8:00AM sonicspike41 said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 9:57AM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 11:50PM RunnyRiver said

Posted: Jul 20th 2010 7:21AM Smokeydogg7 said

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