Skip to main content

Twin Galaxies removes Todd Rogers’ records, bans him for cheating

Chasing Ghosts - Beyond the Arcade
Video game record-holder Todd Rogers has been a staple of the retro gaming scene for decades. Known for setting the world record for the fastest-ever time in the Atari 2600 game Dragster, his supposed feats have been called into question in the past, but new evidence has led to the Twin Galaxies gaming record organization concluding that Rogers had falsified his records.

Twin Galaxies, which is known as the definitive source for arcade and classic gaming records, conducted an investigation into Rogers’ claim of a 5.51-second run in Dragster following the complaint of member Dick Moreland. Test runs conducted with software tools concluded that it is impossible for the game to be completed in less than 5.57 seconds.

Related Videos

“Beyond this software analysis evidence, which speaks directly to Todd Rogers’ Dragster 5.51 score time, this dispute case has collected a significant amount of circumstantial evidence that extends well beyond Todd’s single score performance,” Twin Galaxies said in a post on its forums. “We have evaluated this evidence carefully and found it to be compelling and relevant. ”

As punishment for his forgery, Rogers has been banned from the Twin Galaxy leaderboards and all of his records have been removed. Twin Galaxies said it has also contacted Guinness World Records regarding the removal of his Dragster record, which was the longest-standing video game record of all time. Rogers’ page was removed from the Guinness World Records website, with the organization saying it will “continue to partner with Twin Galaxies for further video game record verification.”

“This has been an ordeal, and like all things done for the first time, some things could perhaps have been handled better,” Twin Galaxies added in the post. “This has been a learning process for Twin Galaxies. We care very much about our scoreboard integrity and will continue to improve it step-by-step, no matter how painful it might occasionally be.”

Twin Galaxies, which originally operated an arcade, as well, was the subject of the documentary film Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade. Along with infamous Donkey Kong player Billy Mitchell, Rogers is featured in the film. It’s an enlightening look into the history of video game records.

Editors' Recommendations

Nikon's oddest camera yet might be this record-breaking human one
nikon

Nikon launched special edition cameras for its 100th anniversary, but the company now has an even more unusual camera on the record: a human one. In June, Nikon’s distributor for Italy broke the world record for the largest human camera, with Guinness World Records confirming the record on Monday, July 3.

Guinness World Records said that Nikon only needed 250 people to break the record, but the human camera involved 1,454 people outside the Palazzina di Caccia in Italy. The group created the classic look of a Nikon DSLR camera, using white, gray, black, and red t-shirts and ball caps to create the lens, viewfinder, shutter release and the iconic red mark on the grip.

Read more
Top Gear’s Stig sets new world speed record in a bumper car
colin furze top gear world record bumper car worlds fastest 0002

It's probably not a good idea to tell YouTube inventor Colin Furze he can't figure out a way to make any normally stodgy or stationary object outrageously fast. BBC's Top Gear took the exact opposite approach when it asked Furze to rig up an amusement park-style bumper car. The plan was for Top Gear's The Stig to break a speed record driving the bumper car, as reported by Road and Track.

The intrepid inventor stuffed a 600cc sports bike engine into a bumper car. With The Stig at the wheel, the amusement park ride vehicle scored a place in the Guinness Book of World Records with an average speed topping 100 mph over two runs. On the faster run, The Stig blasted through the timer at 107.39 mph. With the second run of 93.28 mph, the average 100.34 mph for the two runs set the new record.

Read more
Meet the world’s oldest video game music composer, certified by Guinness Records
koichi sugiyama guinness world records oldest video game music composer dragon quest heroes

Japanese site Oricon Style reports that music composer Koichi Sugiyama was recently certified by Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest composer of video game music. At age 85, he’s mostly known for his work with the Dragon Quest series since its launch back in 1986. In fact, he recently composed the score for the latest game in the series, Dragon Quest XI, that’s slated to arrive sometime in 2017.

Sugiyama’s career actually ignited in the late 1960s as he began composing music for animated movies, television shows, commercials, and much more. He didn’t begin working with Enix until the early 1980s, who asked him to compose music for its games after discovering his passion and knowledge about the gaming genre. His first project was 1985’s World Golf, but his first major project followed thereafter: Dragon Quest.

Read more