The Cursed Quest To Get The High Score In Q*bert

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Video game records are a pretty big deal. Guinness even has an offshoot of the annual Book of World Records, just about video games—but it’s futile to track most gaming records in print, since players keep breaking them too fast. Few records last long, and very few last years.

The high score for Q*bert lasted decades. Rob Gerhardt got 33,273,520 points in 1983, and no one who tried to beat him succeeded. Grabbing the crown requires not just skill at the game (the game offers you limited lives, and when you run out, that’s it) but extreme endurance. To get that many points, you have to play dozens of hours, almost nonstop. 

George Leutz was prepared to do that in April 2011. And 36 hours into his marathon session, he was going strong, with a hundred lives left. Then someone at the arcade that was hosting the event unplugged a neighboring machine, and this unfortunately reset George’s machine as well. The following month, he gave it another go. He played for 54 hours this time, and made it to around 25 million points before exhaustion set in and he quickly lost. 

The Cursed Quest To Get The High Score In Q*bert
Source: Pinoy Daily News