Gamer Could Lose World Record Over Accusations Of Cheating

Winning a place on the Guinness Book of World Records is something that a lot of people aspire to and this is what one gamer managed to do after setting a record with a video game. That record has stood for over 35 years, but now, it is at risk of being taken down due to accusations of cheating from the community.

The gamer in question is Todd Rogers who made the record back in 1982, Tech Times reports. The game that was used to set the record was the racing game called Dragster, which was played on the Atari 2600. The record basically involved finishing the game in 5.51 seconds and he was recognized by the Guinness World Records for the achievement.

Unfortunately, keeping accurate measurements of these types of achievements in those days was not exactly that reliable. In the case of Rogers, the only proof that he was able to finish in the time that he claimed was a Polaroid picture, which he then sent to Activision.

This wouldn’t have been an issue if it wasn’t for the move by Twin Galaxies to dispute long-standing scores. This led members of the community to scrutinize Rogers’ record, with many saying that completing Dragster in 5.51 seconds is impossible.

The site even used software analysis to look into the record and concluded that in a normal playthrough, such a completion time would indeed not be possible.

"Beyond the 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 as that extends well beyond Todd's single score performance. We have evaluated this evidence carefully and found it to be compelling and relevant," the site notes.

This issue has apparently been brewing for some time. Many sides in the community have thrown barbs at each other, with both supporters and detractors of Rogers getting embroiled in heated debates for months.