14 DAY TRIAL // A game has already managed to earn a world record this year, but one thing that happens even less often is a gamer that manages to claim a world record. Still, GTA IV has so far enabled two of its players to enter the Guinness Book of Records. The feat that has propelled the two gamers in the world of the famous is the amount of time they invested in the game in one sitting. The previous record that was recently shattered was that of 28 hours and 1 minute of uninterrupted gameplay.
The new GTA IV record was set by a twenty-six-year-old resident of Mumbai, India. Chirantan Patnaik, a private equity broker, managed to play the game for 40 hours and 20 minutes and said that he didn't find the task arduous at all. "There are so many other games which I have played for long hours," Patnaik said. “But I had never tried playing this particular game seriously. However, I knew that I can do it after I saw my brother playing it ... I enjoyed the game very much. It's fun playing long hours. It wasn't that exhaustive for me, as one might feel."
What may first seem as the strangest suicide attempt for a broker was actually just an endurance test. Patnaik didn't take the idea lightly and prepared vigorously for the challenge. He ran, exercised and did yoga but during the actual gaming session he used some less healthy methods, like pouring mug after mug of coffee down his throat.
This may sound like a pretty meaningless event, but it's not. World records used to be something reserved for very special people, men and women with unique talents and gifts. World records used to be something we would be astounded by, not something we can just shrug off and say “ I could do that too if only I was bored enough... and had enough coffee.” Now it seems like anybody can make it into the Guinness Book. The Mayan calendar that ends in 2012 might not be a sign that the world is about to end, but when just anyone can become a world record holder, then it really is a sign of the apocalypse.