Guinness World Records 2008 – Gamer’s Edition

It would be the new testament of gaming literature, except we're not sure what the old one was.

I’m prepared to bet that most of you have a copy of the Guinness Book of World Records in your home.

I’m also prepared to bet that your copy is in the bathroom, along with a few copies of Atomic, a New Scientist or Cosmos, and possibly a few other magazines that, if mentioned, run the risk of placing this site on the list of filthy, dirty internet sites that cannot be accessed without a national firewall scheme because a handful of individuals are incompetent and the government has chosen to think of the children on Australia’s collective behalf.

But I digress.

You probably already have a copy of the Guinness Book of World Records as part of your bathroom reading material. But you’re probably sick of reading about the longest bee-beard or the largest hamburger ever made or most pancakes (compliant to the ISO standards for pancake volume, density and dimensions) eaten in a minute that the Book has to offer you.

Then good news, everyone! The first annual Gamer’s Edition of the Guinness Book of World Records has been released. It’s a 250-odd page hardcover book with a flexible cover designed to be flicked through quickly.

It’s divided into several sections: An introduction (complete with 2007’s high points in gaming and top 20 games), a semi-arbitrary list of the top 100 arcade games, a section dedicated to hardware and a high scores section at the back.

But by far the largest section is titled Record Breaking Games, which is comprised of 175-odd pages of information on games. Each title gets a double page spread and is riddled with facts, figures, trivia, quotes, the occasional interview with a developer and, of course, records. The games are sectioned off by genre, with an introduction and summary of notable games that aren’t notable enough to warrant their own pages.

Most entries are hugely interesting. The entry for Command and Conquer gives the game honours for being the longest running and best selling RTS series ever, containing the most FMV in a single franchise and notes Joe Kucan (who stars as Kane) as the longest running actor in a video game role (for 14 years).

The information is very up to date. The Guitar Hero entry lists the DS as a platform, even though the DS version was only announced a few days ago. Despite this, some records have that bit of Guinness gimmickry: EverQuest 2 holds the record for being the first game to feature an inbuilt pizza ordering service. And as much as we hate to say it, a handful of records feel like they’re there simply to fill the pages.

We were able to get quite lost in the book at our desks – a sure sign that it’s a good read. But we worry that because this is just the first of a series of annual editions, the book will lose its magic in future print runs. Guinness is already accepting entries for the next round of records for every gaming achievement under the sun, and although the first book contains a section of high scores, this kind of record keeping information (which was provided by Twin Galaxies anyway) is merely a garnish.

The meat of this book is the way in which it collects all the quirky details and enlightening firsts that classic games have spent the last 30 years carving into the bedrock of gaming history. How many annuals will it take before there’s simply no more blood left in this particular stone?

Our advice is that you should proudly display this first edition on your coffee table, and the upcoming books nonchalantly displayed in the bathroom -- should you choose to buy them.

It’s a classy alternative to filthy, filthy *censored*.


Pick up Atomic issue 88 to find out how you could win one of ten copies of Guinness World Records: Gamer’s Edition.