1 of 5 | Visitors try out the latest video games during the Tokyo Game Show at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba-prefecture, Japan, on Sept. 29. Friday is National Video Games Day in the United States. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo
In the realm of unique but unofficial holidays, Friday marks National Video Games Day — not to be confused with National Video Game Day celebrated in July.
What’s the difference? We don’t know, but we’re taking the opportunity to revisit some of the most recent video game-related Guinness World Records. Here’s a look at some of the best, by the numbers.
444 consoles, 1 TV
In 2024, a Saudi man earned a Guinness World Record for hooking up the most video game consoles to a single television — 444. The gamer, Ibrahim al-Nasser, said to manage the feat, he made use of more than 30 RCA switchers, more than a dozen HDMI switchers and a variety of other devices.
Among the consoles in use were a Magnavox Odyssey, an Xbox 360, a Nintendo Switch, a Wii U, a very rare Super A’Can and Nasser’s favorite, “always, forever, Sega Genesis,” he said.
You might thing this kind of setup would be chaotic and full of tangled cables, but Nasser said most cables are nearly hidden.
“I used all the tools available in the market in order to organize the cables,” he said. “Also, to have a setup that’s not only to play, it’s like a museum, and that’s why this setup and this record took so much time.”
75 hours of Dream League Soccer
Nigerian gamer Oside “Khoded” Oluwole decided to break a Guinness World Record in a different way — by playing 75 consecutive hours of the mobile game Dream League Soccer 2023. He set the record for longest video game marathon playing a soccer game in July 2024, breaking a 50-hour record set by Briton David Whitefoot in 2022.
Oluwole even got a pat on the back from the Hon. Seun Adesanya, a member of the Ogun state House of Assembly in Nigeria for the feat.
“His achievement stands as an inspiration to all aspiring gamers and an embodiment of the unyielding spirit of determination that drives our nation,” Adesanya said.
78 1/2 hours of World of Warcraft
An even longer record was set by New Jersey veteran Justin O’Donnell, who played fantasy role-playing game World of Warcraft for 78 hours and 30 minutes consecutively. It set a new record for the longest video game marathon playing an MMORPG, according to Guinness World Records.
Like Oluwole, O’Donnell was allowed a 5-minute break from playing each hour, but instead of using his time for rest, the veteran chose to eat food and play with his dogs. He ended the marathon session with 80 minutes of unused rest time.
88-year-old video game blogger
Chinese gamer Yang Binglin, aka “Grandpa Yang,” set a Guinness record in January 2024 as the oldest video game content creator on the platform Bilibili. He shares clips of his gaming sessions playing Tomb Raider and Call of Duty with more than 280,000 followers.
And like all good grandparents, Grandpa Yang advises his young follows not to over-indulge in gaming and to set a time limit.
Yang Binglin, 88-years-old Bilibili creator, has been certified as "The oldest videogames Bilibili content creator" by Guinness World Records Grandpa Yang has posted over 70 gaming videos on his Bilibili account, and the video of him playing Hitman: World of assassination… pic.twitter.com/4mVE44uaVk— bilibili (@bilibili_en) January 30, 2024
13-year-old beats Tetris
From octogenarian to teenager, 13-year-old American gamer Willis Gibson became what is believed to be the first person to fully beat Tetris on the original Nintendo Entertainment System. He accomplished the feat in December 2023 and posted a YouTube video showing the moment he reached the 34-year-old game’s so-called kill screen, which is the point when the game crashes because the software doesn’t go any further.
“Oh my God! Yes! I’m going to pass out,” Gibson says in the video. “I can’t feel my hands.”
