Two men entered into battle with the classic arcade title Q*bert this weekend. One of them, classic arcade champ George Leutz, walked away with a new world record score of 37,163,080 after 84 hours, 48 minutes of play, losing his last life at 12:38 a.m. Leutz began his game at a New Jersey arcade location just before noon Eastern time on Valentine's Day.
Leutz's score tops the 33,273,520 point world record set in November 1983, and also breaks the all-time verified arcade longevity record of 68.5 hours set by Florida's Ed Heemskerk last year. This accomplishment also ends a long battle by Leutz to top the decades-old world record score, with previous attempts ending due to fatigue and once due to having his power cord pulled mid-game.
Heemskerk went deep in his latest effort for the Q*bert record as well, finishing with 28,870,165 in 63 hours, 4 minutes. The now-former longevity champion started at 8:04 a.m. Eastern on February 15 before losing out late Sunday evening.
These marathon runs aren't the only time the classic Q*bert character will see press this week. The iconic arcade character was an important figure in Disney's Wreck-It Ralph film, which is nominated for an Academy Award. The annual awards show takes place this Sunday, Feb. 24.
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The author of this article can be reached at PatrickScottPatterson.com and on Twitter @OriginalPSP.
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