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Verified: Record-breaking Pitfall! Run 236

Posted by timothy from the next-step-getting-a-date dept.
Daniel Vignes writes ""Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back Into The Jungle!" A perfect Pitfall! run with 1:28 left in time, perfect score and no deaths has just been verified by the authority on classic gaming, Twin Galaxies."
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Verified: Record-breaking Pitfall! Run More

Verified: Record-breaking Pitfall! Run

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  • Daniel's Plans (Score:5, Funny)

    by eldavojohn ( 898314 ) * <eldavojohn@noSpAM.gmail.com> on Thursday June 08, 2006 @12:25PM (#15495286) Journal
    Shortly after news broke of Daniel's epic accomplishment, reality TV show offers started pouring in.

    Among them, a proposal from ABC for a televised relationship with Paris Hilton for a month, a proposal from CBS to televise him living in close quarters with Terrell Owens for two months, NBC's proposal to televise him talking with Jack Thompson for three minutes & Fox's proposal to videotape him living for a year with a North American black bear that has been injected with rabies.

    When asked which contract he'd be signing, Daniel revealed he was leaning towards Fox's proposal of starring in "World's Most Dangerous Roommate" citing that he'd take the rabid bear over the other three any day and was cautiously optimistic that his vine-swinging & pit jumping skills would come in handy.

    Daniel has recently purchased a large mansion [wikipedia.org] on loan and is confident that his endorsement contracts are only now starting with Twin Galaxies. Enjoy your fifteen minutes, Daniel!

  • Staying Power (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Doytch ( 950946 ) <markpd@gmailFORTRAN.com minus language> on Thursday June 08, 2006 @12:27PM (#15495299)
    It's amazing how long people still play these retro games. Emulators make it easy for non-fanatics(like me) to pick up SMB3 or Super Contra and play a bit.

    Will today's games last that long, or will it be that much harder to enjoy them years from now because of the extra difficulty of creating a emu for them.
    • I still play the original Final Fantasy in an emulator on my laptop over my lunch break. Albiet not as old as pitfall, but I still love it. Can't wait for the Wii to come out so I can play all those leet 8 bit games on my TV again... (Too lazy for a NTSC out video card) :)
      • You can do this now, with a PlayStation. Final Fantasy Origins (http://na.square-enix.com/games/FFORIGINS/) contains both Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II (never released in North America).

    • Re:Staying Power (Score:4, Funny)

      by rtyall ( 960518 ) on Thursday June 08, 2006 @12:56PM (#15495551) Homepage
      I still play "Sonic the Hedgehog", although I'm slightly dismayed that I can no longer complete "Green Hill Zone Act 1" in 26 seconds. Curse my 26 year old athritic-like thumbs.
      • Soooo true.
        I used to be way better at video games when I was 12.
        They're still fun though, but I have vague memories of actually getting past more than 2 levels of MegaMan...
    • Many of those games were on cutting-edge equipment at the time (ok, not the 2600). They used multiple processors, custom graphics chips, and custom sound chips. Yet, we've been able to emulate them pretty well.

      Even the very advanced-for-its-time TMS34010 [ti.com] graphics processor chip has been emulated in software to play Hard Drivin'. That chip had bit-addressable memory, built-in clipping, overflow math, and 2D fill.

      In 15 years, hardware and software will advance to emulate lots of the stuff in modern video ga

    • Re:Staying Power (Score:4, Informative)

      by deficite ( 977718 ) <joshtaylor.mail@gmail.com> on Thursday June 08, 2006 @01:10PM (#15495668)
      I doubt people will play many of the late 90's and 2000's games because their graphics are so horrible it's distracting. 2D games are still playable because the only people that were responsible for a game looking good were the artists. Nowadays the artists, programmers, animators, hardware, API's, etc. etc. etc. have to be just perfect for a decent experience. Plus the studios didn't have to spend so mnuch because the only people responsible for art were artists and you didn't need as many programmers because you don't have to wrestle with 3D. Thus, the game designers had a lot more responsibility in making a game sell. Gameplay is what makes a game last. Notice how quickly people lost interest in Doom III? I'm sure the extremely limited multiplayer on DIII also had an influence in that as well :(.

      Take Super Mario World. That game was perfect. I still play it today with an emulator, and I can see my cartridge for it from my chair. It came with my Super Nintendo and I've been playing it since my early days (I don't remember when we got our SNES, but I was less than 5 back then).

      Now today's games, as in the generation of Wii, PS3, and XBox360, I think that Wii games have a chance of being as good as the SNES games. The last Nintendo console I bought was a SNES and the mere fact that I'm considering on buying a console again, is a good sign. The games Nintendo plans to release on Wii seem like they have that same magic that SNES games had. As well as you can play SNES games on it as well. Nintendo said that all the virtual console games will be under $10 and IIRC, some will only be like $4.

    • Re:Staying Power (Score:5, Informative)

      by pthisis ( 27352 ) on Thursday June 08, 2006 @03:00PM (#15496634) Homepage Journal
      For those interested in retrogaming, there is currently a month-long nethack tournament going on on (but the biggest tournament is the one devnull runs every November).

      The current leaderboard is at http://sartak.katron.org/nh/tourney/trophies.html [katron.org] and has links to tournament info (anyone can play!)

  • Here Come the Comments... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by th1ckasabr1ck ( 752151 ) on Thursday June 08, 2006 @12:27PM (#15495309)
    ... about this Not Being News.

  • finally ! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 08, 2006 @12:29PM (#15495323)
    And it only took him 24 years to do it !

  • w00t! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Shadow Wrought ( 586631 ) * <shadow.wrought@g ... minus herbivore> on Thursday June 08, 2006 @12:34PM (#15495364) Homepage Journal
    That's awesome. Takes me back 25 years to when, 25 years? Half a century? OK, now I'm depressed.
  • Oh My God!

    Just looking at the screen shots gave me a series of traumatic flashbacks to illicitly playing Pitfall in the library at my Junior high.

    They should have attached warning labels to this posting.

    Any lawyers here? Can I sue?

    Wow.
    • How'd that work? Did you smuggle something into the library? Did they have an atari but you weren't able to play it?

  • Old Video Games (Score:4, Insightful)

    by syntap ( 242090 ) on Thursday June 08, 2006 @12:35PM (#15495374)
    This game does give us a rare glimpse into the payoff given to game players in the old days of video games, which was absolutely nothing. You try for hours, perhaps days or weeks, finally reach the end, and it just freezes the screen and changes the colors on it until you are forced to turn the unit off. No final Fantasy end movie here.
    • Then there was Robotron, the game that would reward you with callused palms from manipulating the, um, joysticks ;-)

      SB
    • At least it didn't do what the NES version of Commando did.

      Yay! You won! Now start over.

      WTF?

      BTW, just turn it off then. The minor variations the second time through are NOT worth the sore thumbs that it gives you :(

    • Re:Old Video Games (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Kynde ( 324134 )
      Back then it was what happened between the start and the finnish of the game that was conidered content.
  • I'd just like to congratulate Daniel on his amazing run. The people of 1983 must be looking down from Heaven and smiling today!

    -Eric

  • It's the BEST atory I have read here today! Keep it up...

  • 1982 Called..., (Score:5, Funny)

    by fuzzyfozzie ( 978329 ) on Thursday June 08, 2006 @12:37PM (#15495389)
    and they want their news back.
  • Exception of type System.OutOfMemoryException was thrown. Is it just me, or is this the perfect error for an article about 1983 gaming?

  • Wait a minute... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Spy der Mann ( 805235 ) <`moc.liamg' `ta' `todhsals.nnamredyps'> on Thursday June 08, 2006 @12:39PM (#15495412) Homepage Journal
    you mean you could ACTUALLY win the game? :-o

  • I never played pitfall (Score:2, Interesting)

    by mmalove ( 919245 )
    and probably never will.

    But it does go to show the power of innovation. Why do we remember pitfall? SMB1? DW1? Because they broke ground, bringing ideas to platforms that did not before exist. Hell, I still long for a game of Genghis Khan 1 sometimes. Others can come along and do them longer, better graphics, shinier treasure, and hold the spotlight for a while. But they'll never be able to say they did it first. Which means five minutes later, someone's going to do it longer, shinier, better than t
    • "Why do we remember pitfall? SMB1? DW1? Because they broke ground, bringing ideas to platforms that did not before exist."

      Surely you jest about Dragon Warrior. It was vastly inferior to Apple II RPGs of the day in every way but graphics and sound.

      I'd also argue SMB1, fun game that it was, was highly derivative from games like Pitfall and the original Mario Brothers.

      -Erwos

  • News on slashdot: IIS Market share up (Score:5, Funny)

    by tlk nnr ( 449342 ) on Thursday June 08, 2006 @12:43PM (#15495439) Homepage
    http://www.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=19&id=135 5 [twingalaxies.com]:

    Server Error in '/' Application.
    Exception of type System.OutOfMemoryException was thrown.
    Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

    Exception Details: System.OutOfMemoryException: Exception of type System.OutOfMemoryException was thrown.

    Source Error:

    An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.

    Stack Trace:

    [OutOfMemoryException: Exception of type System.OutOfMemoryException was thrown.]

    Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:1.1.4322.2032; ASP.NET Version:1.1.4322.2032

    • ...the article is clearly a dupe.

      [OutOfMemoryException: Exception of type System.OutOfMemoryException was thrown.]
      Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:1.1.4322.2032; ASP.NET Version:1.1.4322.2032

      I mean, c'mon editors - get with it! How many times are you going to link to that?

  • Okay, where's the video? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Morgon ( 27979 ) on Thursday June 08, 2006 @12:43PM (#15495441) Homepage
    Am I the only one who wants to view the verification video? Not to scrutinize it of course, but I want to see it!
    • no you aren't. I was searching all over for it. Talk about lame not having it up anywhere!

    • I'm guessing the video will probably made it to Speed Demos Archive [speeddemosarchive.com] sooner or later.

    • Indeed. I at least want to know if it was a forwards or backwards run through the game (running right or left). I found going left was a lot easier because as long as you kept moving you'd never get hit by the rolling logs.
    • No your not. And I'd like to see the video of someone a couple of years back getting the record for pacman. Pacman is probably unique in this sense because most of the retro games would repeat and go on forever but because of the bug once you reach a certain board, it becomes unplayable, so people set their sites on getting a perfect game. I'm surprised this was only accomplished a couple of years back. Yes of course pitfall had a end as well, but that was a matter of beat the clock, I don't think anyon

  • In related news... (Score:3, Funny)

    by pulse2600 ( 625694 ) on Thursday June 08, 2006 @12:49PM (#15495490)
    Verified: Record-breaking number of consecutive days without a date! Record holder Daniel Vignes ends his run by emerging from his parents' basement on 6/5/06 to announce his perfect Pitfall! game with 1:28 left in time. j/k dude, congrats! I could never beat that game.

    • Re:In related news... (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Surt ( 22457 )
      with 1:28 left in time. j/k dude, congrats! I could never beat that game.

      Considering that the world record holder, after a quarter century, only did it with a minute and a half to spare out of twenty minutes total, I would encourage you not to feel bad about being unable to beat it.
  • Someone want to tell me why this is a "full" story? I mean really....Pitfall? I could understand if it were something like...you know, Bible Blaster or something...but Pitfall?

  • Great pickup line (Score:4, Funny)

    by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Thursday June 08, 2006 @12:54PM (#15495524)
    "I did Pitfall with 1:28 left!"

    Might rank right after "3 touchdowns in a high-school football game".

    Hmm... I guess I'll stick with "I make almost 6 digits a year".

  • This comes handy. (Score:5, Funny)

    by stm2 ( 141831 ) <sbassi@genes d i g i t a l e s .com> on Thursday June 08, 2006 @12:55PM (#15495541) Homepage Journal
    Since there will be a Pitfall movie:

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=heWXUSr1DmA&search=pitf all [youtube.com]
  • Where do you go after this? My guess is to "Hunt the Wumpus"

  • Pitfall is HARD (Score:3, Interesting)

    by 192939495969798999 ( 58312 ) <[info] [at] [devinmoore.com]> on Thursday June 08, 2006 @01:18PM (#15495726) Homepage Journal
    If you've never played pitfall, especially with the original "controllers" (paddles - basically a knob and a button on a brick, if you've never used one)... that game is HARD. It looks a bit like a regular side-scroller, but one slightly off jump and you're dead. It took me forever just to get past that damned alligator in the first few screens! And yes, many older games are still awesome today, just like many older songs are still awesome today. Pitfall is definitely a classic, like Pac-Man. IMHO, every gamer should play it and other classic games at least once, so they can understand why us older folks get pissy about the latest graphics with Yet Another FPS behind it.
    • If you've never played pitfall, especially with the original "controllers" (paddles - basically a knob and a button on a brick, if you've never used one)... that game is HARD.

      To the best of my knowledge, Pitfall was never a paddle-based game. It used a joystick like most other games of that era. There was no variable-speed motion.

      I certainly agree, though, that Pitfall is one of the great classics.

    • Pitfall was not a paddle game, it was a joystick game. If you tried playing it with the paddle controllers, no wonder you found it so hard.
    • As others have noted, pitfall was not a paddle-based game. how do I know? I had a 2600 and Pitfall and I played it with the analog joystick. Kids today, they all think retro is so cool. While I liked playing Pitfall (played both I and II again in Pitfall Harry for the XBOX - secret games that had to be unlocked), I enjoy some of the newer games, including Doom 3, World of Warcraft, and GTA:SA. Games are supposed to be fun that kill a little time, not things you over obsess about.
  • Could not this have been done similar to that dude who recreated the world series game in an emulator (back up, continue if something goes wrong)? Or slowed down the emulator to make it easier?

    (Apologies for not reading how Twin Galaxies "confirmed" it, they seem to be /.'d.)
  • Quotation marks go a long way in readability.

  • Twin Galaxies? "Authority"? (Score:3, Informative)

    by SamSim ( 630795 ) on Thursday June 08, 2006 @02:00PM (#15496052) Homepage Journal
    the authority on classic gaming, Twin Galaxies.

    TG is a poor excuse for a videogame scorekeeping authority. Their proof demands are unreasonable, their rankings pages are horrifyingly badly constructed and their response times are appalling. I "won" a $100 bounty from TG in 2005 which was supposed to be awarded on January 30th of this year and am still waiting to receive it, and I believe many other people are in the same boat. (It was the Zelda 64 one, anybody who's interested - I beat the whole game with 100 Skulltulas and the Mask of Truth in under 7 hours.) I would advise against anybody going for any TG bounties offered in the future. I suspect the TG team just uses it as a free supply of videotapes.

  • Having "logged" (pun intended) more hours than I dare to imagine playing Pitfall, I think that this is a wonderful achievement! I salute this guy. As a kid I spent half a summer drawing out sketches of all 255 screens of Pitfall, and made a list of every possible underground route.

    That was long before I discovered sex, of course. ;-)
    • Having "logged" (pun intended) more hours than I dare to imagine playing Pitfall, I think that this is a wonderful achievement! I salute this guy. As a kid I spent half a summer drawing out sketches of all 255 screens of Pitfall, and made a list of every possible underground route.

      And I thought I was the only one who wasted my youth doing that!

  • Back in the days when PCs had Turbo buttons, it was easy to select the level of difficulity in game.

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