Asteroids World Record.

[T-bolt]

 
  Hi,

  Today is the day 24 years ago that Scott Safran made the World record on Asteroids. I was lucky enough to have found the very same Asteroids that Scott made the record on. So I had to play a few games on it today to celebrate the event.

 Steve

[pauldean]

Steve,

Can you tell us if the chip set played by Scott Safran so many years back was the Asteroids Fast or Asteroids Slow
chip set??? Did Scott Safran sign the game that you are playing?

The difference being that the ships come out much more rapidly when ship hunting with the Asteroids Fast
Chip Set or Jumper Wire, which was originally installed by route operators to eat quarters quicker as only the
best players could keep up with the faster pace of the small ship attacks while hunting.

Lurking:
Some players discovered that small UFOs would be continually sent out when the asteroid count decreased to a
certain level. Since these UFOs were worth 1,000 points each - a significant sum on this game - a strategy known as
"lurking" soon developed around this.

More on Asteroids Chip Sets and the differences:
http://www.twingalaxies.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8512&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Even something more interesting to me would be somebody actually beating Scott Safran's world record score on
the same game with the same chip set so many years later.

Asteroids World Record Scores:
http://www.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=22&pi=2&gi=4017&vi=643

The Asteroids World Record score of 41,336,440 was done by Scott Safran from Newton, PA, United States on 11/13/1982

Thanks!

[Weehawk]

The Asteroids World Record score of 41,336,440 was done by Scott Safran from Newton, PA, United States on 11/13/1982

For those that don't know the rest of the story, Walter Day tried for the next 20 years to find Scott Safran to officially honor him for the achievement, to no avail. Shortly before the 20th anniversary of the event, the explanation was brought forth, but it was not good news. Scott had died in 1989 in a fall from a roof, trying to rescue his pet cat.

http://www.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=18&id=349

[T-bolt]

 Hi Paul,

 When I got the machine it was dead, The Power Supply board fried the 5 volt part of the board and took a few capacitors and some chips on the main board with it. I put in another set of boards in and have been using them since, But I did repair the original set and was just saving the the correct ones for the future. I'll have to put them in and try them out to see if there is a differince in play.

 The board is Rev. 2 with no jumper wires or extra boards, the cabinet has the later coin door... Not like the Luner Lander type coin door... also has the G05-802 monitor.

 Yes, The game is signed. His signiture is on the cardboard bezel with date, score, and length of time he played ...53 hours and 8 min. the side of the cab also has his score and his initials...The S.A.F. Someone had painted over that, but you can still see it. Tried removing the paint but didn't want to risk damaging the writing underneath.

 The coin door still has the All-American Billards and Shuffleboard Co. decal on it.

 I have pictures if like to see, also have the ones his family took over those few days.

  Steve

 

[pauldean]

Steve,

Thank you for the great information on Scott Safran - Asteroids Coin-OP Marathon Game.. It's been a long time since
any information could be found.

1979 Asteroids Revision - UPDATES -

Asteroids – Revision 1
Rev 1a
Rev 1b

Asteroids – Revision 2
Rev 2a
Rev 2b

The Rev.1 version had an invulnerability glitch, which allowed players to hide in the upper corners of the screen (in the score)
and be invulnerable to collisions. Also, players could make their ship fly backwards by thrusting in one direction until reaching
full speed, and then quickly turn around 180 degrees and continue thrusting.

The original software version of Rev. 1 (says “Asteroids by Atari” at bottom of screen.)

The Rev.2 version says '1979 Atari' at the bottom of the title screen, instead of the 'Asteroids by Atari' that was displayed in
Rev.1. Also, the invulnerability glitch of Rev.1 is corrected.

I'd love to find out if Scott Safran was playing on the unique fast chip Asteroids Game rather than on the more common
slow chip Asteroids game. It would explain how he got so many points in a relatively short period of time of 53 hours and 8 min. using the hunting method.

Scott Safran was one of the pioneers of the marathon gaming world and any photos would be great to see because of
the significance of his Asteroids accomplishment, as he disappeared shortly after his world record, never to be heard from
again by the gaming public, there is very little known about him.

Please let us know of anything else you have found out about this holy grail of accomplishments.

Thanks!

[Weehawk]

Found quite a few pictures of Mr. Safran's record performance at some crazy guy's website:

http://spyhunter007.com/silco_west.htm

[MDARULZ]

  Today is the day 24 years ago that Scott Safran made the World record on Asteroids. I was lucky enough to have found the very same Asteroids that Scott made the record on. So I had to play a few games on it today to celebrate the event.

Thanks for posting this interesting topic, Steve !  There was certainly no better way to mark the day than to recognize Scott's great contribution to cag by playing in his honor, and on the very machine he used to score the record !  His score is certainly one of the longest-standing, at least for a major, popular game title (say, top 50 of all-time, as far as the classics go).

A big thanks go to Paul and John, for their (as usual) interesting and informative posts, chock-full of information !

Yes, The game is signed. His signiture is on the cardboard bezel with date, score, and length of time he played ...53 hours and 8 min. the side of the cab also has his score and his initials...The S.A.F. Someone had painted over that, but you can still see it. Tried removing the paint but didn't want to risk damaging the writing underneath.

 The coin door still has the All-American Billards and Shuffleboard Co. decal on it.

 I have pictures if like to see, also have the ones his family took over those few days.

Thank you too, Steve, for supplying all the interesting and detailed info on the original Asteroids unit.  You'll have to relate the story of how you obtained it in the first place, which you told me at Challenge Arcade.  Very interesting...

As far as the pics go, Steve has posted them on his Flickr account, here.  Steve has given me permission to post them on my site, which is the works.  So, please Paul, resist the urge to 'borrow' any of Steve's original shots for your web site !   

[T-bolt]

 Today I took a trip to 201 S. State St. newtown, Pa. No more All- American Billiards & Shuffleboard Co. It's now an Art Gallery. I took some PICS. of the old building and area around it, There posted on my Flickr account if you like to check them out.

 Steve

[MDARULZ]

Today I took a trip to 201 S. State St. newtown, Pa. No more All- American Billiards & Shuffleboard Co. It's now an Art Gallery. I took some PICS. of the old building and area around it, There posted on my Flickr account if you like to check them out.

Wow - those are even more great pics to add to all of the ones already up on your Flickr account, Steve.  I love taking 'video game trips' myself, and will have future picture coverage up on the site of some of my forays I've taken in the past.

It was very interesting to see how that famous location where Scott played has changed.  Of course, 99% of the classic arcades from the 80's are gone, and most that are not have basically eliminated all of the classic titles.  That's true of the all the places here in Louisville, tho the local Putt-Putt has a couple of classics still.  And, of course Funspot is another location that's around, and still has classics.  Otherwise, I know of no other.  Paul, do you know if either Captain Video (on Pico Blvd.), or Castle Park, still have any older titles (or, if they're even open) ?

I got a chance to really check out all of your home arcade pics, Steve.  It's one of the most impressive that I've seen (hey, any arcade with Crystal Castles and  Marble Madness has to be good !).  I must make the time to see it when I'm next in PA !  I also appreciate you taking the pics of me fooling around on CC, from the September event.

The Flashbacks arcade looks terrific !  And, I forgot about Videotopia - it has a lot more games than I imagined.  You're lucky to have experienced these places, plus Challenge Arcade (and, you have a fantastic home arcade, too !).  Feel free to post a write-up on Flashbacks, and / or Videotopia, in the 'Other Locations - the present' board.

Well, keep up the good work, and good luck with the games in your super basement arcade !

[pauldean]

Mark,

Mike McClelland and Mr. Gary Gullette opened Captain Video Arcade in Los Angeles in April of 1981 on
10672 W Pico Blvd - Los Angeles, CA. Captain Video closed down a long time ago. Castle Park, on 3500
Polk Street, Riverside, CA. is open but just isn't the same as it used to be. There are about 5 classic titles
in the pit that have heavy graffiti on the screens, etc., and no pinball games at all in this location. Just a bunch
of high cost redemption games with cheap junk trinkets at the counter and a few driving games. For years,
Bud Hurlbut, the owner of Castle Park arcade, had a section of about 30 old classic games from  the early
1980's upstairs another 30 downstaris and he had a corner of classic cocktail table games next to the snack bar
and classic games in the pit with the pool tables.

When Bud Hurlbut was bought out, the upstairs and area below that became one of those kiddy scary rides,
Ghost Blasters Roller Coaster, and the area next to the snack bar became a storage area, deleting all
of the classic cocktail table games and the pool tables in the pit were replaced by new coin-operated sitdown
driving games. Speaking of the snack bar, I tried to purchase a hot dog their about a month ago, and I was
served an ice cold hot dog. I asked for it to be heated up and the warmer caught on fire.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
-out of business-
Captain Video
10672 W Pico Blvd - Los Angeles, CA
310-837-4195

Captain Video has now changed to a new business, Ortho Mattress:
Ortho Mattress
10672 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA
(310) 474-9555
 
Castle Park
Link to Castle Park. 3500 Polk Street Riverside, CA. (951) 785-3000
http://www.castlepark.com/explore.html

What a terrible use of space!

At least Camelot Arcade in Anaheim California has two Ulracades so you can get some of your classic
gaming fix there, but they too have deleted their pinball section.

Camelot Golfland
Link to Camelot Arcade, 3200 E Carpenter Ave., Anaheim, CA. 92806 714-630-3340
http://anaheim.golfland.com/attractions.aspx#Arcade

A newer venue Reagan Years Classic Arcade is open yet, their is nobody to maintain these broken classic
games.

Reagan Years Arcade
124 E Commonwealth Ave
Fullerton, CA 92832
(714) 525-1984

Reagan Years Review:
http://spyhunter007.com/reagan_years_classics_arcade.htm

Link to games in Reagan Years Arcade:
http://arcadelocations.classicgaming.gamespy.com/PlaceSearch.php3?code=cafulrea

Unless you are in a time warp, the classic games are disappearing left and right.

Thank you.

[T-bolt]

Wow - those are even more great pics to add to all of the ones already up on your Flickr account, Steve.  I love taking 'video game trips' myself, and will have future picture coverage up on the site of some of my forays I've taken in the past.

  I have been meaning to take a trip there for sometime. I plan on taking a trip back there and getting some photos from the inside.

I got a chance to really check out all of your home arcade pics, Steve.  It's one of the most impressive that I've seen (hey, any arcade with Crystal Castles and  Marble Madness has to be good !).  I must make the time to see it when I'm next in PA !  I also appreciate you taking the pics of me fooling around on CC, from the September event.

  Thanks, Thats my TIME WARP to the 80's.  Yea, That would be great if you stop by, or anybody else here. Last Saturday I just pick up a game you might like, Food Fight  .

[pauldean]

Steve,

It is great that your coin-op arcade classic video game collection is growing. I'm excited about a dedicated Mr. Do!
which I just picked up today and am hoping to bring it to California Extreme 2007 because a certain gamer,
Tongki Linderman, believes he can get a new world record on this game and he deserves a try at it.

There are tons more of games on my list to fill out my classics collection but it takes time and opportunity to get
these rare classic gems.

I also make my rounds from time to time to all of the local arcades to find out what classics are left. I am finding
a trend of Ultracade type machines popping up with anywhere from 100 to 999 games on the arcade system.
But to me it isn't the same feel or control panel layout that the original games have, nor the great graphics and
artwork and style of the original cabinets from the 80's.

As for Asteroids I just wanted to share with you a quote from Leo Daniels, second place world record holder regarding
Asteroids fast game version:
 
> Leo Daniels Quote: "For the record, my Asteroid score was done on the "fast chip" version." Asteroids: 40,101,910
>
Leo Daniels: Atari Asteroids 36 hours and 4 minutes Asteroids World Record - 40,101,910 2/6/1982
Scott Safran Atari Asteroids 53 hours and 8 minutes Asteroids World Record  - 41,336,440 11/13/82 Standing World Record
Mark Bersabe –           45 hours                          Asteroids Iron Man        - 18,552,590  07/0785 Iron Man Contest
William Carlton Asteroids 27 hours, 19 minutes and 26 seconds,  Asteroids      - 12,756,970 11/29/03 Taped Score

Nobody will come close to getting a Asteroids world record unless they play on a similar Asteroids fast chip game
which has a speedy scoring rate, do to the long hours of the marathon attempt.

The main problem with long marathons is that your vision starts to get bad after staring at the screen for long hours.
So rest breaks are very necessary in order to keep going. Good luck to all who are attempting iron man marathon
attempts, especially an iron man attempt on the Asteroids World Record which took 53 hours and 8 minutes by
Scott Safran.

I think only a few people have stayed up longer on a marathon arcade world record and one was
James Vollandt at the Iron man Contest, Joust Arcade Game of 67 1/4 hours in Canada at Johnny Z's Arcade.

($10,000 Iron Man Contest - Started July 5, 1985 at Johnny Zee’s in Victoria, BC, Canada., Walter Day, Referee).

Iron Man Contest - July 5-6, 1985 Mark Bersabe – on Asteroids for 45 hours for a score of 18,552,590.

Twin Galaxies estimates that Asteroids Slow version would take between 72-80 hours to
Beat the Scott Safran score.

Thank you.

[T-bolt]

It is great that your coin-op arcade classic video game collection is growing. I'm excited about a dedicated Mr. Do!
which I just picked up today and am hoping to bring it to California Extreme 2007 because a certain gamer,
Tongki Linderman, believes he can get a new world record on this game and he deserves a try at it.

  Nice find on the Mr. Do, I have seen a few for sale, But none that are in the dedicated cabinet. I would like to go to the C.E. and check it out. All those proto games look cool. I'm sure Tongki can do it for sure.

There are tons more of games on my list to fill out my classics collection but it takes time and opportunity to get
these rare classic gems.

  I'm always looking for the good classics, It does take some time. The hunt for them is pretty rewarding when you find one you been wanting, saving it and being enjoyed like when they were new.

But to me it isn't the same feel or control panel layout that the original games have, nor the great graphics and
artwork and style of the original cabinets from the 80's.

  I agree 100% on that, nothing like the real thing.

  Steve

[T-bolt]

  Paul,

  Finding the record Asteroids was a bit of luck. A friend of mine (Dave) works at an airport and he had put up a picture on the bulletin board of him playing my robotron, well this guy that just started there a few weeks earlier sees it. He asks Dave if I would like to buy two games that his Dad had in there basement for about 18 years, Asteroids and a Dolly Parton pinball.

  This guy wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, So he wouldn't last there to long. It took over a month just to get a date to go over to check them out. Just was glad he kept his job long enough.

  It was early July 2005 on a Wed. I went right after work to his Dad's house in Morrisville Pa. The first thing that I thought when he opened the door to the basement was, these games have to be trashed. The air smell of mold and humidity it was unhealthy just breathting, It was dark, so dark he used a drop light to look at them. The Asteroids was supposed to work, but didn't. I almost turned down taking the Asteroids, Thought about it, It's not to bad of shape. I then saw the bezel had writing on it and thought that was destroyed, not knowing it was a signature, figured it was graffiti. Really couldn't read it because it was so dirty. I asked the guy about the record that was on there, and he just said maybe it is, he hadn't noticed the writing on there. Asked him where he brought them he said at the amusements center in town. All he cared was that I was taking the game out of his basement. They were so glad to see those games gone. That staircase was a ***** had about 1/2" clearance on the sides of the cabinet.

 I thought that couldn't be same machine the record was done on, Then I did the search for his name on the internet and a ton of info confermed it. Thanks to Twin Galaxies and Paul Deans site, Paul you really have the most on asteroids, Big thanks for that.

 Hope this helps,  Steve

[pauldean]

Steve,
Great story on Asteroids. Sounds a bit like how I found a Chicago Coin 1959 shooter
that was saved from the dump by just one day. I was at the right place at the right
time.

I understand about moving games out of tight places as well, as I had a location build
 a room around my game without leaving clearance for me to get the game out. Luckily,
removing the door with absolutely no room to spare, got my game out of their storage
space.

Thanks again, and I hope to hear some more great stories about coin-op video game finds
out there. It is something how tricky it is to acquire games with timing and a bit of luck!

By the way, my guess is that if you hold on to these games that they will all become quite
expensive collectables in years to come as the originals will be very hard to find and people
will pay top dollar to find them in working order.

Good luck on future hunts!