New forums news items: Asteroids & Pac-Man Plus WR's

[MDARULZ]

I added the following two write-ups to the forums' top-of-page news items this past weekend.  As always, please comment on the specifics of the accomplishments / info in the appropriate threads on the forums (Asteroids here, and Pac-Man Plus in the links shown below), and leave this one for comments on anything related to the construction of the news item(s), vs. the information within.

John McAllister tops Asteroids WR set in 1982

'New' gaming sensation John McAllister has added another score to his stable of incredible world records, all made in just over a year.  This time it's an ultra-marathon that spanned almost 58 hours, and garnered him the Asteroids record, breaking the long-standing score of 41,336,440 points set by the late Scott Safran on November 13, 1982.

In a world-exclusive for CAGDC, the game details are that John's (unofficial) final score was 41,838,740 points, and his game lasted 57:46:11 H:M:S, ending at 10:18 PM PT on Monday, April 5, 2010.  This terrific effort is the longest marathon done since 1985, and is also the longest recorded (to media) marathon in the history of our hobby.  Terrific job, John, and good luck adding to your collection of records in the future !

- MDA, Spring 2010

26 year old Pac-Man Plus record broken... twice !

26 years to the day, master gamer Aart van Vliet beat the long-standing world record, by Shannon Ryan, on Pac-Man Plus.  His 2009 score of 3,456,560 points topped the former WR of 3,213,900, set way back on November 21, 1983.

But, Aart wasn't done yet; three days later, he took his first man all the way to the splitscreen, and notched the topmost score ever (for any platform), making a superb mark of 3,481,980.  He also missed only two items (both ghosts) that were made available to him, which is also a supreme feat.

Congratulations on the incredible double world records, Aart, during your visit at the annual Funspot November gathering.

- MDA, Spring 2010

[PacWhiz]

A wide-eyed jaw-dropped congrats to John McMachine once again !!
That is one darn impressive list of WRs...

And thanks Mark for the mention, and for recording the proof !

[U.K Jon]

Amazing WRs there 
Congratulations to John & Aart. 

[Dantes]

Very nice writeups, congrats to John and Aart. Are you going to do a writeup for Steve's new scores?

[MDARULZ]

Good question, Bram !  As you can imagine, having too many news stories in the news box would cause the bigger ones to 'get lost', so I have to judge which are of a level of importance to be featured (kind of like what gets covered in the news on tv).

For games that are not common, or well known, it makes less sense to put up a news piece on them, versus making sure that a forums topic is started (as I encouraged you to do for Steve, when we spoke via Skype).  Remember, you guys can help me out by putting up news about things that may not be as prominent as a wr score on a major title.  I (and Eric Akeson, courtesy of his TG position as an arcade verification referee) usually cover the 'big stuff', and for more minor (yet, of course, important still) games, you guys can act as a 'reporter in the field' for CAGDC, and post about it.

The best area for you guys to post in, as far as records go, is (as always): The Latest Scores: World Records, and Personal Bests.  For other things, like announcements of upcoming classic arcade-related events, or news you've seen on other sites, there are appropriate boards on the forums for those things.  Specifically, for the former, use Announcements about Upcoming, Current, or Recent Arcade Contests and Events, and for the latter, use The Latest (and Greatest).

Thanks for reporting on Steve's new record, Bram, and keep your eye out for similar things.  In the meantime, the news 'ticker' will be stocked with the really big news on events and scores in the hobby, and the appropriate forums boards will have topics covering anything else.  Now... let the reporting begin !

[Dantes]

Okay, I see, I was just wondering. I understand the biggest news should be in the news box... But I also think the news box should contain relatively "new" news... I don't think reports of scores/events of two years or older should be there, and I think I've seen some there. But that's just my opinion.

I'll certainly look out for more news and especially with the streaming.

[MDARULZ]

I quite agree - some news has been out of date, but most items were only just over one year past the time the news occurred.  And, sometimes, I want to leave an item up for a year... for example, info on the CAGDC Tourney.  I leave that up until the next year's news piece is ready.

But your point is well taken.  In the past, I got a bit lazy about the news, but that's over.  We're currently not only caught up, but also getting news up within days, or a week or so at the outside.  And, with some of my mods on board with writing up pieces to help me save time, my goal is to get up news within 2 or 3 days, at the latest.

Also, I'm gearing up to get the main website caught up, and will be working on that (literally) all year.  I hope that by year's end, most everything will be done, and there will be no more delays on my end.  I do have limited time to work on the site, but that's no excuse - I have to manage my time such that everything gets done, and currently, prospects are good for me to have lots of time put in on things.  Wish me luck !

[Dantes]

That's all great to hear, Mark. Very glad that the old stuff is being updated. You certainly put a lot of effort into the forum and website. If you ever need some help from me in modding, writing stuff for the forum/website, working on the website (I can code (X)HTML, CSS, some Javascript, PHP and MySQL...) or something else, just let me know, I'll be glad to help if I can.

[Steve W]

U the man Dantes!

[Dantes]

Thanks, even though I don't know what warranted that compliment!

[MDARULZ]

If you ever need some help from me in modding, writing stuff for the forum/website, working on the website (I can code (X)HTML, CSS, some Javascript, PHP and MySQL...) or something else, just let me know, I'll be glad to help if I can.

I didn't know you had all that expertise !  Actually I need some help with a PHP issue.  I'll e-mail you about it soon.  Thanks !