Local gamer sets numerous world records

[ToddsGuardian]

This article was in today's copy of the Hernando Today Newspaper.

 

Local gamer sets numerous world records

By RAY REYES rreyes@hernandotoday.com

Published: Aug 18, 2003

HIGH POINT - The current generation of button mashers may not be aware that there was another era of video gaming, a golden age, before polygons and Playstation.

It was a time, 20 years ago, when complicated graphic effects such as bump-mapping, bip-mapping and anti-aliasing were just an unbreakable, coded fever dream in developer's minds.

It was a time when players played just to get the high score on their favorite games, and when they did so they received respect from their peers and even game developers.

It was a time when video games were a minor tributary flowing through the pop culture landscape, not the mainstream phenomenon it is now.

It was a time that High Point resident Todd Rogers remembers very fondly, because he spent most of the 1980s obliterating and demoralizing every video game opponent that challenged him - human or computer.

Wait a minute. You've never heard of him?

"All these younger players are like, 'Who's Todd Rogers?'" Rogers said. "They say that I'm a relic, that I'm so 20 years ago."

Video gaming history is a short and scattered one, loosely held together by arcane trivia. And the attention span of video gamers is even shorter.

But Rogers has carved himself a niche in that history, racking up high scores in hundreds of video games - on a multitude of home consoles from the Atari 2600 to the X-Box - and holding 1,904 world records to boot.

Some scores date back to 1980, when he attained 653,990 on the arcade game Gorf - still a world record today - and demolished famed developer David Crane's Dragster with a time of 5.51 seconds.

He became a celebrity, joining video game company Activision on press tours around the country. Rogers was even a member of the U.S. National Video Game Team in 1986.

Now 38, Rogers has re-emerged from a game- playing sabbatical, and has returned from the Classic Gaming Expo held in Las Vegas on Aug. 9 and 10.

"It was the mecca of retro gaming," Rogers said. "It brought out video game players from all over the world. Not to mention a who's who of the video gaming industry."

At the expo, Rogers and other gaming legends of the past were the featured subjects in a series of short documentaries filmed by G4, the 24-hour video gaming cable network.

Rogers also got a chance to officiate the Atari 2600 Decathlon booth and challenge event goers to the javelin portion of the game, which he holds the world record of 93.09 meters, by the way.

To Rogers, it was a blast from the past, a reminder of how gaming used to be.

"Games are structured different today," Rogers said. "You have teams of developers for one game rather than one developer. Now, it's a pooling of ideas, and they rely upon graphics, not gameplay. I don't think they're putting in nearly as much effort into the games as they did 20 years ago."

Rogers added that these days, proficient players aren't the stars of the industry anymore. The developers and their characters - like Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog or Link from the Legend of Zelda series - are.

Now that Rogers has re-emerged, he plans to bring gaming back to its roots.

"I would say I'm still pretty proficient," Rogers said. "There are some games I still excel at. But you can't be good at everything."

He added that he's currently developing a game, named Delerium 2, for the PC, and plans to compete in the video game Iron Man competition in the fall. It's an event where gamers attempt to play as long as they can on one quarter. The purse for the event is $25,000.

For Rogers, it should be walk in the park, considering he once played a game for 72 hours straight.

"Geez, I hope I get bathroom breaks," Rogers laughed.

To Rogers, that spirit of white-knuckled, sweaty-palmed, bloodshot-eyed competition is the core of what made video games so popular to begin with.

"Back in the day, it was all about being No. 1," Rogers said. "About being the best. About never giving up."

He added, speaking like a true champ, "It was about playing to win."

[D.Yancey]

That about says it all! I remember those days. Wow Todd-1904 records! April, thanks for posting the article, I enjoyed reading it very much.

[AtariDude]

1904 records? I don't think I have even played that many different games. Where does someone find the time to play this many games and be so good at all of them?

 

It was hard enough for me to just get good at even one little game. This person must either have unreal reflexes or spend practically every waking moment back 20 years ago playing games.

 

Does the term "get a life" mean anything?

 

Sorry..I just couldn't resist that

[snakeeyesdd]

Hey High Point as in NC just wondring cause I live near gboro

[D.Yancey]

It's in FL.

[+Andrew Davie]

For Rogers, it should be walk in the park, considering he once played a game for 72 hours straight.

 

 

When I was 16, I played Crossfire for 10 hours nonstop, and Defender ('800) for 17 hours nonstop. I am still recovering, and I'm well over double that age, now. For weeks after playing I dreamed of nothing but those games... my brain was 'wired', and I hated it. I lost all desire to play games after those two efforts. I can't imagine why somebody would bother playing for 72 hours.

 

I think Todd's brain might be a very frightening place to be.

[Chadivision]

Does anyone know if Todd is registered at Atari Age?

[homerwannabee]

yes todd is registered at atariage, he usually only posts when he gets wind that someone here wants to challenge him. I talked to him at the C.G.E. and comented about barnstorming and bigthunder660. So I am pretty sure that it is him who responds to the posts. I he goes under todd rogers. One question is it possible to be a local gamer on an international forum

[ToddRogers]

Hello Fellow Gamers

To the question if I am registered here at Atari Age. Why yes....I understand Chadivision that from your profile you live in Zephyrhills well thats a stone jump away from me in Brooksville. Maybe we aught to hook up some time for some Video game play sometime in the near future.

 

Homerwannabee yes I do remember you asking me at the C.G.E. about Barnstorming and I would have loved the chance again to play it for you but there was SOOOOO much going on at the show that it was hard at times to even get a bite to eat. I did try and locate you when I did have some time but it just didn't happen. I am however in the process of converting and uploading the actual 32.50 to an AVI or MOV file for others to view for their enjoyment. So everybody lets keep those great gaming scores rolling in.

 

 

Todd Mr. Activision Rogers

[AtariDude]

Todd,

 

How is it that you are able to stay awake during those marathon gaming sessions of yours? I find it interesting that you are able to do so for such a long time without collapse because I know that if I tried doing what you were doing, I would wind up in serious condition at a hospital.

 

Have you always been able to have these marathon sessions or do you need to prepare yourself in some ways (like sleeping a large number of hours for several days in advance).

 

Just curious.

[liveinabin]

I can get through 3 screens of ET without falling down a well. 3 screens! Read it and weep!

[AtariDude]

That is not possible

 

The A.I. built into E.T. requires you to fall into a pit every third screen

[Chadivision]

Todd,

 

I would love to get together and play Atari sometime. The only problem is that as much as I love video games, I suck at just about every game that has ever been made. It would still be fun though.

 

I was trying to think about what I could beat you at, and I came up with one thing. This will be my 44th post at Atari Age and I see that you have posted 42 times, so right now I'm winning. I'm going to pretend that's something to be proud of.

 

Have you tried my new homebrew, "Backfire"? I'm curious to see if you can roll the counter. I can get about half way there. On second thought, I don't know if I want you to play it since right now I have the world record (5,125). I'll bet it would take you a good 25 minutes to beat that score!

[Canuck]

Great read! Always enjoy reading anything about atari and it's legendary high scores.

That's awesome for Todd to reply!