High Scorers

American Edition Electronic Gaming Magazine of World Records

December 1983 Video Game High Scores

(Effective 8/18/83) August 18, 1983 for December 1983 Publishing


Baby Pac-Man           6,685,130  Richard Sattilaro, Edison, New Jersey
Bagman                 3,333,330  Tie: Mark Robichek, Mountain View, California
                                  Paul Lagrou, Moscow, Idaho
Buck Rogers              731,030  Bruce Borsato, Trail, British Columbia, Canada
BurgerTime             5,663,220  Tom Sher, San Francisco, California
Centipede             15,345,789  Rod Maddox, Kokomo, Indiana
Crystal Castles          777,217  Eric Ginner, Milpitas, California
Champion Baseball       100,6990  Gus Papas, Upland, California
Defender              76,377,300  Bert Jennings, Durham, North Carolina
Dig Dug                4,129,600  Ken Arthur, Blackaburg, Virginia
Donkey Kong Junior       957,300  Bill Mitchell, Ottumwa, Iowa
Dragon's Lair            454,974  Steve Harris, No. Kansas City, Missouri
Food Fight            12,231,500  Scott Shrewabury, Sandy Springs, Georgia
Frenzy                 4,804,540  Mark Smith, Shelby, North Carolina
Frontline                727,500  John Dunies, Wilmington, North Carolina
Gorf                   2,220,000  Jason Smith, Midland, Texas
Gravitar               4,722,200  Raymond Muelier, Boulder, Colorado
Gyruss                 4,067,000  Tony Salisbury, Salisbury, Maryland
Guzzler                  431,108  Mike Klug, San Jose, California
Joust (new chip)     101,192,900  Robert Minster, Alberta, Canada
Jungle Hunt/King       1,510,220  Michael Torcello, East Rochester, New York
Journey               10,000,125  Joe Maurizi, Saint Clairsville, Ohio
Liberator              3,016,010  Sean Middleton, Anchorage, Alaska
Lost Tomb              1,210,460  John Marks, Parkersburg, West Virginia
Millipede              4,304,549  Ben Gold, Stockton, California
Moon Patrol (7 cars)   1,214,500  Mark Robichek, Mountain View, California
Ms. Pac-Man              419,950  Tom Asaki, Ottumwa, Iowa
Munch Mobile           2,035,540  Ivan Luengas, No. Miami Beach, Florida
Motorace U.S.A.        1,219,400  Steve Harris, Ottumwa, Iowa
Nibbler              838,322,160  Tom Asaki, Bozeman, Montana
Pac-Man Plus           3,203,580  Doug Perking, Dallas, Texas
Pengo (4 men)            809,990  Kevin Leisner, Racine, Wisconsin
Pole Position (4 laps)    86,710  Tie: Less Lagier, Mike Klug
   Estimated Time:        215.71  San Jose, California
Popeye                 1,131,360  Steve Harris, Ottumwa, Iowa
Q*bert                24,079,950  Divelle Dorris, Lake Park, Florida
Quantum                1,029,160  Judd Boone, Moscow, Idaho
Robotron             325,325,325  Robert Bonney, Kirkland, Washington
Satan's Hollow        43,086,600  Aaron Samuel, Moscow, Idaho
Star Trek (6 shields) 46,330,500  Gary Hatt, Upland, California
Super Pac-Man            588,430  John Azzia, Santa Maria, California
Star Wars (6 shields)  1,461,042  John Sebring, Santa Maria, California
Time Pilot             4,134,400  Bill Bradham, Dubland, Georgia
Xevious                  999,990  Tim Williams, Moscoe, Idaho
Zoo Keeper             9,574,020  Eric Clayburg, Fredericksburg, Virginia


1983 Video Game Masters Tournament results
(as printed in the 1984 GBWR)

Game                     Score        Player    
Joust                  4,254,950      Steve Sanders 
Defender               2,117,675      Jay Kim
Congo Bongo              379,500      Steve Harris
Centipede                603,878      Jay Kim
Ms Pac-Man               366,730      Bill Mitchell
Galaga                 3,396,280      Eric Bull
Q*bert                 1,124,890      Pete Corpeny
 

JoyStik-December '83  Link
 Editor's Message by Doug Mahugh   

 Joystik Magazine: Decembwer 1983

In this issue, you'll find strategy pieces written by three well-known players:
Eric Ginner, Tad Perry, and Ben Gold. These three young men are part of a 
nationwide clique that includes the top coin-op players in the U.S. It may
come as a surprise to you (as it did to me) to learn that such a group exists.
These players talk to one another on almost a daily basis, in spite of the 
fact that they live all around the country.

Eric Ginner, who has been contributing his strategies and observations to JoyStik
since January of this year, is perhaps the best known of the group. He first 
earned national recognition in the Atari World Championships in 1981, and since
then he has won numerous contests and set many world records.

One of the world records Eric Ginner has held was the Millipede record, at 
1,506,864 points. Last Febraury, that record was broken, or rather shattered,
by Ben Gold, who scored over four million points. Ben was also one of the
featured players in the recent tour of the U.S. Olympic Video Game Team, and
he has appeared in two nationally televised contests, both of which he won.

Bill Mitchell and Steve Harris are two other players that were featured on the
Olympic Team. Bill is the premiere Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong, Jr. player in 
the country, and as of this writing he also holds the world record on Ms. Pac-Man.
Steve is a master of many "cute" games (e.g. Bubbles, Popeye and Congo Bongo),
and he holds the current world record on Dragon's Lair.

Tad Perry has been contributing to JoyStik since July, and he wrote the Crystal
Castles article in this issue. He has scored 25,000,000 on Food Fight (and wrote
the JoyStik Food Fight Strategy), and is close to the Crystal Castles and Ms.
Pac-Man world records, with scores of 800,000 and 400,000 on those two games.

Being new to magazines and old to games, I have always turned to these players
when we need a strategy article. Some of the other video magazines rely on 
freelance writers with an interest in games, but here at JoyStik we think it
makes more sense to have players write the strategies. After all, Ben Gold may
never write a War And Peace, but we know for sure that Tolstoy never broke 4 
million on Millipede.
  

Video Game Magazine (1982 - 1985) Link

Other Video Game Magazines between (1982 - 1985) Link


Rank #1 in 1983, Today in 2004 He is Ranked #2 in World Link

Score 76,377,300 
Player Bert Jennings
Durham, NC
United States 
Date Achieved Friday, April 08, 1983 
Date Verified Friday, June 11, 2004 
Verification Method Referee 
Score Status Active 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


My 40-Hour Defenderthon: 42,335,225 (Sept. 28, 1983)


Dale Rees


18-year-old Dale Rees: 
Link
 
Back in the October issue of VIDEO GAMES, , of Cocoa Beach, Fla., slapped our 
wrist for printing an erroneous Defender high score.  Rees added that he would
be going for the record - 33 million points at the time - and asked if we would 
like a report on "the event."   "Certainly," we replied.  Two months hence the
following article article arrived in the mail.

At the age of five, I was told that my coordination would never be right.  I
couldn't even touch my nose with my hand.  And here I am preparing to top the 
Defender high score.

It's 10 a.m., Tuesday, Sept. 28, when I pop my quarter into the machine at the Game 
Tunnel in Merrit Island, Fla.  My first ship goes down at 62,375.  My first soda
goes down as I start to climb to the big bonus level of 990,000.

I'm well into the fourth million when the game room begins to fill up.  It's already
way past dinner-time when someone brings me a burger; another friend supplies Pac-Man
cookies for some quick energy.  By 11 p.m. - as I pass the 14 million mark - the
spectators are beginning to thin out.  A leather pad I designed is doing a good job
keeping the cabinet's hard edge from gnawing at my wrists - no soreness yet.

Dwayne Coffman, my Defender-playing partner, talks me through the wee hours. 
By 6 a.m. (Wednesday) my score stands at 22 million.  I'm hungry again.  Dwayne 
feeds me an Egg MacMuffin and coffee.  Suddenly, nature calls - I hold off until
the last  moment, make a mad dash to the bathroom, throw some cold water on my 
face and race back to Defender.  Incredibly, only three of my well-stocked ships 
have been lost. By noon, Milt Salamon, a local newspaper reporter, arrives, followed 
by the local TV crew.  Soon the room is

flooded with bright lights, and I'm being asked lots of questions.   In the
background, I hear a live radio D.J. informing all of Cocoa Beach what I've 
accomplished so far.  Then my mother arrives and spoonfeeds me chili in between
attack waves.  Even in three-second gulps, the hot food is calming.

At 5 p.m. I reach the magic 33 million point.  While friends whistle congratulations
for achieving the goal I set, I decided to run the machine up to 34 million before
quitting.  Then I get some shocking news.  According to the Twin Galaxies National
Scoreboard, in Iowa, the Defender high score is 52 million!   Even though I hadn't
planned on a second night without sleep, I keep going.

By 11 p.m., at 39 million, I'm in pain.  The ice packs scorekeeper Guy Kent has
been putting on my knuckles are no longer helping; my right foot, which has been
supporting me through this ordeal, is throbbing.  At midnight, my concentration 
starts to lapse.  My hands seem to be moving independently of my brain.   Suddenly,
at 41,410,000, I drop to four ships.

I feel like a boxer who's down for the count.  Three, two, now one ship left.  
I'm smart-bombing everything just to stay alive.  A new wave begins.  I smart-bomb 
the pods and regain another ship.  Have I weathered the storm?   Hardly.  My smart
bomb stock is down to two.  Did I overplay them in my previous panic?

The final moment arrives at 42,335,225.  I am, in fact, relieved.  I let my head
drop into my hands.  I could cry, but I am just too tired.  Forty hours is a long
time Defending.

-Dale Rees
 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Video Games - July, 1983

ARCADE PROFITS DROP: Link


1983 July 17 (NB) -- The discouraging news is that video arcade profits are expected
to drop from $7 billion last year to $5.3 billion by this December, with many
arcade-houses seeing income off 25 to 50 percent. Many are banking on new types 
of games to win back the kids, such as the laser-disk animated cartoon "Dragon's 
Lair" from a former Walt Disney cartoonist Don Bluth.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Video Games - May, 1983

Are commercial arcades in trouble deep? May, 1983Link

One of the more immediate results has been the newly released Bernstein Research
Report on "The Video Game  Industry," prepared by Christopher Kirby, marketing 
analysts for Leisure Time Industry with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Inc.

Some of the revelations are no surprise at all, being a repeat of what most 
operators have been saying all year.  The difference here is the credibility
of the sources.  According to Mr. Kirby, "The coin operated game market (video
games) has encountered a flat growth stage" with results being a unit decline 
in 1983.  This is not falling off in total play time by players, but a reduction
in the number of machines purchased by the operator and a reduced income per
machine.  This is seen to be a direct reflection of the saturation of the market.

The effects of this number reduction will carry over to the manufactures and 
distributors who find themselves with reduced pricing flexibility and margins.

Mr. Kirby concludes that following the shake-out phase the industry will 
experience all through 1983, modest growth may be expected.  However, this
growth will not carry over as fully to arcades as to machines in set street
locations.  It is estimated that fully 25% of the approximate 10,000 video
game arcades in business by the end of 1982 will pull the plugs and close the
doors on their equipment by 1986.

According to Mr. Kirby, an analysis of game locations revealed approximately
1,220,000 coin operated video games on the street and in arcades at this time.
Of this equipment, the industry average for street locations reveals a loss
of $616.00 per piece of equipment and about an $80.00 loss for each arcade piece.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Video game crash of 1977 before the 1983 video game crash

Pong gets over saturated throughout the marketplace:
   
The video game crash of (1977) was different from the video game crash of (1983) The
video game crash of 1983 refers to the sudden bankruptcy of a number of companies
marketing home computers and video game consoles in late 1983. The term "shakeout"
would be a more accurate description of what happened, but because of its sudden
and unexpected nature the term "crash" has stuck. 

The crash has been attributed to a weak economy, poor quality of games (particularly
the Atari 2600 versions of Pac-Man and E.T.), and to very aggressive marketing of 
inexpensive home computers such as the Commodore VIC-20, Atari 800XL, Commodore 64,
Tandy Color Computer and Texas Instruments TI-99/4A; the crash was probably caused
by a combination of the three factors. In that the crash was not so much caused by
games as it was caused by a single game/unit. Atari 

Atari Inc. is now the name of a French-owned (ex. Infogrames) game software company.
The original company Atari was a pioneer in arcade games, home video game consoles,
and personal computers, and its dominance in those areas made it the major force 
in the computer entertainment industry in the early to mid 1980s. The brand has also 
been used at various times by Atari Games, a separate company split off in 1984.

Pong
Developer: Atari
Publisher: Atari
Game designer: Nolan Bushnell
Release date: 1972
Genre: Retro/Sports
Game modes: 2 players
Cabinet: Standard
Controls: 2 Rotary controller
Monitor
Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Black & White Raster, standard resolution
Size: 13-inches

Pong was the invention of Nolan Bushnell,
a young engineer who introduced video 
table tennis to arcades in 1972. Simple and addictive, Pong launched the craze 
for home video games. 

Pong was first released by Atari Pong, an adaptation of table tennis to the video 
screen, was the first widely popular arcade game. Actually, since it used a video
screen, it was the first video game. "Pong" was first released by Atari in 1972,
although other video games in this form had been created previously.

Pong had become so popular that it was cloned until the market could no longer
hold that many cloned consoles. 

This crash is not as well known as the 1983 one, since the video game market in 
1977 was extremely small in modern terms, and mostly oriented towards adults.
Video games were still seen as just another pastime which would probably soon 
diminish as some new leisure activity caught the mainstream's interest. 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
High Scores 1982: ATARI Link

FEBRUARY  (1982)

February 6, 1982 Mr. Leo Daniels, 20, scores 40,101,910 points on ASTEROIDS by 
Atari Inc. after playing the game for 36 hours and four minutes at Ocean View
Corporation in Carolina Beach, North Carolina.

February 20, Mr. Ken Chevalier, 16, scores 12,900,000 points on BATTLEZONE 
by Atari Inc. after playing the game for 12 hours at the Star Station 101
arcade in Atascadero, California.

MARCH (1982)

March 23, 1982 Mr. Michael Weisberg, 27, scores 638,651 points on TEMPEST
by Atari Inc. after playing the game for fifty minutes at Space Port Arcade 
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

March 29, 1982 Mr. Allen Toney, 23, scores 583,750 points on WARLORDS by
Atari Inc. after playing the game for one hour at Scratch & Tilt in Huntington,
West Virginia.

APRIL (1982)

April 4, 1982 Mr. Walt Stewart scores 52,454,815 points on MISSILE COMMAND
by Atari Inc. after playing the game for 40 hours and twenty minutes at Odyssey
Fun Center in Sacramento, California.

April 7, 1982 Mr. Rijanto Joesoeff, 22, scores 4,421,232 points on CENTIPEDE by 
Atari Inc. after playing the game for eight hours at Captain Video in Los
Angeles, California.

April 11, 1982 Mr. Joe Ergo scores 674,437 points on TEMPEST by Atari Inc. 
after playing the game for twenty minutes at Just for Kicks in Baldwin, New York.

MAY (1982)

May 6, 1982 Mr. Eric Ginner, 20, scores 1,140,070 points on DIG DUG by Atari Inc.
after playing the game for 55 minutes at Central Park Center in Mountain View,
California.

May 15, 1982 Mr. Kenneth Vance, 18, scores 397,460 points on SPACE DUEL by Atari Inc. 
after playing the game for one hour and seven minutes at Tilt Arcade in
Las Vegas, Nevada.

May 22, 1982 Mr. Eric Glick, 18, scores 1,311,290 points on TEMPEST by Atari Inc.
after playing the game for one hour and thirty minutes at a 7-11 convenience 
store in Houston, Texas.

JUNE (1982)

June 8, 1982 Mr. Seth Butler, 19, scores 1,145,362 points on TEMPEST by Atari Inc.
after playing the game for one hour and thirty minutes at Fool Around Arcade
in Tuscon, Arizona.

June 20, 1982 Mr. Ron Kussman, 20, scores 63,983,475 points on MISSILE COMMAND by
Atari Inc. after playing the game for 45 hours and thirty minutes at Star Arcade
in Upland, California.

June 23, 1982 Mr. Scott Carter, 17, scores179,600 points on SPACE DUEL by 
Atari Inc. after playing the game for 32 minutes at Time Zone #192 in Mountain View,
California.


JULY (1982)

July 11, 1982 Mr. Kenneth Vance, 18, scores 12,364,840 points on
DIG DUG by Atari Inc. after playing the game for seven hours and 31 minutes
at Tilt Arcade in Las Vegas, Nevada. (On Thursday, July 6, 2000, Mr. Mark
Longridge (cubeman@iname.com) writes, “I can say as an expert player, and as
an owner of the machine, that 12 million points is 100% impossible. This is 
because round 256 (round 0 in 8-bit logic) is a “kill screen”, that is a screen
which is impossible to clear. It’s impossible to clear because one of the pookas 
starts the round on top of your game, and the collision detection of the program
doesn’t allow you to pump up anything right on top of you… My own personal
best was 2.7 million set at Funspot in Weir’s Beach, New Hampshire, early 
this year. I have a 2.5 million on video tape.”)

Note: 11/9/09
Hey Paul. On your spyhunter site there are some references to old Dig Dig
scores in the 12 millions and a 'note' from Mark Longridge saying the 12 million
is 100% impossible. I can assure you it is possible. There is an official Atari
revision that has the kill screen fixed and they very well may have had this 
revision at the acrade in Vegas at the time. The times listed for both the
12 million games are about what you could expect as I scored 6543230 in about 
3 hours 45 minutes. I personally have one of the boards and plan very soon to
beat the old 12 million  score. Maybe we can add a note to the old note
explaining this?

- Ken House
http://www.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=43&id=1749


AUGUST  (1982)

August 1, 1982 Mr. Eric Smith, 14, scores 1,379,450 points on DIG DUG by 
Atari Inc. at Spectrum Entertainment in Mammoth Lakes, California.

August 27, 1982 Mr. Michael Baird, 18, scores 12,311,126 points on CENTIPEDE
by Atari Inc. after playing the game for 21 hours and twelve minutes at Phil's 
Amusement in Lakewood, California.

August 29, 1982 Mr. Peter Skahill, 23, scores 911,875 points on WARLORDS by
Atari Inc. after playing the game for 45 minutes at UCLA Games Center in Los 
Angeles, California.

SEPTEMBER (1982)

September 26, 1982 Mr. Kenneth Vance, 18, scores 722,500 points
on GRAVITAR by Atari Inc. after playing the game for two hours and 39 minutes
at Tilt Arcade in Las Vegas, Nevada.

September 26, 1982 Mr. Michael Kelly, after taking first place in the regional
GRAVITAR contest in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, flies to Atari, Inc. headquarters 
in Sunnyvale California for the national finals. There, he places third with
a score of 187,500.

September 28, 1982 Mr. Shawn Dybdall, 16, scores 12,822,460 points on DIG DUG
by Atari Inc. after playing the game for eight hours and sixteen minutes at
Tilt Arcade in Las Vegas, Nevada. (On Thursday, July 6, 2000, Mr. Mark Longridge
(cubeman@iname.com) writes, “I can say as an expert player, and as an owner of
the machine, that 12 million points is 100% impossible. This is because round
256 (round 0 in 8-bit logic) is a “kill screen”, that is a screen which is 
impossible to clear. It’s impossible to clear because one of the pookas starts
the round on top of your game, and the collision detection of the program doesn’t
allow you to pump up anything right on top of you… My own personal best was 2.7
million set at Funspot in Weir’s Beach, New Hampshire, early this year. I have
a 2.5 million on video tape.”)

OCTOBER (1982)

October 1, 1982 Mr. Shawn Dybdahl, 16, scores 285,300 points on KANGAROO by
Atari Inc. after playing the game for one hour and 46 minutes at Tilt Arcade 
in Las Vegas, Nevada.

October 5, 1982 Mr. David Plummer, 14, scores 2,175,743 points on TEMPEST by
Atari Inc. after playing the game for two hours and 23 minutes at Midtown
Amusements in Regina, SK, Canada.

October 13, 1982 Mr. Kenneth Vance, 18, scores 482,620 points on SPACE DUEL by Atari
Inc. after playing the game for one hour and 46 minutes at Tilt Arcade in
Las Vegas, Nevada.

October 15, 1982 Mr. Darren Olson, scores 15,207,353 points on CENTIPEDE by Atari Inc. 
after playing the game at Reflection Fun Center in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

October 31, 1982 Mr. Kenneth Vance, 18, scores 411,200 points on KANGAROO by Atari Inc. 
after playing the game for two hours and 27 minutes at Tilt Arcade in Las Vegas, Nevada.

NOVEMBER (1982)

On Monday, November 8, 1982 Mr. Kenneth Vance, 18, scores 4,999,993 points on Tempest
by Atari Inc. after playing the game for three hours and five minutes at Tilt
Arcade in Las Vegas, Nevada.

On Saturday, November 13, 1982 Mr. Scott Safran, 16, scores 40,336,440 points on
ASTEROIDS by Atari Inc. after playing the game for 53 hours and four minutes
at All-American Billiard Company in Newton, Pennsylvania.

DECEMBER (1982)

December 4, 1982 Mr. Raymond Mueller, 21, scores 4,722,200 points
on GRAVITAR by Atari Inc. after playing the game for twelve hours and 21 minutes
at Chuck E. Cheese in Boulder, Colorado.

December 23, 1982 Mr. Victor Ali, 19, scores 80,364,995 points on MISSILE COMMAND
by Atari Inc. after playing the game for 48 hours at Cinedome 7 Theater in Fremont, 
California.

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Biography Commentary Questions





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Tournament and Guinness Book Results From 1983-2004

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The Golden Era

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June 9, 2004 Walter Day states, "No Replay Necessary" for Paul Dean





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