Game changer

Those of you who have been paying attention will recall that back in June, I wrote:

… I am quietly confident of soon eclipsing Mr Hornitsky’s 1,217,650 world mark (the first anniversary of which is coming up). That is, as soon as (a) I can get a bit more time to focus on it, and (b) I get my hands on a machine that has the regulation six Pengos, not the four I’ve been confined to on the museum’s machine since this quest began a few short months ago.

And on both those fronts, dear reader, I expect to be able to report to you some very good news in the very near future.

Well, dear reader, “the very near future” has finally arrived.

First, I have just started a period of leave from my job - 12 months to be exact. I’ve been heavily engaged in a senior position in a government agency over the past few years and the opportunities for taking time off have been severely limited. As circumstances have unfolded, that opportunity has now presented itself. So while I have no designs on becoming a full-time gamer, I will have much more time available to devote to this little quest of mine.

Second, I have today taken delivery of my very own table-top Pengo machine. It’s actually a multi-game machine with all the old arcade games loaded up - except, sadly, Moon Patrol. But my one and only requirement was that it meet the specifications that Twin Galaxies mandates before it will certify high scores for Pengo. I am assured it does. It’s also the first time I’ve ever played with six Pengos. All my games to date have only had four - three to start with and a fourth after 30,000 points.

Exciting times indeed.

I will report shortly on my first experiences with the new machine.

Pengo rage

It’s something that describes exactly my feelings this afternoon. I’d just completed Act 16 for the fourth time, had amassed over 660,000 points at quite a clip, albeit with one Pengo left, and was about to launch confidently into the fifth set with ambitions of at least another quick 100,000 points before being seriously challenged. Alas, too confidently as it turned out. A case of appalling complacency in Act 1 and it’s all over - at 665,730.

Dr Zackomba, noting my fairly obvious frustration, diagnosed it as a case of Pengo-rage - although very well contained, I should add. No museum exhibits or other paraphernalia were harmed in the immediate aftermath of the game.

Looking back, it was probably exacerbated by some lacklustre scoring over the past week or so. Last weekend, it was a 293,330, followed by a 303,220, a very promising 672,570, but then a 296,130. Yesterday, it was 114,680, and then 287,490, and then 382,540, followed by a 213,130, and finishing with an exceptionally strong 425,440. The tragedy of that final score was that it was achieved with only one Pengo down. Unfortunately, the security guard at the museum - nor, for that matter, the person on the museum’s loudspeaker - don’t seem to be Pengo fans, and were insistent we leave so that museum staff could get home to their families at the end of their working day.

Today’s first game (130,780) was as uninspiring as yesterday’s opener, but the subsequent 600K effort made up for it. The breakdown was 196,300 after the first set (with a Pengo lost in Act 9), 368,180 after the second set (with the second Pengo lost in Act 7), 517,290 after the third set and 665,300 after the fourth set (having lost the third Pengo in Act 14). Overall, it was a very solid per-Act average of just under 10,400 over 64 completed Acts. And again, the machine clocked at 655,350.

So after that run, my total number of games with scores exceeding 500,000 is now up to 17, including two 1,000,000 point games. But with more to come, I'm sure.

Happy Anniversary, Mr Hornitsky!

For a blog like this, today is a day worth celebrating.

It was exactly one year ago - on 10 July 2012 - that the great Paul Hornitzky, like me a resident of Sydney, Australia, managed to eclipse one of the longest standing records in video game history. That was the iconic million-plus effort achieved on a Pengo machine in a Canberra bowling alley, and then formally recorded, by big Rodney Day way back in 1983. (Of course, as someone who is somewhat less than svelte myself at the moment, I mean ‘big’ in the nicest and most respectful-ist possible way here, Rod.)

Much less is known (by me, at least) of the circumstances of Paul’s new record 12 months ago, but I’m sure it’s a moment, or more likely 3+ hours, that’s seared into his memory.

My job now - nay, my quest - is simply to make sure that Paul’s mark of 1,217,650 doesn’t live to see its second anniversary atop the Twin Galaxies scoreboard, let alone its twenty-ninth.

To that end, and while I hadn’t planned on playing again for a period while I finalised some work matters, I couldn’t help but drop by the museum for a quick game last Saturday morning before heading into work. I didn’t appreciate how quick the game was likely to be when I lost my first Pengo in Act 5 and the second later in the first set. I also didn’t bother keeping track of the set scores as I was going along. As it happened, my third and then the last Pengos performed extraordinarily well and took me to a final score of 736,430 - my fifth best. As before, the machine clocked at 655,350, while I lost my final Pengo in Act 12 of the fifth set.

The quest continues.