Asteroids Record Unbroken After Machine Failure

Asteroids Record Stands

A Portland, Ore., man tried and failed to top a 22-year-old record playing the 1980s arcade game Asteroids when his machine malfunctioned after 27 hours of play, the GameSpot Web site reported. Bill Carlton was gunning for Scott Safran’s 1982 Asteroids world record of 41 million points at the Ground Kontrol Arcade in Portland, the site reported.

Carlton had notched up some 12.7 million points when the aging arcade machine malfunctioned. Walter Day, editor of Twin Galaxies’ Official Video Game & Pinball Book of World Records, told the site that Carlton would have needed to play for at least two more days to beat Safran’s score.