World record
A world record, often abbreviated to WR, is a term which describes the greatest result in some measurement, typically referring to the results of a competition. A world record is often contrasted with a personal best which refers to the best result for an individual competing only against their prior results. Athletes and professional gamers have been interested in world records ever since the dawn of competition and actively strive to be recognized as the world record holder in all manner of sports and games. In gaming, the world records that people are typically interested in are best high score, fastest completion times, and, to a lesser extent, various other self-imposed challenges.
World records in sports are typically maintained by the organizations that run them like the Olympic Games, Major League Baseball, and so forth. Video game world records are maintained by organizations like Twin Galaxies, SpeedRun.com, and various others. The Guinness World Records also maintains records for both.
Personal
When I was a kid, I was very interested in world records because my family had various copies of the Guinness Book of World Records. I didn't care about sports records; I was far more interested in the strange records regarding natural phenomena and the human body. Though I was very interested in video games, and like to compete against other players, I didn't really consider that anyone other than kids would be interested in video game world records. When I learned about video game competitions in the late 1980s, they were always held in places like Los Angeles or New York, so I had no chance of ever being involved in them, and I knew I wasn't good enough to ever win one anyway, so I wasn't that interested in them.
Being part of the generation that grew up with video games from early childhood, I have more of an appreciation for gaming than the generation before mine, and I now see why video game world records are tracked and maintained by adults. Although, possessing only average skills, I know that any world records will always be outside of my grasp, so I only have a passing interest in the scores themselves. I watched and enjoyed King of Kong, but I don't find much interest in all the drama that occurs in trying to set world records between all the cheating, name calling, and lawsuits.
The thing that really interests me in video game world records is the skill and exploits gamers learn in order to obtain new world records.
Links
