Indian video game fan Chirantan Patnaik recently set the Guinness World Record for playing Grand Theft Auto IV for over 40 hours straight.

"I think staying away from coffee and eating dates during my game helped me to stay alert and fit," Patnaik said. I guess he was talking about "dates" the fruit, because a marathon video game player couldn't possibly be talking about the company of women.

Why am I telling you about a marginally difficult record in an older game during a play-session that took place in a faraway land? Because kids today are wimps, even in Mumbai.

Guinness rules stated that Patanik got a 10 minute break every hour, and he managed to go for 40 hours and change. Compare that achievement to the records set by marathon dancers of the 1920s. When the "walkathon" craze was at its peak in the 1920s and 30s, dancers remained on their feet, continuously moving, for thousands of hours... and they only got a ten minute break every hour. In 1930, Mike Ritof and Edith Boudreaux danced for 5,152 hours straight at a ballroom in Chicago. That's six months of continuous movement. At the end of it, they won $2,000. Ritof and Boudreaux would laugh at 40 hours sitting in a chair, playing a video game.

So, Chirantan Patnaik, call me back when you've played a video game for half a year straight, and then I'll be impressed. I think I could easily play a game for 40 hours. I've played games for 12 hours in a row without thinking about it. What about you? What's your longest gaming-time?

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