VideoGameRace

The act of more than one person simultaniously playing through a VideoGame with the intent of finishing it before anybody else. There has been a FinalFantasyNine race (JustinPava and AndrewSchoonmaker -- only through Disc 2, and only in sync through Disc 1), a SuperMarioSixtyFour race (SteveHaas and EvilSouthie), and a PrinceOfPersia:SoT race (WillShipley and RichardGarfinkel).

EvilSouthie is currently looking for anybody willing/anxious to try the same sort of thing with various other games.

I'm up for just about any game, but what I'd really like to try is a race on a game none of the players have played before.--DanCicio

Please list suggestions here:

Well, I'm up for another Mario64? race if somebody wants to challenge me, but that's already been done before. The SNES Zelda was suggested, although I don't have a copy and so would have to borrow from somebody else. -- EvilSouthie

I wouldn't be completely averse to a rematch at the Mario64? race... but to make it interesting I should probably practice a bit before doing so. Or maybe we could just handicap EvilSouthie... make him play one-handed, blindfolded, and without getting any coins... or some such. It also occurs to me that a DiabloIi race might be doable... though it would either have to be normal only or done in shifts... i.e., both players play 4 hours per weekend until they beat the game. Then again, that could get old. -- SteveHaas

SuperMetroid would probably make a good game to race through. -AlexBobbs

You don't say?

• Indeed. In fact, I think Super Metroid is an ideal race game. It can be beaten in under an hour by skilled players, there's always something reasonably interesting happening, and there's tons of path choices to make (the most notable one being whether or not to take the Grappling Beam). The only trick is finding two working carts of the game (and two Super Nintendos). I'd definitely be interesting in partaking of such a race. - ChainMaille

I'm playing VagrantStory right now... that might be a fun one to try. I'd loan my copy to the cause if someone wants to try it. But no way I'm participating... I just can't play that quickly. Also, if someone wants to try Suikoden II, I wouldn't mind watching (I've NEVER been able to see the entire Clyde subquest, since I do too many other sidequests). - JeffBrenion

I think you could beat VagrantStory (the first time around) in one sitting, but it would be a *long* sitting...

SagaFrontier? might be an interesting one to try, since you could theoretically allow selection of any of the seven characters. There is some variation in quest length, but... (it'd be really neat if you could get seven players playing at once, one as each character; I guess you'd have to find seven people who didn't hate the game for that, though...) The game is ~20 hours long, however, whichever character you choose.

And of course there's always DynastyWarriorsThree (race through a Musou mode or something, but note that not all characters are equally fast, or have equally difficult battles...)

AngBand race? I'm vaguely intrigued... how is this supposed to work?

• At least one person has managed to beat ZAngBand in under 100,000 turns (by completely abusing the Mindcrafter class). You'd definitely want to go by number of turns taken than by amount of real time taken. Of course, that just turns the race into a HighScore contest.
  • What you COULD do is get a character built up to some degree or other and enter an arena (perhaps HengBand?-style, or just work up to Morgoth), then duplicate the file and see which of two people can defeat whatever it is first. That's the only way I can really see it working

I suppose SuperMarioSunshine? would be a natural cantidate as well... I've beaten it in about 5 hours, and suspect with practice I could get that lower. Maybe if people get *really* bored during SeniorDeadWeek?... - SteveHaas

I can beat FinalFantasyFour in about nine hours, I think. And that's not even trying very hard. Might make a good weekend (similar to the AlphaCentauri game thing). -ChainMaille

DeusEx might also be a good race candidate. At a relaxed pace it's doable in ~15 hours; doing it rushed would make it orders of magnitude harder but could easily halve that time. (Especially with gratuitous use of the speed aug and not bothering to explore every nook and cranny.) -AlexUtter