15) Real movement
All sorts of games use motion capture these days, but what was the first one, do you reckon? What’s that, you say? Mad Dog McCree? No, no and thrice no! It was, of course, Prince of Persia, back in 1989. Fact!
17) Biggest sandbox
Grand Theft Auto, of course, is the most famous of what we call ‘sandbox’ games. But which game holds the record for the largest sandbox playing area? The award goes to Eidos’ fun but flawed Just Cause, which sports over 250,000 (virtual) acres to play in. Big, eh? Yes.
18) Best seller
It’s not hard to guess what holds the record for best-selling videogame series of all time. It is, of course, the Super Mario Bros series. Our favourite plumber has shifted over 201 million copies. Not bad for a chubby little chap in dungarees.
19) RIP Isaac Clarke
Many games feature grisly death animations for their lead characters. Who can forget the blood flying everywhere in Gears of War, for example? But the game that holds the record for the biggest number of character death animations is – drum roll please – Dead Space. Can we expect more for Dead Space 2?
20) Mario money
The best-selling 3D platformer of all time is Super Mario 64 – not bad for a 13-year-old N64 game! Will Super Mario Galaxy be able to claim a similar record when it reaches its teenage years?
Racing
There are huge opportunities for record-breaking in racing games. Put your pedal to the virtual metal!
21) I can see for miles and miles
Codemasters’ 2009 racer Fuel holds two Guinness gaming records – it sports the longest draw distance in a racing game (a massive 40km!) and the largest playable environment in a game, with over 5,000 square miles to traverse.
22) Most songs
Licensed music is all the rage these days: screaming round a corner on two wheels while the hottest hits of the day blare from your in-game stereo is what it’s all about. But it’s Rockstar’s Midnight Club: Los Angeles that holds the record for the most licensed tracks in a game, sporting a whopping 97 songs.
23) Longest game
The longest racing game marathon ever attempted is held by the UK gaming community Ready Up. They played Burnout Paradise non-stop for 24 hours on 18-19 April 2009. Ouch.
24) Copious karts
What’s the best-selling racing game ever made, then? One of the Gran Turismos, perhaps, or an F1 game? Nope. The answer is – ta da! – Mario Kart Wii, which since its release in 2008 has sold 15.4 million copies. Gran Turismo A-Spec, the previous record holder, sold 14.89 million copies.
25) Millionaire
As we all know, games are certified Platinum when they sell over a million copies – but Gran Turismo Prologue was the first ever racing game to get Platinum pre-orders. It sold over a million copies before it was released!
26) Speedy seller
Mario Kart Wii might have the single racing game sales record, but in terms of a racing game series, Need for Speed has got it all wrapped up, selling 100 million copies since the series began in 1994.
