Children’s ties with toys are well-known. But most outgrow the playthings. Twenty-five-year-old Chirantan Patnaik (see picture) did not. Instead, he earned himself a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
On Sunday morning, the Nepean Sea Road resident broke the world record by playing Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA IV) for more than 40 hours in a row on his PlayStation3. The previous record was held by Jim Patton from the US, who played the game for 28 hours.
Patnaik, who is married and works with a private equity firm, said he had spent several hours gaming but never paid much attention to it. However, he recently came across Patton’s record and knew this was one record he could break. He immediately sent a mail to the Guinness World Records Limited. Within six weeks, he got the permission from them.
“The condition was that I needed to have two independent witnesses and also the whole affair had to be held at a public place or a place where people could walk in,” he said.
On Friday morning, Patnaik started his record-breaking attempt at his residence. He took only four 10-minute breaks though he was allowed to take a 10-minute break every hour.
“My friends as well as strangers came to cheer for me. An official from zapak.com was present as a witness,’ said Patnaik. “The most difficult part was to stay awake. But I have gone two days without sleep during my MBA days, so my body was prepared for what was coming. It did become difficult when my friends started to doze off,” he added.
What surprised a lot of people was that he decided to play GTA, a game which he had never played before. “My younger brother plays the game a lot. So do many of my friends. Whenever I was stuck, they were there to help me out with a few suggestions,” he said.
In the 40 hours and 20 minutes that he played to set a new record, Patnaik managed to finish 45% of the game. Patnaik, who is also a qualified scuba diver and a big fan of adventure sports, said his wife was his biggest support. “After reading about my attempt on gaming forums, few people commented that I should get a life. The only thing I have to say to them is, I do have a life,” he said.
