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Hello Gary Whelan! The world of classic arcade gaming never sleeps my loves. While you are snoring in your beds, someone, somewhere on this big rock we call Earth, is sweating blood and tears trying to beat a world record on a 25 year old game. The actual breaking of a record is a pretty rare event, but one such milestone was passed on 24th August 2006. Actually, it wasn’t just passed, it was smashed out of sight, and, for the first time ever on regular settings, this particular classic was clocked.Gary Whelan, who hails from Manchester, England, scored 1,114,520, more than double his previous recognised score, on the seminal arcade title, Galaxian. For 3 hours and 51 minutes, and after an incredible 315 waves, Gary threw in the towel and was crowned World Champion by Twin Galaxies in America for the second time. We exclusively caught up with the Mighty Whelan in an attempt to enter the mind of a man on a mission: Congratulations and good Work Gaz - this is an incredible achievement, how are you feeling? Feelings... Well, I started the game with some high hopes, having hit a couple of 800K + games in the last week or so. Amazingly I cleared over 700K with my first life , best ever one life score , and as the numbers kept on rising the thought kept running through my mind that I would get to a Million with one life , then end the game. Just fucking end it, there and then. Watch the score roll over, put down the controls, and let the camera catch the last three lives just falling away...
Anyways, that would have been cool, but losing my first ship at 740K put paid to that. Next life was the tricky one ... so many times after a great one life score, I’d lose concentration and lose the next couple in quick succession. I was determined not to let this happen now. So the next 30 minutes or so I played a little too conservatively, and the nerves were jangling. But after making it through a 100K or so (taking me up to around the 850K mark), I knew then that the 1 million was on. You must have had a messed up head at that point.. Well, yeah! I started to think about it..... This made things worse. What goes through your mind as wave after wave of Galaxians come after you? Fuck knows. I was hanging on by the skin of my teeth. Around 930K the 48 flags started to be overwritten by single flags, right over the top of them. This is easier to show than explain, and the 2 DVD set (the film is actually so crap that you’d need a big fuck off telly and 20-20 vision to see this in all it’s glory) is available to anyone who cares, for the price of a pint. No, really! This was weird to watch, though thanks to a guy on Twin Galaxies, who used MAME and infinite lives, I knew roughly what to expect. This was nice, because it really could have thrown me, and at that stage I just needed to keep it all together. Tell us about the moment you broke the million. As the 1 million approached loads of stuff went through my mind, who to ring, who to tell, what would people think, does it really matter, and mainly, what the fuck do I do after this?! Then it happened, cruised through the Million barrier, the scored rolled, and it felt so FUCKING GOOD! Comparable to the Dennis Law back heel goal against united in the early 70`s, that sent them down. The adrenaline’s buzzing, life’s sweet , and I’ve a fucking huge grin on my face. Sorted.
Magnificent. How emotional were you afterwards? My long battle with the greatest Video Game ever created was over. I’d won. Yeah, I know you can go on and on, trying to lift the score even higher, but really, a million?! The game’s beat. It knows it, and I know it. Game Over. Perhaps it’s now time to move on. Three solid years averaging around 3 hours per day of practise, working on different techniques and ideas to stop the Galaxian invasion, and it was over. Totally. I was tired, exhausted, and elated. This game has meant so much to me over the years. From playing it down at The Stone Jug boozer in 1979 , through marriage, kids, jobs, life, deaths, then fast forward to the 2000`s where thanks to this shoot `em up beauty I’ve got to meet so many wonderful and fascinating people, who I now proudly call my friends. Ive also been to places and events that without Galaxian I never EVER would have been to. The game has changed my life, and in a good and positive way. All these thoughts ran through my mind as I sat back and admired the score on the screen. Smiling. So mixed feelings then? With a positive, there’s always a negative, and my joy was bittersweet. I love this game, and while I had the One Million goal to aim for, I would play the thing to death, night after night after night, logging scores, techniques, watching video play back of my performances (sad or inspired? you decide ..) and now it was over. Finished. In a strange way I sort of felt sorry for the game. And for me too. I’ve not even turned the machine on since that night. I haven’t the heart somehow.
Bless you man. So what’s next then fella? Next? Well, I’m toying with 2 Million. I love the game that much I know I could do it. But I’m more likely to aim for something else, maybe Space Invaders, or Galaga, or to go completely different, Rally X or even Donkey Kong. I’ll get practising for Funspot 2007...... And some of us will see you there mate. And the missus? She still talking to you? My wife Trish told her mum that I’d broken the Million (why, I don’t fucking know...) Her reply - Well done? Congratulations? Is he pleased? Nope, none of those, it was... "Will he stop playing it now?" Will I fuck... Congrats Gary from everyone here at Rodent - Roll on 2 mill! You can read Rob Mruczek’s detailed account of Gary’s feat here: October 2006
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