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guinness record

Why I Picked The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion For My Guinness Record

by Bryan Vore on Aug 05, 2011 at 12:27 PM



When Dan was recruiting Game Informer editors last March to join him in a crazy attempt to break a Guinness World Record, I was initially intrigued. Then I heard they were playing Super Smash Bros. and thought, “No way in hell!”

Of course, I love Nintendo’s fighting series as much as the next gamer, but I knew there was no way I’d be able to stand playing it for 10 hours, let alone the 30 hours they eventually put in to break the record. To me, fighting out with friends is fun for an evening on the couch, but that much time would just drive me insane.

After their record was broken later at E3, Dan came around again with a new take on the Guinness Records. We all would go for different ones of our choosing. I grabbed “Longest Video Games Marathon Playing a Role-Playing Game” and knew immediately what I would play.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is made to be played for crazy amounts of time. I can picture the hours just flying by as I complete quests for all the various guilds, collect loot, and screw with the townspeople – or so I’m told. I’ve never actually played Oblivion for more than 20 minutes.

Yes, it’s completely shameful, I know. Everyone loves this game, and I’ve always wanted to play it. I guess friends’ tales of investing over 100 hours into it always daunted me. After all, I could play five to seven other games in the same time span! Now that time is not an obstacle there’s no excuse. Besides, I’ve played plenty other RPGs like Mass Effect for that long in my gaming career.

I know this is an awesome game and that the upcoming Skyrim could possibly be game of the year, so this is the perfect opportunity to jump into the Elder Scrolls world with both feet and see what I’ve been missing.

Be sure to read up on what the other editors are playing: Phil (Final Fantasy), Jeff Cork (Grand Theft Auto), Ben Reeves (Metal Gear), Tim (Resident Evil), and Dan (Mario).