A Hungarian gamer played Dance Dance Revolution for six days straight to set a new Guinness World Record. They burned over 22,000 calories in the process.
Marathon runs are no joke. Be it actual endurance runs in the real world or gaming runs that drain every ounce of energy, both are intensely demanding in their own ways.
But what if both were to merge? Well, that’s what 34-year-old Szabolcs ‘GrassHopper’ Csépe set his sights on after 20 years of playing Dance Dance Revolution (DDR). They sought something greater, a chance to cement their name in the history books.
That’s exactly what they did in 2024, as they played DDR for a whopping 144 consecutive hours, marking not only the longest rhythm game marathon in recorded history, but the longest video game marathon overall.
New Dance Dance Revolution Guinness World Record
The record itself was set after a six-day run in October, 2024 as IT engineer Csépe moved his body without a break. All up, the marathon run saw him dancing to over 3,000 songs while burning more than 22,000 calories.
In a newly published interview with Guinness World Records, they explained the various difficulties faced during the record-breaking run. In particular, it was refuelling the body that proved to be a challenge.
After “doing serious practice attempts with a small staff,” what remained was to devise “a plan for supporting [the] body with sufficient food and water intake.” After all, Csépe couldn’t stop to sit down and have a meal, he had to keep the rhythm in his feet.
“Standing for long hours is not something that humans are designed for,” he said.
No stranger to gaming-specific records, Csépe already held multiple before this DDR run. He previously set the longest marathon sessions for a puzzle game, a racing game, and even a Naruto game.
The dancing category was formerly led by American Carrie Swidecki who played Just Dance for a total of 138 hours straight back in 2015.
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