Man dances for 144 hours to break video game marathon record

"A Hungarian man has set a new record for longest video game marathon by playing the rhythm-based music game Dance Dance Revolution for six days. Szabolcs Csepe, from Budapest, bopped to over 3000 songs and burned more than 22,000 calories in his quest to romp into the record books. The 34-year-old, known as GrassHopper on his gaming channels, said that preparation for the marathon took six months and included physical training, focusing on his "legs and glutes", as well a a diet plan."

"Dance Dance Revolution is a Japanese video game series which was first released to arcades in 1998. Players stand on a dance platform or mat and hit coloured arrows with their feet, to score points in time with visual cues and the music from a catalogue of songs. The series has spawned dozens of spin-offs in arcades and many more across home consoles. The games have also become popular as a way to keep fit, featuring in UK and US school exercise programmes."

"Mr Csepe said he was inspired to try the challenge after watching the attempt of previous holder Carrie Swidecki, from the US, who spent a little over 138 hours playing Just Dance in 2015. But the avid gamer, who works in IT engineering, had already broken several records before attempting this dancing feat. In 2021, he achieved the longest videogame marathon playing a Naruto game (28 hr 11 min 32 sec playing Narutimetto Akuseru 2)"

Szabolcs Csepe of Budapest played Dance Dance Revolution for six consecutive days to set a new Guinness World Record for the longest video game marathon. He danced through more than 3,000 songs and reportedly burned over 22,000 calories. Preparation lasted six months and included physical training focused on his legs and glutes and a diet plan. Csepe, 34, is known as GrassHopper on his gaming channels and works in IT engineering. Dance Dance Revolution began in Japanese arcades in 1998 and requires players to step on a dance pad to match directional cues with music. The franchise has spawned arcade and console spin-offs and is used in fitness and esports.

Read at www.bbc.com