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Community, Speedruns

How Communities Help Speedrunners Achieve the Impossible

Collaboration is Key The opportunity to connect, compete, and collaborate with others may be one of speedrunning’s most appealing aspects. With the success of the Games Done Quick fundraising events, it’s it has lead to extensive coverage from major news outlets. We continue to recover from a pandemic that has disrupted our daily lives. So it is not entirely surprising that individuals would increasingly turn to the internet for some much-needed social interaction. Yet the history of speedrunning reaches far beyond the pandemic. For many, its appeal is not rightly described as a mere distraction from the trials of daily life. More than just a “social” activity, speedrunning is exemplary among internet communities. It provides an environment where people pool their talents to achieve goa...
What is Speedrunning? Speedrunning Explained
Community, Guides, Speedruns

What is Speedrunning? Speedrunning Explained

Speedrunning has been around for decades now, but gamers have given it a recent surge in popularity. Lots of people who aren't familiar with video games are asking, "What is speedrunning? What's a speedrun? Why is it so, so popular?" At face value, speedrunning can be summed up quite easily. This is what speedrunning is: Speedrunning is the act of beating a video game, or segment of a game, as quickly as possible while adhering to a set of rules which have been established by the game's individual community. Speedruns makes use of leaderboards to track who holds the fastest times for different categories such as Any%, 100%, and other various rulesets. But it's more than that. It's hard work, practice, grit, consistency, strategy, technique, technical knowledge, risk, luck, com...
Intentions – Putting Mental Health ads in Video Games
Community, Community Articles, Esports & Competitive, Gaming

Intentions – Putting Mental Health ads in Video Games

Before we begin, it is important to state just how crucial mental health is. It is good to see that people and the media are beginning to talk about it more. Everyone deserves the chance to enjoy life and be happy. During the Covid-19 pandemic, many people have been forced to stay at home. That isolation can wreak havoc on one's mental health, and for those with mental health disorders, it could be even worse. Organizations that treat and deal with mental health find themselves at a critical point. While the impact of the pandemic has led to a surge in mental health issues, the pandemic itself makes it difficult for those afflicted to seek help.  As such, these companies have searched for different ways to reach out. One of these ways comes in the form of ads, but in a unique medium - V...
Interview: An INSANE 230 Hour SPEEDRUN of Gran Turismo 4
Community, Speedruns, World Records

Interview: An INSANE 230 Hour SPEEDRUN of Gran Turismo 4

Speedruns have always been about finishing a game as fast as possible. On the flip side, some categories, especially 100% categories, can last hours -- even days. As such, many people don't speedrun 100% categories. They are often extremely difficult, and an extreme investment of time. However, four friends got together to finish Gran Turismo 4 in its entirety on April 24th, 2020. Over the next 9 and a half days, they played non-stop until they 100%ed the game. After a monumental 230 hour speedrun, us at Speed Gaming News decided to interview them -- and here are the results. Galaxy brain time, boys. -Jonah Answers are from the Grand Turismo 4 100% speedrunners. Speedrunners involved in this run are thebook92, another_car_guy_, Sheenie, and feathers51564. First question: What i...
Alexo’s Journey to Sub 10 Minute Doom Speedrun
Community, Community Articles, Speedruns, World Records

Alexo’s Journey to Sub 10 Minute Doom Speedrun

The following article was submitted by Alexo (link to his Twitch channel). Speedrun News only formatted it for web, SEO, and did some copywriting necessities. If you'd like to see the run first, you can click here to be taken to the bottom of the page where you'll see the video, otherwise, it'll be there waiting for you when you've finished reading! Enjoy: I had been aware of Doom speedruns for only a few years, but I have been playing Doom since 2003. I was raised on Quake II and beyond in the late '90s, but discovered the classic ID library later. Doom on Nintendo's Game Boy Advance was the first version of Doom I ever owned, followed by the Xbox 360 Arcade, and PC versions respectfully. Doom is one of the oldest games with documented speedrun competition. For over 20 years,...
World’s First – Streets of Rage 2 – Deathless Mania
Community, Speedrunner of the Week, World Records

World’s First – Streets of Rage 2 – Deathless Mania

For the first time ever Streets of Rage 2 has been beaten on Mania mode deathless! A no death mania has never been achieved in this game. By anyone. With any character. Ever.Until now. Twitch streamer Anthopants has accomplished what, only a year ago, was thought to be impossible! Antho has many accomplishments on the Sega Genesis, including personal bests in Gunstar Heroes, The Adventures of Batman and Robin (my personal favorite Genesis game), Golden Axe, and of course world records in Streets of Rage 2 and 3 -- but this monstrous feat is just next level! I know you want me to get to the point, so check out the run here from Antho's YouTube channel! "Not just a year ago, everyone; including me, thought a no death was impossible." - Anthopants   ...
The Best Speedrun Timer – Which Timer to Use For Speedrunning?
Community, Guides, Personal Bests, Speedruns

The Best Speedrun Timer – Which Timer to Use For Speedrunning?

I recall when I was getting ready for the very first speedrun I was super excited, but I quickly found myself not sure of which timer I should use for speedrunning. I found myself asking which timer is the absolute best for speedrunning? The simple answer is that there actually is an overall best speedrun timer. The most common timer used for speedrunning is LiveSplit. LiveSplit is a user-friendly timer program that includes features such as time comparisons, automated split colors, and various theme options. The timer accurately displays data to the hundredth of a second and includes a speedrun leaderboard integration. With that said, "best" is based on your situation and preferences. You will be best off with a timer unique to your setup and interests. In this article, we'll cover ...
Interview with Jay_Cee – Battletoads WR
Community, Speedruns, World Records

Interview with Jay_Cee – Battletoads WR

Jay_Cee, one of our favorite speedrunners, has recently achieved yet another world record. We got a hold of him, and we are excited to announce our first public interview! Jay_cee and Christian Sears chat about speedrunning battletoads and review the run that stands in first place on the leaderboards. Jay_Cee has now moved on to the 100% category in Battletoads, and the next game on his list is Castlevania II: Simon's Quest. The unfortunate thing is, Jay_Cee already holds 1st place in CVII, but Twitch had an error and the video is forever lost. Knowing Jay_Cee as well as we do, he'll have another video to replace it soon -- so be sure to check out his Twitch channel! A full 16 minutes of discussion, and it's not even close to enough to cover everything there is to say about this run. ...
This Week in Speedrunning
Community, Routing, Speedruns, World Records

This Week in Speedrunning

Ocarina of Time, Skyward Sword, events, an NES classic -- this week has been huge for speedruns. Let's check it out. Contra 11 months ago, Angrylanks took a long-standing world record from DK28 in the Nintendo classic, Contra. DK's time of 9:53.834 has stood for 3 years, and Angrylanks only inched forward with a time 0.034 seconds faster -- 9:53:8. Well, Angrylanks has unparalleled dedication, and he pushed that 9:53 lower and lower over these 11 months. Finally, he broke through that barrier. After a tough and ongoing battle, Lanks achieved an incredible 9:52.850. If you don't know Angrylanks, we highly recommend you check out his twitch channel. Not only is he incredibly good at any game he puts his mind to, he's also a great drummer and an all around great guy. Skyward Sword A...
Speed Gaming News Goes Live!
Community

Speed Gaming News Goes Live!

Welcome to Speed Gaming News! We're so happy to announce the official release of our new website. We hope to make this a useful medium for entertainment, knowledge, and all things gaming -- especially related to speedruns! We have so much work to do, so we'll keep this short & sweet. Thanks for stopping in, make yourself cozy <3