Mumbai's Chirantan Patnaik creates world record in video gaming

Chirantan Patnaik has successfully broken the current world record made by a US citizen last year for the longest continuous play session on 'Grand Theft Auto IV' of 28 hours and 1 minute.

An official of Guinness World Records said that Patnaik's endeavour, made in the presence of independent observers and under public scrutiny last month, was recently verified by them.

"The longest continuous play session on Grand Theft Auto IV is 40 hours 20 minutes, by Chirantan Patnaik (India), at the offices of the gaming blog NeuralChaos.com from 4-6 September 2009," Karolina Thelin, PR executive of Guinness World Records said.

With support from from online gaming portal Zapak.com, Patnaik began playing the game at his Mumbai residence from 10 am on September 4 and ended at around 2 am on September 6.

"We have always believed in the potential of Indian gamers. Chirantan's success is a proud moment for the Indian gaming industry. This will encourage more youngsters to take gaming seriously," said Rohit Sharma, COO of Zapak Digital Entertainment, who had also appointed observers during the event.

Patnaik, who works with a private equity firm and is also a certified scuba diver, said it was his passion for gaming that motivated him to set the new world record.

"I began playing video games since I was in the third standard. Gaming, has since then, been my passion as well as a hobby," the 26-year-old said.

Interestingly, Patnaik had never played this game earlier despite being an avid gamer.
"There are so many other games which I have played for long hours. But I had never tried playing this particular game seriously. However, I knew that I can do it after I saw my brother playing it."

Describing his experience of playing at a stretch for more than one-and-a-half day as fun, he said, "I enjoyed the game very much. It's fun playing long hours. It wasn't that exhaustive for me, as one might feel".

According to the stringent guidelines of the Guinness World Records, Patnaik was allowed a 10-minute break every hour. "But I took a total of four breaks during my entire game," he said, adding that he doesn't mind spending a chunk of his salary on buying costly gaming equipments.

"I buy the latest games in the market if it interests me. I don't mind spending money on games at all," he said.

To prepare for the feat, he went through some endurance training by running, exercising and practising yoga.

"But I think staying away from coffee and eating dates during my game helped me to stay alert and fit," Patnaik said adding that his earlier experience of playing games for long hours helped him.
When asked about his future plans, he said he wants to better his present record by playing for more than 48 hours. PTI NIK dv 10201116