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Can a dog really challenge a video game speedrun record? It might sound like we’re barking up the wrong tree here, but it’s apparently set to happen in January at the next Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) event.
AGDQ is the most prominent event in the video game speedrunning scene, wherein players attempt to beat games as quickly as possible, and all of the Games Done Quick competitions have collectively raised over $46 million for various charities since 2010.
And the next flagship event, AGDQ 2024 in January, will feature a so-called “dog-assisted” speedrun on the game Gyromite for the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), GameSpot reports. Gyromite is a game played with the R.O.B. robot accessory for the NES, but in this case, a Shiba Inu dog will take the place of R.O.B. via a custom controller.
A shiba inu will speedrun a game at @GamesDoneQuick this January; he will be the first dog to do so:https://t.co/IA78oPZwe2
— JSR_@TwitchCon/GDQx (@JSR2gamers) October 17, 2023
According to a video posted Tuesday by JSR, the pseudonymous human owner of the Shiba Inu named Peanut Butter, he taught the dog to use the custom controller after noticing that the canine was very smart and responsive. Now Peanut Butter will be the first dog to compete at an AGDQ event via an online livestream.
As a video of Peanut Butter’s personal best time shows, the dog is prompted by JSR through commands and incentivized through treats to tap the correct button with his paw.
Granted, JSR and Peanut Butter’s “dog-assisted” speedrun time won’t ultimately be compared to those of purely human players. Their current personal best Gyromite “Game B” time of 25:29 is the best such time in the world for that particular type of speedrun approach.
But they’re not far from the human record of 24:39 completed with the R.O.B. robot by user Octopuscal. Peanut Butter and JSR will surely do their best to hound them out of the overall Gyromite Game B world record come January—and raise some funds for charity in the process.