Who’s First?

We will get to the answer in a sec. But first a bit of history, Ultimate Condensed History, about Gaming.

It was Friday the 10th of June 2016, 21 months ago to the day for those who like to age things in months – you know who you are. The men of the UCHG were engaged in an epic battle to see who could claim the top spot on the mighty Juno First.

At the end of the night it was Fen who stood victorious. His score of 179,100 was the biggest we had ever seen and he was rightly proud of it. Whist it lasted….

Fast forward 7 days and the UCHG were at it again. Ross pitched up in P2 with 154,780 and then. It happened. In a moment akin to Senna in a tunnel in Monaco (around 262 months ago at the time) Brad took a seat and the rest was History.

Or was it…..

The 300k club was open and the cost of entry was, well, 300k or more. Following in the footsteps of all great high score stories controversy was not far away. A spot of routine tinkering with the arcade machine revealed that some games were not running as fast as they should be. As the investigation deepened it became apparent that Juno First, our beloved Juno First, was affected. The ramifications of this discovery were as tragic as they were serious. The high score, all the scores, were false! Invalid!

Not wanting to be branded cheaters hardware was upgraded, frame rates were confirmed to be good and battle resumed. Steve knocked on the door with a tantalising 299,920 but was denied. Ross, with some last man heroics, smashed past the bouncers with an epic 337,250 and became the first legit member of the 300k club. Time after time the men of the UCHG tried and failed to beat the previous high score. The game at full speed had become nothing short of serious face inducing brutality.

Something had to be done.

In honour of a decade of the UCHG, and to prove he truly was worthy of being First, Brad took up the challenge – P1 or nothing, the game would be tamed! Strapping a camera to his head (for evidence recording purposes as well the enjoyment of feeling a little like Sam Fisher.) Brad took some time out of life and went to war.

4 days later this happened…

445,320!!! A new and genuine high score. No longer was the 300k club an unattainable dream. It was now a mere waiting area set aside from the grandeur of the 400k suite. The beast had been slain!

The really exciting part is that there is more to come. The game ending death displayed above was avoidable. A mere slip in concentration, the underestimation of the little red cross shaped thing brought it all to an end.

The designs have been made, the 500k plaza is under construction – level 19 awaits!

But who will be the First?