For the first time in history, a dog has speedrun a game during Awesome Games Done Quick.
Peanut Butter, a Shiba Inu owned by streamer JSR_, speedran the Nintendo Entertainment System title Gyromite by listening to commands from JSR. For those unfamiliar with Gyromite, the player is tasked with both raising and lowering various platforms for a scientist so that they can proceed to the end of a level.
JSR got Peanut Butter to play the game by giving various commands, which would cause the Shiba Inu to press a button that corresponded to one of the actions that could be taken in the game.
Peanut Butter’s final time was 26 minutes and 24 seconds and falls just shy of beating the second and first place world records of 25 minutes and 26 seconds and 24 minutes and 56 seconds, which were set by StarCrystas and TascoDLX respectively. Peanut Butter did however beat his world record in a new category – Gyromite – Dog Assistance, by three seconds.
Gyromite was one of only two officially licensed games to ever be released for Nintendo’s ROB (Robotic Operating Buddy) which was a toy robot accessory released in 1985 to be used with the NES. The other title was Stack-Up, a title in which players are given three game modes that all require them to remember the order a specific set of blocks is laid out before they copy that pattern on the screen.
ROB was quietly discontinued a few years after launch but still has a legacy and a fond place in the hearts of Nintendo fans to this day. The peripheral has been featured in Nintendo’s premier fighting game series Super Smash Bros since 2008’s Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a playable fighter.
In other gaming news, brand new Total War: Pharaoh DLC is releasing next week for free.