{"id":71324,"date":"2024-01-10T15:40:09","date_gmt":"2024-01-10T20:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=71324"},"modified":"2024-01-10T15:40:09","modified_gmt":"2024-01-10T20:40:09","slug":"from-besting-tetris-ai-to-epic-speedruns-inside-gamings-most-thrilling-feats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/from-besting-tetris-ai-to-epic-speedruns-inside-gamings-most-thrilling-feats\/","title":{"rendered":"From besting Tetris AI to epic speedruns \u2013 inside gaming\u2019s most thrilling feats"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

After 13-year-old Willis Gibson became the first human to\u00a0beat the original Nintendo version<\/a>\u00a0of Tetris, he dedicated his special win to his father, who passed away in December 2023.<\/p>\n

The Oklahoma teen beat the game by defeating level after level until he reached the \u201ckill screen\u201d \u2013 that is, the moment when the Tetris artificial intelligence taps out in exhaustion, stopping play because its designers never wrote the code to advance further. Before Gibson, the only other player to overcome the game\u2019s AI was\u00a0another AI<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For any parent who has despaired over their children sinking countless hours into video games, Gibson\u2019s victory over the\u00a0cruel geometry<\/a>\u00a0of Tetris stands as a bracing corrective.<\/p>\n

Despite the stereotypes, most gamers are anything but lazy. And they\u2019re anything but mindless.<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s top players can sometimes serve as reminders of the best in us, with memorable achievements that range from the heroic to the inscrutably weird.<\/p>\n

The perfect run<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cSpeedrunning<\/a>\u201d is a popular gaming subculture in which players meticulously optimize routes and exploit glitches to complete, in a matter of minutes, games that normally take hours, from the tightly constrained, run-and-gun action game\u00a0Cuphead<\/a>\u00a0to the sprawling role-playing epic\u00a0Baldur\u2019s Gate 3<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In top-level competition, speedrunners strive to match the time of what\u2019s referred to as a \u201cTAS,\u201d or \u201ctool-assisted speed run.\u201d To figure out the TAS time, players use game emulators to choreograph a theoretically perfect playthrough, advancing the game one frame at a time to determine the fastest possible time.<\/p>\n

Success requires punishing precision, flawless execution and years of training.<\/p>\n

The major speedrunning milestones are, like Olympic races, marked by mere fractions of a second. The urge to speedrun likely sprouts from an innate human longing for perfection \u2013 and a uniquely 21st century compulsion to best the robots.<\/p>\n

A Twitch streamer who goes by the username Niftski is currently the human who has come closest to achieving this androidlike perfection. His 4-minute, 54.631-second\u00a0world-record speedrun<\/a>\u00a0of Super Mario Bros. \u2013 achieved in September 2023 \u2013 is just 0.35 seconds shy of a flawless TAS.<\/p>\n

Watching Niftski\u2019s now-famous run<\/a>\u00a0is a dissonant experience. Goofy, retro, 8-bit Mario jumps imperturbably over goombas and koopa troopas with the iconic, cheerful \u201cboink<\/a>\u201d sound of his hop.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Niftski pants as his anxiety builds, his heart rate \u2013 tracked on screen during the livestream \u2013 peaking at 188 beats per minute.<\/p>\n

When Mario bounces over the final big turtle at the finish line \u2013 \u201cboink\u201d \u2013 Niftski erupts into screams of shock and repeated cries of \u201cOh my God!\u201d<\/p>\n

He hyperventilates, struggles for oxygen and finally sobs from exhaustion and joy.
\n