Video game speedrunning is a fascinating event, and none is more well-known than the annual Games Done Quick conventions. In a few months, Awesome Games Done Quick 2024 will be held live in Pittsburgh, PA, from January 14-21. And for the first time, a dog will speedrun a game for AGDQ 2024.
As spotted by IGN (via VGC), speedrunner JSR announced via X that his Shiba Inu will be speedrunning the NES game, Gyromite, during AGDQ 2024:
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The dog, Peanut Butter, learned to speedrun the game last summer, with a combination of commands and tasty treats. A special paddle controller was used, and the game was completed in 25 minutes and 29 seconds.
For the younger gamers out there who were born after the ’80s, Gyromite is one of the few NES titles to take advantage of the R.O.B. accessory. The little robot had to use discs to press down on one of two buttons, which controlled different colored pipes in the game. It was a neat little idea, though R.O.B. was painfully slow. Savvy players soon realized it was faster to use the buttons on the NES controller to move the pipes.
Hopefully, Peanut Butter will conquer the game in record time at AGDQ 2024, earning a new personal best. After that, who knows? Perhaps a three-way race of Gyromite between a human, dog, and souped-up R.O.B.? A man can dream.
