ToddsGuardian

This article was in today's copy of the Hernando Today Newspaper. Local gamer sets numerous world records By RAY REYES rreyes@hernandotoday.com Published: Aug 18, 2003 HIGH POINT - The current generation of button mashers may not be aware that there was another era of video gaming, a golden age, before polygons and Playstation. It was a time, 20 years ago, when complicated graphic effects such as bump-mapping, bip-mapping and anti-aliasing were just an unbreakable, coded fever dream in developer's minds. It was a time when players played just to get the high score on their favorite games, and when they did so they received respect from their peers and even game developers. It was a time when video games were a minor tributary flowing through the pop culture landscape, not the mainstream phenomenon it is now. It was a time that High Point resident Todd Rogers remembers very fondly, because he spent most of the 1980s obliterating and demoralizing every video game opponent that challenged him - human or computer. Wait a minute. You've never heard of him? "All these younger players are like, 'Who's Todd Rogers?'" Rogers said. "They say that I'm a relic, that I'm so 20 years ago." Video gaming history is a short and scattered one, loosely held together by arcane trivia. And the attention span of video gamers is even shorter. But Rogers has carved himself a niche in that history, racking up high scores in hundreds of video games - on a multitude of home consoles from the Atari 2600 to the X-Box - and holding 1,904 world records to boot. Some scores date back to 1980, when he attained 653,990 on the arcade game Gorf - still a world record today - and demolished famed developer David Crane's Dragster with a time of 5.51 seconds. He became a celebrity, joining video game company Activision on press tours around the country. Rogers was even a member of the U.S. National Video Game Team in 1986. Now 38, Rogers has re-emerged from a game- playing sabbatical, and has returned from the Classic Gaming Expo held in Las Vegas on Aug. 9 and 10. "It was the mecca of retro gaming," Rogers said. "It brought out video game players from all over the world. Not to mention a who's who of the video gaming industry." At the expo, Rogers and other gaming legends of the past were the featured subjects in a series of short documentaries filmed by G4, the 24-hour video gaming cable network. Rogers also got a chance to officiate the Atari 2600 Decathlon booth and challenge event goers to the javelin portion of the game, which he holds the world record of 93.09 meters, by the way. To Rogers, it was a blast from the past, a reminder of how gaming used to be. "Games are structured different today," Rogers said. "You have teams of developers for one game rather than one developer. Now, it's a pooling of ideas, and they rely upon graphics, not gameplay. I don't think they're putting in nearly as much effort into the games as they did 20 years ago." Rogers added that these days, proficient players aren't the stars of the industry anymore. The developers and their characters - like Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog or Link from the Legend of Zelda series - are. Now that Rogers has re-emerged, he plans to bring gaming back to its roots. "I would say I'm still pretty proficient," Rogers said. "There are some games I still excel at. But you can't be good at everything." He added that he's currently developing a game, named Delerium 2, for the PC, and plans to compete in the video game Iron Man competition in the fall. It's an event where gamers attempt to play as long as they can on one quarter. The purse for the event is $25,000. For Rogers, it should be walk in the park, considering he once played a game for 72 hours straight. "Geez, I hope I get bathroom breaks," Rogers laughed. To Rogers, that spirit of white-knuckled, sweaty-palmed, bloodshot-eyed competition is the core of what made video games so popular to begin with. "Back in the day, it was all about being No. 1," Rogers said. "About being the best. About never giving up." He added, speaking like a true champ, "It was about playing to win."

Ok Mr. Activisonless, Just who are you calling old? I remember that stupid mirror from the show.. Now let's talk H & R Puffinstuff.. That show rocked.. Yea so this is April, Todd's over protective "chick" friend. Personally I wish BigThunder would keep the offer on the table.. Todd owes me money and I could use it . I personally think this entire thread has gotten out of hand. Many of you started to blame BigLeo. I know BigLeo and yes, he is a loyal friend of Todd's. Any true friend is going to be there for the other. Now, I do not agree with the way the topic had changed to personal bashing but Leo like the rest of us had the right to his opinion. I, in my opinion still have to put most of the blame on BigThunder. I applaud you that you have played your game so much that you are willing to put a thousand on the line. However, one thing that needs to be remembered here is that Nobody is great at EVERYTHING.. I fail to see how beating Todd on this one game will have any baring at all. Will this mean he is not a world record holder ? NO. Will it mean he is not a dedicated gamer ? No. It will just mean that out of thousands of games he is not perfect on one or maybe two titles I think the challenges are great, they add to the entertainment and sport of the game. The gamers however need to chill a bit and realize that there is life beyond the joystick. Too many times posts are made in a bashing nature instead of to praise the winner. I know Todd works very hard at his scores as I'm sure you all do. I know he would much rather read a few compliments then thread after thread of crap. Now for my real point to this post. I personally would love it if some of you would beat the champ at CGE this year. You have no idea how tiring it is when most phone call topics consist of video games and visits to my house amount to him playing games all night.. So, my challenge is if any one of you can send a more Humbled Todd Mr. Activison Rogers back from C.G.E. I will e-mail you a blackmail pic of Mr. Beat The Champ with his hair done up by my daughter and 3 nieces. Good Luck Everyone.. And make sure to say Hi to the camera. Todd will be bringing my camcorder and I'd love to finally put a face to all the names I keep hearing. April

Hi Everyone, This is April, Todd's Friend and Web Site designer. I have been keeping up on most of the posts, usually because he will show them to me, so I can't help but notice the frustration that many of you feel when trying to beat Todd at the classic games. I wanted to take a minute and educate you on a great way to beat him at his own game. You see this Sunday December 1st is his 38th birthday. Todd has made it very clear that he does not celebrate and that he will be hiding. I propose that anyone who would like to wish him a happy birthday ( and remember to rub in that he is getting old, you are surpised he can still handle his joystick, etc ). Feel free to post here ( I will make sure he sees this ) or post on his site ( http://www.beatthechamp.com ) or send him an e-mail toddrogers64@hotmail.com ( I think alot of animated greeting cards with songs would be great since he keeps his volume on ) and of course those of you who have his number and call him almost daily feel free to do that. We must show Mr. Activision that he can run but he can not hide.. Thanks for helping to make this a Birthday he will always remember. April

Thanks Rick, I'm not really the HARSH B**** that they all seem to think I am, but shhhhhhh don't let it out... Gotta act like a mean "chick" to survive in todays world... April

Gee, so should I now take offense to being called a chick ? April

1st) Not only has this forum served as a sounding board (as proof of your post) but Beat The Champ also has a message board to post any feedback, so to try to say that the issue can not continue to debated is false. I did read all of the posts and I never said EVERYONE was bashing Todd. I did say that I think the entire thing got carried away and should have never been permitted to reach the point it did. I agree, nobody should be immune to questions, and if you read my post it simply states that in my opinion the question should have been directed to Todd or TG and handled at that level. Realizing that the score was a typo will at least hopefully start to slow this forum topic down. It does not however, excuse the ones who had judged him without him ever having a chance to say a word. You all must realize a few things, 1) None of my comments posted here represent what Todd thinks, feels or plans to do about this popular topic. My response to the outragous situation was only after receiving a call from Todd asking me to see what the **** was being said on this forum since it had become the talk of the weekend and he had no access to the site. After the 3rd page of posts I started to feel sick that not only has a group ( and I am not including all ) attacked a very talented player but due to the comments making their way back to the Mall Of America also turned what should have been an enjoyable event for Todd into a nightmare. " prove the score or you are a liar " "Release the tape or you are stuffy ******* " I did report back to Todd that he had his handful of supporters. My point however is, everyone on this board should want and expect the proper respect after working hard to achieve a score. The way this entire situation was handled offered no respect for Todd, Ron ( since he was often lumped in ) or TG. As gamers, when the question about the validy came up TG should have been contacted and Walter could have handled it. April

Hi, I am the web designer for Todd's Beat The Champ Site, after reading these 5 pages of posts, I felt it was time to step in and say a few words. Please feel free to visit his site @ http://www.beatthechamp.com click on the AtariAge link on the first page. Thanks and I hope you check out my comments on the site. April