Gamer breaks iconic videogame record by playing Dance Dance Revolution for SIX DAYS

A dedicated gamer has broken a record that stood for almost 10 years by shaking his groove thing for six full days.

Szabolcs Csépe (Hungary), known as GrassHopper, played Dance Dance Revolution for an unbelievable 144 hours to secure the record for longest videogame marathon as well as the longest videogame marathon on a rhythm game title.

He danced to over 3,000 songs and burned more than 22,000 calories when he took on the challenge in Kecskemét, Hungary between 23 and 29 October, last year.

His efforts mean he overtook the long-standing record of 138 hr 34 sec, set by Carrie Swidecki (USA) in 2015. She broke her record on Just Dance.

Szabolcs told us: “Ever since I learned about Carrie Swidecki’s achievements in marathon gaming, I often caught myself thinking about how she pulled the all-time longest session off almost a decade ago.

“I set up stepping stones long ago to chase after the No.1 spot by building up the required skills in all aspects. Every time I attempted another marathon, I told myself, ‘it must feel like a dream achievement to all of us’, until the final days of each record attempt actually concluded.”

The 34-year-old, who works in IT engineering, had already broken some gaming records.

In 2021, he achieved the longest videogame marathon playing a Naruto game (28 hr 11 min 32 sec playing Narutimetto Akuseru 2) and the longest videogame marathon playing a puzzle game (32 hr 32 min 32 sec playing Tetris Effect).

And in 2023, a 90-hour gaming session on Gran Turismo 7 earned him the longest videogame marathon playing a racing, the longest videogame marathon playing a simulation videogame and the longest videogame marathon playing a racing simulator game.

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But this latest marathon was something else.

Szabolcs, who posts gaming content on Twitch and YouTube, said: “Those who know me personally or follow me online know that I am very competitive by nature. As with everything, there is a backstory for my latest record attempt too.”

He explained that after achieving what he believed to be an unbeatable score in a Naruto ninja fighting game, he tried to have it recognized as a world record, but it wasn’t possible due to the game having too many variables.

Instead, he took on a marathon attempt and it wasn’t long before he became a record holder.

But his latest attempt would prove the toughest.

He explained: “For me, by far this attempt was the most physically demanding experience, where the arms and shoulders expressed fatigue for extended hours without stretching. Apart from physically training for marathon gaming sessions, I prepared with the two most important keys to succeed: doing serious practice attempts with a small staff, and also coming up with a plan for supporting your body with sufficient food and water intake.”

Szabolcs added: “As for the difficulty, this record attempt was challenging and comfortable at the same time: standing for long hours is not something that humans are designed for; however, this time I could move freely as I was not exposed to sudden or unexpected body movements, for example, constantly competing with opponents on a race track.

“What also added to the challenge was managing and documenting all witness activities and their time allocation by myself; essentially before, during and after the record attempt. Motivation is always a given with rhythm and music games! Those who love this genre can always tell that there is nothing more encouraging than dancing or doing body workout while listening to your favourite tunes.”

Szabolcs, who earned the nickname GrassHopper as a kid because he was always jumping around, has been playing Dance Dance Revolution for almost 20 years.

He loves that he can get a workout while dancing with his friends and family, and his favourite song to dance to is “New Millennium” by Sota Fujimori.

Szabolcs said of breaking the record: “With the longest videogame marathon record finally becoming part of my collection, I feel thrilled! I managed to complete a multi-year bucket list that connects human achievements to my favourite video games together.”

People constantly quiz him about what record he’ll break next, but at the moment, he hasn’t decided what his next gaming challenge is going to be.

And his advice to others is: “I encourage everyone to primarily enjoy playing video games to the fullest before going for challenges and achievements - once you have a target in sight, try to explore all possibilities and dare to make mistakes.

“Every record idea means the most for those who set their eyes on, and succeeded in, becoming the very best in something - this is what holding a Guinness World Records title means.”