Marathon gaming sessions

[THRILLHO]

I Played WoW for 37 Hours straight back in 2008. I was hallucinating watching my mouse grow legs and walk around my desk so I went to bed. I quit WoW a few weeks later after being banned for swearing. Haven't played it since.

Reading about people's experiences with WoW is actually quite frightening. MMORPG's are definitely the crack of gaming. It's amazing how so many people are prepared to spend so long grinding to level up.

I played counterstrike obsessively for like 6 years. I would do 12 hour sessions 5 times a week and if I wasn't playing it, I was thinking about it. At one stage I had a permanent crosshair etched into my real life vision.

Best game ever.

Around Movember last year me and a a few other teachers organised a Counterstrike lunch-time session everyday for the entire month. We'd "supervise" by playing with the kids, but it was eye-opening how quickly they got addicted and how annoyed they were when the bell went.

 

[Macca19]

For some reason my Amiga 500 had a lot of trouble saving games so during holidays when I was a kid and I had nothing else to do id spend all day playing just the one or two games trying to get as far as I could. Finished an entire season of F1GP in one day, from about 7am in the morning till about 7pm at night back when I was in about Grade 5.

A mate and I played Allan Border Cricket for about 42 out of about 46 hours once...only stopping for meals and the odd kick of the footy down the park.

A few years back we used to have one or two big Halo weekends a year, we'd have 5 or 6 other mates bring along their tv and consoles and we'd have a weekend of Halo, beer, bbq, more beer and pizza.

 

[THRILLHO]

Pulled my Gamecube out this afternoon, thought I'd pop in Zelda: Wind Waker. Turns out it was Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Oh man, where did 3 hours go?

 

[Ed_Gein]

I remember when i first got GTA IV and they were running some promotion where you got some 'key' if you got 100% completion in the game. Cause i got the game from Asia it arrived a week later or so from the release date and i'm fairly certain i got the game on a Friday. Spent 38 hours IIRC on it from when i got home from work at 4pm on Friday til i went to bed on Sunday at 10-11pm. Was wrecked after it.

They extended the deadline anyway and a i managed to get 100% in a week and a half or so. Ended up getting the email about claiming my 'key' but couldnt be arsed sending it away. lol

Championship Manager 01/02 was another game i had epic marathons on. 14 hour + sessions on that one surely. Was addicted to this game for about a year and a half and could probably count the amount of days i went without playing it in that timeframe on one hand.

Gears of War 2 was another, addicted to that one. 30 days played. But that isn't a true reflection of how much time was spent waiting in lobbies getting games etc. Never played horde online which significantly boosts that time (had a gaming buddy that got sick of multiplayer for a bit and went onto horde, his time played at the time was slightly longer, but it cranked right up after a week or so of horde). Also, 34k kills all up at a k/d of 1.6, havent seriously played it in 18 months i think. And i reckon i came across probable every aussie that was playing it at the time. Had to continually delete people that hadnt been online for 1-2 weeks playing gears cause of continually having people add me. lol

sad part is i kind of miss the comradre of playing online with a core team though. log into xbox.com to check whats happening, down to about 60 friends on there, 95% of them are hardly online any more or play different games now. :/

 

[Notorious_29]

Plenty of sleepless nights playing N64 back as a kid with mates. I also remember playing a game of Ricky Ponting cricket that lasted from about 8pm to 10am. The day MW2 came out I finished the campaign and racked up 6 hours on online play before turning off the PS3. But agreed I can't play non stop like I used to anymore, my eyes usually give away after 2-3 hours.

 

[Jabso]

Now we're getting some real hours going. 5 hours is not a marathon.

I've probably never gone over 12-15 hours myself.

 

[THRILLHO]

Now we're getting some real hours going. 5 hours is not a marathon.

I've probably never gone over 12-15 hours myself.

I try my best

 

[HBK619]

Hearing Ed about Gears made me think of my first couple of months with the PS3.

When I initially picked up my PS3 all I really wanted was NBA 2K7, however that ended up being delayed by a number of months. So when I picked my PS3 up I got Virtua Tennis 3 (which I promptly traded back after it was fairly average compared to the PS2 version) and since I got a magazine like thing with my PS3 it had Resistance: Fall of Man in there rated a 10/10 so I thought I'd give that a go (was the only one of the first releases to get given it).

Got through about half of Resistance's campaign and then decided to give this online Multiplayer thing a go (of which I had NEVER played an online MP game before).

From there, to the next 2 months I didn't even go back to looking at Resistance's campaign as I was addicted to the MP, absolutely addicted.

Every night I was on it and putting in hours and hours each night. Would often go from 6 or 7pm to 3-5am easily.

The best thing about Fall of Man was that in the early months the game was literally ONLY Australian servers, so while you may have only had limited games available at all times (during the day there were at least 40-50 games to choose from but post midnight it would often get down to 2-3 rooms). So not only did it mean lag free gaming, but you also generally had the same group of people playing each day and really got to know that community that you played with. The entire MP aspect turned into a thing of just a bunch of mates having fun, which is what makes online gaming so amazing. There was the occasional juvenile argument in there, but at the end of the day if you compared that to what we see with COD nowadays it is a world of difference.

What resulted in the end was days and days of gameplay on the MP that really only slowed down once Insomniac opened the servers to worldwide.

Going back to the game is still very fun, but it's not exactly the same as it once was.

So much fun was had.

 

[showdownhero]

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Spent about 15 hours on this bad boy in one session. From 2pm til 5am and I rekon I spent from midnight til 5 playing those really annoying games for the electronics store nerd guy. The most difficult one was where you had to shoot the three guys on motor bikes and then return the plane to the shop. Was playing at a mates place and I remember stumbling home in a daze and falling into bed instantly asleep.

Rome: Total War/Europa Barbarorum

A couple of 12 hour sessions on these games too. Some epic battles

 

[The_Todd07]

I can already declare that from the 11th of November, every waking moment that I am not at work will be taken up by Elder Scrolls 5.

 

[Juddy88]

-- Goldeneye 007: When I was in year 5, I snapped my humerus in half and had to keep my arm immobilised for two weeks. My parents bought me an N64 and I quickly picked up Goldeneye. I vividly remember playing the game for the entire day, probably on Agent or Secret Agent, got up to the Train level and went outside for a break. Outside my eyes actually took awhile to adjust to the harsh sunlight

Haha same. First night I got Goldeneye I got up to Control.

Overall, I reckon I played over 1000 hours on multiplayer alone. I could NEVER unlock the cheat from caverns (finish on 000Agent in like under 5:30), and there was one more I can't remember.

Was unstoppable at multiplayer, never lost a game.

Same with perfect Dark. Absolutely thrashed thta game to death. Surprisingly I never owned it, just borrowed it off a mate or hired it. Probably played this just as much as goldeneye.

 

[Polo]

Had the Friday night to Sunday arvo Halo/Halo 2 sessions as a teenager and played the hell out of Goldeneye and Mario Kart 64 as a kid.

Biggest in recent memory is playing the whole of Uncharted 2 the day it came out without a break and having 6 hours disappear on me not long ago one night after work when I decided to start up a new playthough of Mass Effect 2 on Insanity.

The month or two later on this year when Elder Scrolls 5/Arkham City/Uncharted 3/Mass Effect 3 all come out is gonna be huge

 

[Mancey]

The old Gran Turismo endurance races used to chew up some time. Have the same story as a few on here regarding GTA games, and Fallout 3 etc. The "just one more quest/mission" thing can often see a 2 hour session turn into 5-6.

Used to have epic NBA Jam sessions on the mega drive back in the day, and a mate of mine and I used to love doing full F1 races, tag teaming every 5 laps or so.

Had some epic online sessions on Halo 3 back when 3 other mates used to play 4 man tdm constantly. Used to start around midday, and finish up in the early morning. Still remember doing s**t like running into the kitchen in a break between games, chucking a pie in the microwave, running back, playing a game and then scoffing it in the next break.

Alas in the meantime i have gained a partner and had a bub. Such things are a distant memory now, sigh

 

[Valentino Dmitri]

You're a freakin' stud mancey. congratulations

(congratulating you on the baby, not the epic halo sessions. hope i didn't need to point that out)

 

[sacka]

Alas in the meantime i have gained a partner and had a bub. Such things are a distant memory now, sigh

I hear ya brother, still get some half decent sessions in but nothing like i used to.

I also remember some all nighters playing Aussie Rules nd International Cricket on NES

 

[And_ROOS]

Most epic marathon i was involved with took a weekend, Fifa 99 (the best version of fifa there is ) and 32 team tournament.

 

[Mitho]

Gran Tourismo 4 enduro races. 'Nuff said.

4pm - 3am with one of them and I woke up with the game paused and me in the pits. Must have paused it just to rest my eyes for a second.

Then I worked out you could split the driving with your B-Spec driver... boy did I rage.

 

[MarcusP2]

About 12 hours on Civilization II and Alpha Centauri is my record. I played Final Fantasy 7for about 10 hours on Boxing Day after I got it for Christmas as well.

 

[Hlebalicious]

Just remembered another one, a few cousins and i had gathered together at one of their houses to watch last years World Cup final between Spain and Netherlands.

We decided to make a night of it so we headed down to the servo and bought copius amounts of snacks and rockstar (overpowered energy drink) and settled into the loungeroom where we popped in fifa10.
We proceeded to play some absolutely epic 3 vs 3 games from 6pm till about 3-4am when the game started and then continued again from 7am till 10am when i decided to leave.

I actually started work at 11am and i honestly dont remember anything to do with that day, all i was told the next day was that i got sent home early because i looked like i was going to die .

 

[Mudeo]

I remember i had intense sessions with my mate and a little game called Jedi Power Battles. Oh was that a sweet game.

I have also spent long amount of periods playing G1 Jockey 3, i think i have won over 4000 races or something like that over all the difficulties. Was so addicted to it.

 

[d0gs]

Just remembered Zelda - Ocarina of Time.

That game probably stuffed me more than any other. To this day my character is still a little kid on the game. Might have to do it all over again because I seriously want to pass that game.

 

[d0gs]

Just remembered Zelda - Ocarina of Time.

That game probably stuffed me more than any other. To this day my character is still a little kid on the game. Might have to do it all over again because I seriously want to pass that game.

 

[MightyTiger]

Final Fantasy 10, probably clocked up over 500 hours of gameplay with several different saved games, first file I made it took about 120hours of gameplay to clock it without getting any of the celestial weapons.

Second time around I think it took about 200+ hours getting all celestial weapons and not skipping a single thing in any temples.

The longest single session I had playing was about 30 hours non stop, only taking a break to stretch the legs and grab something to eat and drink.

 

[Cynic]

Final Fantasy 10, probably clocked up over 500 hours of gameplay with several different saved games, first file I made it took about 120hours of gameplay to clock it without getting any of the celestial weapons.

Second time around I think it took about 200+ hours getting all celestial weapons and not skipping a single thing in any temples.

The longest single session I had playing was about 30 hours non stop, only taking a break to stretch the legs and grab something to eat and drink.

That stupid lightning dodging thing felt like a bloody marathon...so did the chocobo race and butterfly thing now I think about it

 

[THRILLHO]

Just remembered Zelda - Ocarina of Time.

That game probably stuffed me more than any other. To this day my character is still a little kid on the game. Might have to do it all over again because I seriously want to pass that game.

I've just started playing this game and it is really hard. My brain is just not hardwired to comprehend and process the puzzles. I'm always looking for the hardest way to complete it, not the logical way

Two examples, first, there's a mini-quest where you have to collect chickens for some old bat. I found them all except one, which was stuck in a crate. I found the crate, knew there was a chicken inside but couldnt for the life of me work out how to get it.

Turns out you just attack roll into it

Second, to get up Death Mountain you need royal permission. I thought that finding all the chickens or something would give you royal permission, so I spent an hour running around for the chickens, before I gave up, cheated and looked up gamefaqs and realised you just give the bloke Zelda's letter

I need to stick to sports games...