Guinness World Records 2011 Gamer's Edition

Anyone that's been on the planet Earth has heard of the Guinness World Records. These are are series of books that house all kinds of records such as the largest amount of Big Macs consumed or the most money spent on plastic surgery. And while those would no doubt make for fascinating reads, I think we should all turn our attention to the records that matter the most in this world: gaming.

Once again, I owe a huge thanks to Mark from Classic Game Room. He brought the Guinness World Records 2011 Gamer's Edition to my attention in a video review. Up until that point, I didn't even realize that Guinness had Gamer Edition books. I picked up the 2011 Gamer's Edition earlier this year, slowly making my way through it at first, but I've been reading through it a lot this week. This baby is chock full of records for games across every genre both old and new. Like the regular Guinness World Record books, the Gamer's Edition gives you the lowdown on records you'd expect and maybe some you wouldn't even think of.

It's probably no surprise that Madden is the longest running sports franchise, but did you know that Mafia II holds the world record for the biggest number of f-bombs in a video game, clocking in at nearly 400? The previous holder of that title was House of the Dead: Overkill, which dished out close to 200 uses of the f-word in just a few hours. Annie Leung racked up a score of 789,349 points on Guitar Hero III on the song "Through the Fire and Flames" on the Expert difficulty. Chun-Li holds the unbreakable record of being the first female character in a fighting game. And speaking of Street Fighter, the SNES version of Street Fighter II: The World Warrior is the highest selling home version of any Street Fighter with over 6 million copies sold.

I never imagined that reading through a record book could be so much fun but it truly is. There's even a quote at the bottom of every page from a game for you to see how big of a gaming nerd you are. I've recognized some of the quotes, but quiet a few of them are lost on me. The Guinness World Records 2011 Gamer's Edition is a book that I think any gamer will enjoy. It's cheap and is available in both paperback and hardcover formats. I'll be waiting for the 2012 Gamer's Edition with open arms.