Two new Guinness World Record holders were crowned at the Give It A Name Festival, Earls Court, London, last night, as they took to the main stage to play Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock in front of over 9,600 fans.
The previous record for “Largest Audience For A Videogame Performance” was set at the Download Festival, Donington, in 2007, when the game was played in front of 3,000 people – so last night’s performance smashed this three times over.
Members of the public competed on the Atticus clothing stand during the day for the right to claim their place in Guitar Hero history – with Renos Georgiou, 16, and Lyndon Jones, 15, winning the chance to perform on the festival’s main stage ahead of headliner 30 Seconds To Mars.
And Guinness World Records’ records manager Gareth Deaves was on hand to adjudicate and issue Guinness World Record certificates cementing the achievement, giving the duo bragging rights for years to come. Their performance of Guns ‘n Roses’ “Welcome To The Jungle” in Co-Op mode on Expert difficulty will go down in videogame history as the largest audience for a videogame performance to date.
“Seeing two Guitar Hero players, rocking the 9,600 plus people in Earls Court was a genuine jaw-on-the-floor moment, illustrating how far we’ve come as a franchise,” says Ian McClellan, senior brand manager, Guitar Hero. “A few years ago, games were mainly played in bedrooms. Now we’re on the main stage of a massive indoor festival only an hour or so before Jared Leto’s band headlines. It’s incredible.”
“When we launched the Guinness World Records Gamers Edition, we expected some spectacular record attempts – but never imagined we’d see over 9,600 people rocking out to a videogame,” said Gareth Deaves, records manager, Guinness World Record. “It was an amazing spectacle. What’s clear now is that this is a fantastic record to beat – we can’t wait to see where people take it next.”
“I doubt anyone else will enjoy such a meteoric rise to fame,” adds Matt Ash, marketing director, Atticus Clothing. “One minute, Renos and Lyndon were auditioning on the Atticus stand; the next they were playing on stage to over 9,600 people. It made the Arctic Monkeys and Lilly Allen look like proper slowcoaches.”
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is available for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 2 now.