A Twenty-Eight-Year-Old Video Game High Score Crushed

It stood for 28 years and took 58 hours and one quarter to beat. Seattle locksmith John McAllister toppled the 1982 world record for Asteroids, racking up an amazing 41,338,740 points on the 1979 Atari classic arcade machine. He tapped in the letters E L F next to his score before calling it a night.

Once confirmed, McAllister, 41, will be the new world record holder for Asteroids' high score. The previous high score was set back in 1982, just three years after the game's release, by Scott Safran with a score of 41,336,440.

McAllister now has to submit the video recording of his marathon gaming session to Twin Galaxies, keepers of arcade and video game high scores, to have it verified and, hopefully, entered into their office score book.

The score was considered by many to be unbreakable.

"It's basically considered a Holy Grail..." McAllister told the media. "It was a title that a lot of people would want, and I wanted it."