A man in Mumbai, India, has broken the world record for continuously playing Grand Theft Auto IV, making his way into the pages of the Guinness Book of World Records.
According to an article in Zeenews, Chirantan Patnaik, a 26-year-old private equity broker, spent 40 hours and 20 minutes playing the game at his home, going from 10 a.m. on Sept. 4 and ending around 2 a.m. on Sept. 6. The guidelines for the world record allowed him a 10-minute break every hour, but Patnaik said he only took four breaks the entire time. The event was chronicled by Zapak.com, which had observers in place to satisfy Guinness. The previous record for playing GTA IV was 28 hours 1 minute set last year.
Apparently, Patnaik had not played the game previously:
"There are so many other games which I have played for long hours. But I had never tried playing this particular game seriously. However, I knew that I can do it after I saw my brother playing it ... I enjoyed the game very much. It's fun playing long hours. It wasn't that exhaustive for me, as one might feel."
Patnaik describes himself as an avid gamer that buys "the latest games in the market if it interestes me. I don't mind spending money on games at all." To prepare for the endurance test, he ran, exercised and practiced yoga. He drank coffee and ate dates during the play session "to stay alert and fit."
He doesn't plan on resting on his laurels. His next goal is to play for 48 hours straight.