It was 25 years ago today, Scott Safran taught the world to play... Asteroids. On this day in 1983, 15-year-old Scott Safran began playing Asteroids at an arcade in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Three days later, his last ship was crushed by a vector rock and he staggered back from the cabinet with a record-breaking score of 41,336,440 points. A record that has remained unbroken ever since.

So how about it, readers? Did they just make 'em a lot harder back in the olden days or is Asteroids just out of fashion? Has coping with inertia and splitting space rocks just become one of those lost skills - like long division, scrimshaw or making fire with a bow?

Nov. 13, 1983: Teen Sets Asteroids Record in 3-Day Marathon [Wired]