It was estimated that George Leutz would have to play Q*Bert for more than 70 hours -nearly three days straight- to break a 28-year-old all-time world record. If you, like me, wondered if there was some way to stick Q*Bert in the corner of the board and grab a nap during the record attempt, evidently there isn't.
Shortly after midnight at Richie Knucklez Arcade Games in Flemington, N.J., fatigue overcame Leutz at the 54-hour mark. He had reached 24.7 million points, reports Arcade Game Examiner. The world record, which has stood since 1983, is 33,273,520. A friend of Leutz said in his final hour of play he'd lost close to 75 lives and simply couldn't continue.
Leutz is going to try again in July. At least this one didn't end like the first bid, when a bumped power cord elsewhere in the arcade caused his machine to reset.
Fatigue Brings Q*bert Record Attempt to an End After 54 Hours of Play [Arcade Game Examiner]