Speedrunning - Another way of play

So, over the last week I have been almost obsessively watching in my spare time the 7 day speed running marathon that is (or was now) AGDQ or Awesome Games Done Quick 2013. Streamed live on Twitch.tv, it demonstrated some amazing talent. Done for charity, it eventually raised over US$420000 towards research into the prevention of Cancer.

But what is speed running you might ask?

Speed running in its most pure form is playing a game in order to finish it as quickly as possible. Where this breaks down is what “finishing” the game really consists of. For most games it’s broken down into different categories, usually with at least a 100% completion record (i.e. collecting everything in the game) and what is called an any% record (i.e. not getting every item in the game, but still finishing it)

Some speed runs are fairly skill based, with carefully planned out routes decided upon beforehand in order to maximize efficiency. Many however (and coincidentally) the ones I find most interesting are the ones that abuse unintentional glitches in the game, often in order to skip sections and items needed in order to progress. One of my favourite examples of this is this speed run of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Usually a game that would take 12+ hours to finish for an average player, the player in this video manages to finish it in just under 22 minutes using a glitch I don’t even entirely understand. The commentary on the run helps though.

What I find interesting however is developer reaction to it. One example of this was during the aforementioned AGDQ. During his run of VVVVVV, the player (known as runners, as in speed runner) of the game, upon finding out the developer of the game itself was watching him play it, apologized, saying that he knew the developer didn’t particularly like the “Speed Run” way of playing his game. This kind of developer reaction I find quite interesting. Is speed running a legitimate way of playing a game, or is it a form of cheating? In my opinion, it’s just another way that players have come up with in order to get more enjoyment out of their favourite games. What are your thoughts?

-Matthew Miles-Watson