Summary
At this week’s ongoing Awesome Games Done Quick event, a very talented dog managed to speedrun a lesser-knownNESgame for charity, to the delight of both their owner and viewers all around the world. For the past decade or so,Awesome Games Done Quick has been held every Januaryto raise money for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. The past three Awesome Games Done Quick events were held remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but this year is seeing the show return to a live format at the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from January 14 to the 21st.
This year’s Awesome Games Done Quick event is standing out in another fun way, as it marks the debut of afour-legged gamer named Peanut Butter, who is owned by streamer and speedrunner JSR_. JSR_ and Peanut Butter have lived together since the latter was a puppy, and JSR_ quickly discovered that his cute Shiba Inu was “much smarter than most other dogs” while training him. This eventually led to Peanut Butter learning how to play video games using a custom-built controller with four color-coded buttons mapped to various inputs on the classic NES controller, with JSR_ guiding and encouraging the dog along the way.
Peanut Butter’s gaming exploits soon spread across the internet, and it was announced that the dog would perform a speedrun atAGDQ 2024back in October. Said speedrun finally happened earlier this week, with Peanut Butter and JSR_ playingGyromitein Game B mode. As shown in a video of the speedrun on the official Games Done Quick YouTube channel, JSR_ guides Peanut Butter to press certain buttons on his custom controller through hand signals, verbal commands, and the occasional pet of encouragement, leading the dog to complete the game in 26 minutes and 24 seconds.
Peanut Butter’s game of choice, the 1985 platformerGyromite, was released on the NES as one of the two video games made forthe ill-fated R.O.B. accessory. It involves players guiding a sleepwalking scientist through his laboratory by opening and closing color-coded pipes at the press of a button. Since the scientist moves automatically and thus only requires the players to control the pipes,Gyromiteis an ideal game for Peanut Butter, though pressing a smaller yellow button to activate both pipe colors at once proved somewhat challenging due to the game not always reading the input.
There have been plenty of impressive speedrunning feats over the years, such as players clearing games blindfolded orskipping large sections of gameplayusing secret glitches or tricks. While Peanut Butter is technically following JSR_’s directors to play through theNEStitleGyromite, seeing the canine clear the game in less than half an hour is still amazing, and proves that the bond between human and dog even extends to playing video games together.
