Most likely, everyone has idly flipped through one of the massive copies of Guinness World Records, or perhaps looked in it to prove a friend wrong. According to Wikipedia, GWR was literally started to settle pub bets! Since its inception in 1954, the Guinness World Record book has become a household name. In 2008, a gamer offshoot book was released, full of video game related records.

The 2014 Gamer’s Edition was released on January 3. New feats achieved in the last 12 months, and recognized in the latest edition of the best-selling book series, include the Largest Collection of Video Games; Longest Marathon on a Dance Game; Fastest Game to Gross $1 Billion; and a 24-year-old Brit who has recorded record-breaking high scores on Pac-Man and Angry Birds.

Interestingly, the man who’s recognized as the owner of the Largest Video Game Collection, Michael Thomasson, has built his collection from scratch — twice! Initially, he started collecting as a child, but sold his collection to pay for a Sega Genesis. After beginning anew, he sold his collection in 1998 to pay for his wedding. Since then, he’s amassed 10,607 games, buying about two games a day with a $3000-a-year budget! His collection is estimated to be worth $700,000.

Another American, Carrie Swidecki, takes the cake for the Longest Marathon on a Dance Game. Carrie played the popular game Just Dance 4 for 49 hours, 3 minutes, 22 seconds and earned herself a record! She considers herself an ambassador for “exergaming” – the act of using video games to exercise. Thirteen years ago, Carrie was 210 pounds and she “…discovered how easy it was to exercise using video games. I lost 75 pounds, went down ten sizes, set five World Records. I have become an advocate to fight childhood obesity in schools!”

In addition to marathons, high scores and record-breaking collections, Gamer’s Edition 2014 recognizes the biggest moment in the last 12 months: the launch of Grand Theft Auto V! The fifteenth title in the series, sold 11.21 million units in the first 24 hours after release and within three days generated a revenue of $1 billion. These figures smash records previously held by the Call of Duty franchise and blockbuster movies, including The Avengers and Avatar.

More Records from Guinness World Records 2014 Gamer’s Edition include:

• Most Expensive Video Game: the most expensive video game available commercially is GRID 2: Mono Edition (Codemasters, 2013), which retails in the UK for about $190,000.
• First in-game Pizza Delivery System: The earliest video game pizza delivery system appeared in EverQuest ll. In February 2005, game developers added a pizza delivery system for its players. By typing “/pizza,” players would be linked directly to the Pizza Hut ordering site. This was the first time that an MMORPG could accept orders for real world items.
• First Video Game to Become a Licensed Bank: The Swedish MMORPG Entropia Universe became the first video game with a built-in bank in March 2009 when its application for a banking license was approved by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. As a result, the game’s currency, Project Entropia Dollars, has a real-world value on the stock exchange, currently fixed to the US dollar at a rate of 10 PED per $1 US.
• First Scientific Study of a Chemical Compound in a Video Game:  As part of the development of Command & Conquer 3, publisher EA commissioned scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, to come up with a plausible analysis of the game’s main resource, Tiberium. In the resultant paper, issued in 2006, the game’s executive producer Mike Verdu described Tiberium as a dense “dynamic proton lattice” held together by exotic heavy particles.

The Guinness Book of World Records also has global television shows in addition to two YouTube channels for further record-based entertainment. Since its launch nearly 60 years ago, over 130 million copies — including 400,000 eBooks – have been sold in 20 languages, in more than 100 countries. In 2013, Officially Amazing became the registered trademark of Guinness World Records Limited.