Chapter 1
The birth of breaking games
Chapter 2
The physics of glitches
Chapter 3
The precision of tool-assisted speedruns
Chapter 4
The global community and charity
Ch 3 · The precision of tool-assisted speedruns
diegoplays Joel Yliluoma founded the website TASVideos in 2003 to serve as the central repository for theoretical, perfect speedruns.
diegoplays Tool-assisted speedruns program consecutive frame inputs to achieve speeds humans cannot match.
Quiz
How long does a single frame last in a standard video game running at 60 frames per second?
Quiz
Why are frame-perfect inputs so difficult for human speedrunners to execute consistently?
Fun Fact
TASBot's music skills: In 2015, TASBot played a customized version of Super Mario Bros. 3 that actually played the game's theme song using the console's internal sound chip.
Quiz
At which major speedrunning charity event did TASBot famously hijack a Nintendo DS running Brain Age?
Quiz
What is the name of the famous hardware device used to send pre-programmed, frame-perfect inputs directly into real gaming consoles?
Glossary
emulator (noun)
A hardware device or computer program that enables one system to behave like another. In 2003, Japanese creator Morimoto used this software to complete Super Mario Bros. 3 in eleven minutes.
A hardware device or computer program that enables one system to behave like another. In 2003, Japanese creator Morimoto used this software to complete Super Mario Bros. 3 in eleven minutes.