We told you we would get some thoughts form the current Guinness World Record holder for fastest time through the first 5 stages of Tapper and we deliver. Look into the mind of man consumed by everything Tapper related.

Loot Ninja: Tell us a bit about yourself and how long you have been gaming.
Michael P.: I’m 25, and I’m from the middle of nowhere in western PA. I moved to NYC about 7 months ago, and I’m currently a graphic designer at a web marketing company in Brooklyn. I’m still trying to figure out what I really want to do though. I’ve been gaming for about as long as I can remember. Although my dad has long since stopped gaming, he is the one that got me started with ColecoVision. I can remember playing that obsessively until around 1990 when we got an NES. My favorite games for Coleco are Jumpman Junior, The Heist, Oil’s Well and Squish’em Sam. After SNES, I stopped playing the new ones so much. Every once in awhile though, I get really into a new game. I’m really into drumming in Rock Band right now. I love Mario Kart 64, and my favorite game ever might be Amplitude. I also like the color blue.

LN: What got you into Tapper?
MP: That is another “for about as long as I can remember” answer. Every Saturday night, my family and I would go to this pizza place that had a Tapper cocktail table. So, after pizza, the choice between listening to grown-ups talking or playing a video game was an easy one to make. That glorious era lasted many years, until inexplicably, they replaced Tapper with Pac-Man. What were they thinking!? No disrepect, Pac-Man–you started everything. Thank god for emulators.

LN: How long did you train for this event and how?
MP: Um, I guess basically most of my life. But when I heard about Guinness coming to Barcade, I downloaded Root Beer Tapper on Xbox and played that a ton the week before. That game is a direct port of the arcade game, except that it’s the inferior root beer graphics cousin with bad music. Remember the days when all those surly cowboys would head down to their local malt shop and demand pint after pint of cold, refreshing root beer? Well, I guess I really don’t remember old timey bartenders serving aliens in a space bar… but in any case, it was probably a good idea that they made the alternate version, because I remember when I was 10, I had no exposure to alcohol advertising in my life, and then I played Tapper and developed a serious drinking problem.

LN: How has the record changed your life aside from a cool new email signature?
MP: Lots of sex.

LN: Do you have your sites set on any other records, perhaps the all time high score in Tapper?
MP: I feel like I’m really good at Tapper, but the high score is something probably out of my grasp. Whatever game you’re really good at, there is some ridiculous supernerd out there who has devoted their lives to pwning the crap out of it. And frankly, the thought of playing something as repetitive as an arcade game from the ’80s for hours straight is not so appealing. I don’t think anyone in the world could beat Friday the 13th for NES faster than me right now though. Intrigued Guinness?

LN: I know you were a bit nervous that your time may not hold up at the event, how do you feel now?
MP: Please refer to my last answer. I had no idea what to expect going to the event, but there were only about 6 or 7 people who played Tapper. Sure it’s kind of an obscure game, but someone’s going to destroy it. Still, it’s cool to be the first person in the world to hold the record.

LN: Will you keep your promise you made your buddy at the arcade that if you won the record you would get a tattoo of the Tapper bartender on you?
MP: I’ve never been able to decide on something that I know I would still want on my body 50 years from now, but this just might be significant and ridiculous enough to follow through with. So, to answer your question, probably not–sorry Steve. Maybe I’ll get his moustache tattooed on my lower back…

LN: Any final thoughts for your millions of adoring fans?
MP: Me getting the Tapper record probably changed your life more than any other experience you’ll ever have, so please do the right thing and send money to Loot Ninja, and they’ll see to it that I get it.

Thanks Michael for the thoughts and we here at Loot Ninja will definitely take care of any funds thrown our way, we also owe you one cold beer for taking that record. Peace.