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To move two thumbs at lightning speed while navigating a digital landscape requires skill, but die-hard gamers gathered in Adelaide have more than just personal glory in mind.
About 40 participants have used their talents to raise money for charity during the two-day Australian Speedrunning Marathon at the University of South Australia's Magill campus.
"It's good to have these events to show gaming isn't just all about sitting down and vegging out for a weekend and wasting your life," event coordinator Alex Westgarth said.
"We can actually work towards something important."
Speedrunning, Mr Westgarth explained, refers to a type of gaming in which the main aim is to complete all the levels as fast as possible, in one sitting.
To do so, gamers must make the most of incentives and glitches — software errors that can provide shortcuts. The best among them cam complete lengthy games in under an hour.
At Magill, they played for a total of 48 hours while the event was livestreamed across the globe, and donations were collected for mental health charity Beyond Blue.
A few keen gamers at the event said they did not spare a moment to sleep, staying up all night to play.
The competition is considered ideal for charity fundraisers because unlike eSports, there is no overall prize winner.
Mr Westgarth said high-end speedrunning takes a lot of patience, quick reflexes and good hand-eye coordination.
He said people can spend years getting to know the ins and outs of a game, beating their personal best scores and occasionally becoming world record-holders.
To help them prepare before getting up on the live-streamed stage, they had the chance to warm up in a dedicated practise room.
Stephen Philp is a world record-holder in Super Mario World All Castles, completing the entire game in 34 minutes and 32 seconds.
To reach that speed, it took him about two years and he said he could dedicate up to seven hours a day practicing a game and advancing his skills.
"It's really satisfying to finally achieve something, to get a new personal best," he said.
"I never even considered getting the world record. Over the year I just improved."
The gamers will now attend a speedrunning event at Adelaide's Anime Video and Games Festival, AVCon, on the weekend.
Mr Philp flew in from Melbourne to attend and said here he could meet like-minded people who he had only been introduced to online.
"Getting to see these people and doing what I love doing, that's worth it," he said.
Topics: games, games-industry-professional-gaming, arts-and-entertainment, computers-and-technology, sa, adelaide-5000