The text discusses several instances of speedrunning, a competitive gaming activity where players attempt to complete video games as quickly as possible. The author highlights various cases where speedrunners have been caught cheating, often by using tools or techniques that allow them to manipulate gameplay.
One example is a speedrunner named Mica who, during a charity event for Médecins Sans Frontières, played a pre-recorded video instead of the actual game, Metal Gear Racing. Despite the incentive of a $25,000 prize, Mica chose to attempt to break a world record by playing a video, which he had prepared by playing the game multiple times and combining the best segments. His plan was eventually discovered by a moderator from Metal Gear Rising: Dark Slayer, who noticed a missing message that always appears during the loading screens in the game. Mica was banned from future events.
Another example is a player who uncovered cheating among veterans in the game Trackmania. The player downloaded the replays of the best players and extracted the inputs, realizing that they were not pressing keys for as long as they appeared to be. This led to a cascade of players confessing to cheating, including the player considered the best in Trackmania, Riolu. Riolu tried to deny the accusations but was eventually caught when his inputs were compared to a replay.
The author also mentions a case involving a speedrunner in Resident Evil 2 who broke the world record for the Hank category. The speedrunner was caught when the game's moderators noticed inconsistencies in the replay, such as the character's bullets increasing in a way that was not possible in the game.
The author concludes by warning against the dangers of internet fame and the potential for cheating in speedrunning. He advises young gamers to take the internet seriously and not to seek validation from strangers, as it can lead to harmful consequences.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The text is about different cases of cheating or lying in speedrunning, which is the practice of completing a video game as fast as possible.
2. The text mentions five games that were involved in cheating scandals: Metal Gear Rising, Trackmania, Resident Evil 2 Remake, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, and Super Mario 64.
3. The text explains how the cheaters were caught by using tools such as TAS (Tool-Assisted Speedrun), inputs extraction, spectrogram analysis, or camera footage.
4. The text also describes the consequences and reactions of the cheaters and the speedrunning community, such as bans, confessions, apologies, or disappearances.
5. The text ends with a warning about the dangers of seeking validation from strangers on the internet and the power of their hatred and contempt.