Games Done Quick’s first dog speedrunner is adorable, extremely good at Gyromite

16.01.2024 - 20:37 / destructoid.com

If you tuned into Awesome Games Done Quick today, you might have seen one of the charity speedrunning event’s biggest milestones as it welcomed its first dog speedrunner. 

Just as adorable as his name, Peanut Butter is a Shiba Inu who also happens to be an expert in assisting with Gyromite‘s Game B mode. Game B had Nintendo’s short-lived robot assistant R.O.B. do the heavy lifting, pressing actuators to move pipes so Professor Hector can make it through each level unscathed. In this run, however, it was Peanut Butter who did all the hard work. You can see just how good this boy is right here.

While Peanut Butter makes it all look easy, speedrunner JSR spent a year training him to take over the role of the R.O.B. controller. He does so with a bespoke controller of his own, which allows him to press a few specific buttons on command with great accuracy (and with the looming promise of a delicious treat). JSR got the idea when he was trying to stream every game from every episode of Angry Video Game Nerd.

“It took us about a year of training, every single day,” JSR said. “But I was able to get him to press and hold buttons down, and he’s able to do it now for a long enough amount of time that he can speedrun games.”

All that training resulted in a really cute run with a couple close calls. Much ham was expended to get the job done, and there’s always the potential time loss hazard of an itchy belly. Even with the challenge of simply being a dog, Peanut Butter was able to blast through Game B of Gyromite and plenty of bonus kibbles in an impressive 26 minutes and 24.5 seconds. 

Those who want to celebrate Peanut Butter’s accomplishment and donate to a good cause — further benefitting the Prevent Cancer Foundation, which AGDQ supports each year — can pick up a limited time GOOD BOY! t-shirt from The Yetee. Six bucks from every tee goes directly to the charity, and the shirt is almost as lovable as Peanut Butter himself.