AwesomeGamesDoneQuick is the winter edition of the charity speedrunning event, and it will be the first time the biennial event will feature canine competitors. Speed runner JSR recently revealed that his pet dog, a Shiba Inu named Peanut Butter (or PB, which is also the abbreviation of personal best and a proper name in the speed running community) will participate in the AGDQ2024 competition in January.
This will be an online tournament, but it's worth noting that it will feature non-human members for the first time.
The game PeanutButter will be playing is Gyromite, a game released on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985 and one of only two games designed specifically for the R.O.B. (Robot Operating Buddy) accessory. PB uses a custom game controller mapped to four buttons to help navigate the game: A, B, two buttons, and the select button.
A few months ago, JSR uploaded a video of the obedient pooch completing the game in 25 minutes and 29 seconds. Can this dog beat his own personal best on the AGDQ? We'll see.
GamesDoneQuick has been one of the top game speedrunning event organizers since 2010. The organization holds two events each year: "AwesomeGamesDoneQuick" in the winter and "SummerGamesDoneQuick" in the hot season. The semi-annual marathon raises funds for two major charities: Doctors Without Borders and Prevent Cancer. The most recent event, the 2023 Summer Speed Games, raised $2.27 million for Doctors Without Borders.
The January 2024 marathon will be the first in-person AGDQ since 2020, as the 2021, 2022 and 2023 events were all held virtually due to the pandemic. The tournament is scheduled for January 14-21 and will be held for the first time in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Before then, GDQ will host a small event called GamesDoneQuickExpress. The event will be held at TwitchCon2023 in Las Vegas from October 20-22. It is reported that JSR will run "Zelda II: The Adventure of Link" on GDQx.