AGDQ 2024 Speedrunner Dog: The funny animal helped to complete NES’s Gyromite

The Awesome Games Done Quick 2024 event that took place in January this year left us with a very strange anecdote. This Twitch event, in which participants try to complete video games as quickly as possible while viewers donate money to a charitable cause, left us with a memorable moment: a funny Shiba Inu dog named Peanut Butter helped his owner complete NES Gyromite, a relatively unknown title from the Nintendo console.

Peanut Butter, the Shiba Inu who helped his owner complete NES’s Gyromite

The speedrun (an attempt to complete a game as quickly as possible) of NES’s Gyromite by gamer JSR_ took place last Tuesday, January 16, 2024. It was part of the Awesome Games Done Quick 2024 event that was broadcast on Twitch. You can watch the full video below.

Gyromite was one of only two games compatible with the NES R.O.B. peripheral. It is a simple title that mixes platforming with puzzles, in which we control a scientist who must collect objects while avoiding enemies. At the same time, we were able to give orders to R.O.B. so that, with a second controller, he could raise or lower the red and blue pipes that allowed us to move forward. The funny animal Peanut Butter played the role of R.O.B., following his owner’s instructions on which buttons to press to help him advance through the levels and using the pipes as a weapon to kill enemies by crushing them.

As you can see in the video, Peanut Butter has an adapted “controller”, and every time his owner gives him a command, all the dog has to do is place one of his paws on one of the two big buttons on the pad. Of course, this successful attempt (JSR_ and Peanut Butter completed Gyromite in 26:24) did not come out of anywhere. In the months leading up to the show, its owner shared photos of how he rigorously trained the animal to finally help him complete this retro video game.

Full screen

Many viewers jokingly commented that the dog was the input method used to complete Gyromite as if it were a console peripheral. Technically, this is true, as JSR_ gave orders to his pet and the animal dutifully obeyed by pressing the appropriate buttons, to the delight of all who watched the live broadcast. It was a particularly interesting event because it is the first time a dog has participated in a Games Done Quick speedrun.

Games Done Quick is a non-profit organization that has been raising money for charity through speedrunning for over a decade. These broadcasts take place on Twitch. In them, volunteers from all over the world play video games of all types and eras to complete them in the shortest time possible, and viewers donate money. There are also special donations that are used to add extra difficulty or modify the participants’ games, making each speedrun attempt more interesting.

Every year since the organization’s inception, various themed events have been held. Awesome Games Done Quick 2024 began last Sunday, January 14, 2024, and will continue through Sunday, January 21. You can watch the live broadcasts on their Twitch channel, and here is the schedule for this event.