Update, March 22: Lonnie McDonald succeeded in his goal of crossing 9,999,999 on his 150th Joust machine. You can see a timelapse of the entire thing below.
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We were also live on the scene for the final moments, where we interviewed both McDonald and John Newcomer, the designer of Joust.
Self-proclaimed Joust master Lonnie McDonald is touring America to post a score of 9,999,999 on every Joust arcade machine known to exist. He is currently working on his 150th machine at the National Videogame Museum in Frisco.
Posted by GuideLive on Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Original story: Sometimes, just getting a high score isn't enough. Sometimes you have set a record on every surviving machine of a particular arcade classic in order to prove your worth.
Lonnie McDonald, a master of the 1982 Williams Electronics game Joust, is on a multi-year quest to post a score of 9,999,999 on every Joust machine known to exist in America. He began in 2011, hit 100 machines in 2013, and is set to mark his noteworthy 150th record at the National Videogame Museum in Frisco.
9,999,999 is the highest score Joust will track. Once you cross 10 million, the counter rolls over and starts displaying from zero again. The high score screen at the end, however, should show the 9,999,999 score -- presumably with McDonald's "LON" next to it.
The job will take about four and a half hours, beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 22. If all goes to plan, he should have conquered this particular mountain by 3 or 4 p.m.
The National Videogame Museum is located in the Frisco Discovery Center. Admission is $12, or $10 for children 10 and under, military, educators and seniors.
