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Essays 12 August 2019, 14:09

author: Hank

Interview with Kinumi Cati - the Girl that Broke Guinness Record for Longest LoL Sesh

Recently, in a Dutch city of Deft, a gamer and instagramer known as Kinumi Cati broke not one but two Guiness World Records, namely “Longest videogame marathon on League of Legends”, and “Longest videogame marathon on a MOBA game.”

Guiness World Records holds a vast number of video game-related records to be beaten. From highest scores, through biggest tournaments and most games, to longest marathons on a particular game or a genre as such.

Recently, in a Dutch city of Deft, a gamer and instagramer known as Kinumi Cati broke not one but two Guiness World Records, namely “Longest videogame marathon on League of Legends”, and “Longest videogame marathon on a MOBA game”.

Hecaterina Iglesias, because this is her real name, now lives in the Netherlands, however she used to live in Spain and then the United States. She pursues a career of Instagram model, cosplayer, musician, and a gamer.

We got a chance to talk to her and ask a bit more about her gaming interests and other passions she is more than happy to still practice despite being so busy with preparing for the next records.

Let's break some ice. What is your favorite video game ever?

Wow, that’s a difficult one actually. I don’t really have a favorite game of all times, more like different games at different periods of time. At the moment, maybe because I spent so much time with League of Legends, I really enjoyed the game which actually I usually didn’t enjoy playing that much before the record. But because I spent such a long time playing it, I ended up finding my favorite characters to play with, and it has become one of my favorite games at the moment.

And what about a game you feel most nostalgic about?

That’s probably when I watch a video of my first records, so this would be Final Fantasy X. Just listening to the official soundtrack gives me lots of memories and also reminds me of how much my life has changed since then and how much I have changed also.

And what was the first world record you beat?

I broke two records at once, same as right now actually. I managed to break the “Longest videogame marathon on Final Fantasy" and "Longest videogame marathon on a JRPG.” It lasted actually 44 hours but there were some restriction from the Guinness World Records side so in the end they reduced the total time to 38 hours.

When people hear “nonstop” most of the times they just think about their own weekend playing a game with some friends, nicely and relaxed. Actually there are 20-30 pages of only rules that need to be followed.

You also mentioned something about your music. Would you like to elaborate on that?

Since I was a little kid I always wanted to be a musician. In fact, at school we had the option to choose music and I always went with music both at school and private music classes (vocal coaching and piano lessons). I think it’s not easy for many people who like music to get the support from their parents, but in my case it was. Actually, I believe it’s because my dad introduced me to music since I was a baby that I love it so much. My dad has always said to me that "music is culture," and he also had a mini piano at home. He couldn’t play well by himself. One day, I happened to find that piano and since then started practicing. When my dad found out that what was difficult for him seemed easier to me, he helped me improving by sending me to piano lessons and also teaching me what he knew already. But my passion has always been singing. So I would start rehearsing songs, recording them myself, and uploading them online. People liked them but I realized how difficult it was to get noticed. So I thought mixing my videogame passion with my music passion would maybe be a good way of helping my music get a little bit more of exposure out there. And in the end it worked! Miguel Costas from Warner Music Group happened to come across some news about my records, he looked me up online and listened to some of my covers. Then, he reached out to me. He said he liked my voice and my looks and that he hadn’t seen something different and fresh in quite some time, so he wanted to become my music producer.

Sounds like a dream come true. Are you working on any new songs at the moment?

Yes, we are working on two songs together that we will be launching this year. And I am also working on a collaboration with another music producer, Uri Avi, on a song together, and I am really excited about these 3 projects. The song with Uri Avi is almost finished already, and the other two songs with my main producer are still being worked on, but I can’t wait to record them already.

Can’t wait to listen to them upon their official release! Would you like a place in the Guineas Book of World Records for something not related to video games?

It would be a dream come true if one day I can be in the book for something related to music, that’s for sure.

We had a chance to chat a bit before the interview, and you teased your own licensed apparel. Could you tell us something more?

I will be working with Luca Botticelli on a shoe line fully designed by myself. The shoes will be handcrafted in Italy, and sold from there to any country in the world. They were really interested in my background with the Guinness World Records and as an artist, so they were happy to have me design some shoe models, which would be the Kinumi Cati shoe line, it will have everything from sneakers to heels, and considering I will be designing them, people can expect really colorful and cute shoes.

But maybe let’s go back to the records for a bit. What does it mean to play a game nonstop for a record? What are you allowed to do? Like, can you use the bathroom, for example?

Cati’s achievement – as impressive as it is – was rather orthodox when it comes to Guinness. Here’s a choice of some rather off-beat gaming records:

  • Fastest time to ride a Donkey in Red Dead Redemption
  • Largest arcade machine
  • First PlayStation 2 game to support online play
  • Most large monsters hunted in Monster Hunter: World (Xbox One)
  • Largest collection of Pokémon memorabilia

When people hear “nonstop” most of the times they just think about their own weekend playing a game with some friends, nicely and relaxed. Actually there are 20-30 pages of only rules that need to be followed. For example I read on an article that my last records took place at my parents’ house – I would actually be totally banned and disqualified if I did that as one of the many rules is that the record needs to be broken in a public place and this place needs to be also open to public inspection. That’s why all my records have been broken in hotels.

Another very important rule is that you need independent witnesses, and the word independent is the key word here, since none of the people acting as witnesses can be related to you in any way. This means you have to convince a bunch of strangers to stick with you for 30-40 hours of their time without even knowing you. It’s mandatory also by the Guinness World Records rules that no witness should get any profit at all for participating in the record, so basically you are telling strangers "Hey, why don’t you just spend 30 – 40 hours of your life with me, a complete stranger, in exchange for nothing." Probably one of the most difficult witnesses to get are the professional witnesses, who need to be qualified as videogame experts and they need to proof this to the Guinness World Records by sending them their work documentation. Bathroom topics are embarrassing so we skip that one.

It’s also not something that should be done often, since that could be really bad for your health. So anyone interested in breaking one of this records should keep in mind that safety should always come first, and at minimum signs of anything going wrong, please just stop, record broken or not, your health will always be more important.

Sure. Is there a game you know you won't be able to play for that long to make it a record?

Honestly until now I thought it would be really difficult to do a gaming marathon with a game with no story line while you play, because games with story always help you keep your mind away from the time, tiredness, and so on. That’s why I was a little worried about this League of Legends record, but it turns out as long as you enjoy the game, and are able to have fun with it, it doesn’t really matter if the game has a story or not while you play it.

Maybe genres that I'm not really good at would be a problem, no one likes to be dying constantly in a game, it can get frustrating so you may want to quit way earlier. And if you get frustrated probably you will lose concentration and end up breaking some of the Guinness World Records rules, then the chances of making it through become very limited.

Any plans for a record with another game?

Actually yes. I am currently getting ready for a new Guinness World Record that will be broken in South Korea, the application has already been sent to the Guinness World Records and I am currently waiting for their permission to break it. I can’t spoil too much yet, but I can say the genre will be a shooter.

Is it Apex Legends?

No, but I will give you 2 possibilities: Overwatch/Fortnite. And now I can’t really say anymore.

Sounds interesting. Any piece of advice to anyone who'd like to try beating a video game-related world record?

In many of my interviews the interviewers bring up the topic of death due to long gaming marathon sessions, which I find really sad that someone has lost their life trying to do this. Last time I have heard of a case like this was this year. I think people should know that this records are done with a lot of caution actually, for example I even had a nurse with me during my first two records to verify nothing would go wrong, and that is also one of the reasons why we use professional witnesses working in turns. It’s also not something that should be done often, since that could be really bad for your health. So anyone interested in breaking one of this records should keep in mind that safety should always come first, and at minimum signs of anything going wrong, please just stop, record broken or not, your health will always be more important. And that’s something I really wanted to share so I am really happy that you asked this question

Cati, thank you very much for this interview. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors. And have a great evening!

Thank you very much!

If you want to learn more about Cati and her endeavors, follow these links:

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