June 23^rd, 2003 (12:00am) - For the first time, the State of Maine has a bonafide video game world champion -- one who will be appearing in the next edition of Twin Galaxies’ Official Video Game & Pinball Book of World Records.

"We’ve been tracking video game world champions since 1982," explains Twin Galaxies’ Walter Day, editor of the record book, "and this is the first time an electronic gamer from the state of Maine has captured a world title on a major video game."

Shawn Cram, a resident of South Lebanon, Maine, went to an arcade contest in New Hampshire last May 30th and broke the 18-year-old high score on Zoo Keeper, one of the more popular titles manufactured during the golden age of arcades (game published in 1982).

Cram’s new score of 21,849,650 points soundly eclipses the 20,063,920 points achieved by Jack Gale, a legendary video game player from Florida. Gale’s 1985 accomplishment was so widely acclaimed at that time that it even appeared in the 1986 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.