Summer Games Done Quick Gives Us The Best Video Game Moment Of 2024
Summer Games Done Quick is typically a beacon for good things. Every year, players break good games and perform wild acts of digital acrobatics as they do speedruns for a good cause. And the best good thing was the goodest of good boys Peanut Butter, a four-year-old Shiba Inu, hitting a home run in Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball on Thursday, July 4.
Peanut Butter and his owner JSR_ took the Summer Games Done Quick stage to swing a virtual bat around until the dog won a game for the event’s Independence Day show. The duo had a modified controller that essentially is a big button made to look like a baseball. A simple press of the device from Peanut Butter would throw a ball or swing a bat—as JSR_ fed him treats, PB pressed the button and played the game. The two have been part of Games Done Quick before, having participated in Awesome Games Done Quick 2024 with a Gyromite run back in January, but they were part of a remote speedrun. This time, they were in the Minneapolis Hilton venue, and while Peanut Butter was distracted at a few points by his surroundings, he was mostly locked in for the game.
The whole setup relies on a combination of timing and chance. JSR_ tries to direct Peanut Butter to press the button just as a ball nears the batter, but it’s all dependent on if the sweet baby angel puts his paw down in time. There were definitely some ill-timed swings in the run, but everyone was rooting for the little king as he entered extra innings. And Peanut Butter managed to end the segment in glorious fashion by hitting a homerun to win the game. Of course, the Minneapolis crowd (and social media) went wild.
An extra innings walk-off 2-run home run on the first pitch does it! PB gets the win (and is a very good boy!) #SGDQ2024 pic.twitter.com/qCnEjL8MwQ
— Games Done Quick @ #SGDQ2024 (@GamesDoneQuick) July 5, 2024
“I am so proud of this dog, man,” JSR_ tweeted. “This is the greatest moment of both of our lives. What a doggo.”
Summer Games Done Quick still has two more days of speedruns before it wraps things up on July 6, but the event has raised a cumulative $50 million in its 14-year history. Games Done Quick has raised money for different nonprofits over the years, including AbleGamers, the Organization for Autism Research, the Malala Fund, and the Prevent Cancer Research Foundation. This year’s Summer Games Done Quick is raising money for Doctors Without Borders, a nonprofit that delivers medical aid to people in crisis. As of 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time, this year’s event has raised over $1 million for Doctors Without Borders.
