Gamer Andrew Barrow Wins Score Wars in Santa Fe

New Zealander Andrew Barrow, 29, is the new Galaga World Champion after winning the top prize at immersive art gallery Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The objective of Galaga is to rack up points by killing enemies without letting them destroy your ship.

Meow Wolf, which is also an arts production group, hosted the four-day event that brought top players of video arcade games to its facility.

Barrow racked up a high score of 3,462,820 to defeat second-place finisher Armando Gonzales of Los Angeles.

Meow Wolf staff members, paying homage to their video game roots, flew three world-record holders and seven other qualifying pros for the first-annual live-streamed video gaming event dubbed Score Wars. It was held in a specially designed arcade with large-screen viewing as well as split screen action streamed live online via Twitch and XSplit to “tens of thousands viewing at home and mobile”.

“This tournament definitely stands out from any other Classic Arcade Game (CAG) tournament in terms of its prize money, sponsorship and overall wow-factor,” Barrow told Meow Wolf prior to the event.

Barrow said that he has been dedicated to playing Galaga because of nostalgic reasons, and “the memories of playing it with my father 20 years ago.”

“Galaga is a great game and very challenging, however the biggest reason is the overall CAG community. I have many great friends because of this hobby and they are what keep me coming back,” he said.

Barrow pointed out that he has been playing for about 14 years and it has always been a goal of his to beat the long-standing Galaga MAME record of 5,405,930, which had stood since 1998 and with a lot of work he was finally able to achieve his goal in mid 2014.

Original article by Howard Houghton, Santa Fe New Mexican, April 3, 2018.