From the Department of Plastic Instruments, we present you this little nugget of wondrousness: While you were struggling with a bag of cheese doodles, 14-year-old Danny Johnson entered the Guinness Book of World Records by scoring an astounding 973,954 points on “Through The Fire and the Flames”, the Guitar Hero III song infamous as a destroyer of worlds and eater of babies. It’s a 99% attempt, which is less than previous title holder Chris Chike’s astounding 100% run-through (see above video), but it IS possible to get a higher score with careful Star Power placement. Hit the jump for the full press release.

NEW YORK - February 4, 2009 - To celebrate the launch of the second annual Guinness World Records 2009 Gamer’s Edition, the nation’s best Guitar Hero® III: Legends of Rock player visited New York City for a mesmerizing record-breaking shred session. 

At noon today Danny Johnson reclaimed the Guinness World Record for the “Highest Score for a Single Song on Guitar Hero® III: Legends of Rock” with an astounding score of 973,954 points (a 99% completion rate on Expert Level) for the song “Through the Fire and Flames” by DragonForce. The 14-year-old from Grapevine, Texas traded the record back and forth with former record holder Chris Chike for almost a year, and has been looking for his chance to take back the crown for months now.

Johnson’s nimble fingers have attracted over 2.5 million people to his YouTube videos and earned him countless fans. “Danny’s ability is as breathtaking as it is unbelievable,” said Guinness World Records judge Stuart Claxton, who was on hand to certify the attempt. “With music video games dominating the market right now, it’s hard for players to stick out from the crowd. Danny does just that with his amazing speed and near-perfection.”

Gamers who believe they have what it takes to be considered video game elite are encouraged to visit the Gamer’s section on the official Guinness World Records website, http://gamers.guinnessworldrecords.com to learn more information on submitting their scores and being a part of the online gaming community.
The all-new Guinness World Records 2009 Gamer’s Edition, the second Guinness World Records book devoted solely to the world of gaming, is on shelves now and features 90% new records, 750 new photographs, high score statistics and fascinating facts.

Now, say what you will about these kids, but it’s about time we start recognizing just how much damn skill has to be funneled into this kind of effort. Did you see the above video? That’s about 8 minutes of eye-blistering what-the-f*ck right there, and even if it isn’t a real guitar, it’s more than remarkable. I don’t think we’ll see anything quite as mind blowing in the world of GH until Activision gets around to releasing the ‘Complete’ downloadable track pack.