In 1981 a young 32 year old entrepreneur named Walter Day opened
Twin Galaxies Arcade in Ottumwa, Ia. A year after his opening, Day
realized that no one had been keeping track of the nation's high scores.

His solution: A 16-by-18-foot International Scoreboard displaying names of
the current record holders. He definitely didn't take this lightly, each score had
to come with a "letter or proof" from the manager of the arcade where
the score was achieved. 

 

Twin Galaxies was undeniably the most reliable source for video-game records.

The Guinness Book of World Records relied heavily on the arcade for it's source of information.
  By opening up the machines to the camera, those competitors aspiring to be on top would submit the videos of their run to prove there was no cheating.

 

On November 30, 1982 Mayor Jerry Parker proclaimed Ottumwa, Ia as the "Video Game Capital of the World"

 

Day became so well known for his video game record-keeping that Guinness World Records chose him as their assistant editor of video game scores for their 1984 to 1986 editions of the Guinness Book of World Records.