Walter Aldro Day Jr. (born May 14, 1949) is an American businessman and the founder of Twin Galaxies, an organization that tracks world records for video games and conducts a program of electronic-gaming promotions.[1][2]
After moving to the town of Fairfield, Iowa, Day sold commemorative newspapers for a living and in 1980 went to Houston, Texas, to become an oil futures trader.[5] Day soon moved back to Fairfield and became a landlord, purchasing the Twin Galaxies arcade in Ottumwa, Iowa, in 1981. That same year, he appeared on the cover of Time in an edition featuring video games, and he established an online platform to establish rules and compile records for competitive video game playing.[6] Twin Galaxies soon became known as the trusted database for high score records.[6]
Beginning in 1983, Guinness World Records recognized video games as a new category, and Twin Galaxies became the official supplier of verified scores.[citation needed] Day was designated as an assistant editor in charge of video game scores for the 1984 to 1986 editions.[6] At the opening of the 2017 Hugo Awards ceremony, Day presented a Guinness Record recognizing the Hugo Award as the longest-running science fiction award.[7][8]
