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Walter Day, founder of international video game scorekeeping organization Twin Galaxies, announced that he's retiring from the organization to pursue his "lifelong dream" of a music career.

Day left the oil industry in the early 1980s to open the Twin Galaxies arcade in Ottumwa, Iowa, where he established a database of arcade game high-scores (and gameplay rules for those records) that was soon regarded as the official scoreboard for competitive video games. Day also helped organize professional gaming events around the country and increase media coverage of high score attempts.

Though the Twin Galaxies arcade closed after just several years of operation, Day kept its name alive by tracking video game records and holding competitions for 28 years. The scorekeeping organization is featured prominently in several documentaries about gaming and high scores, including The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade, and Frag.

Day says he's slowly removed himself from Twin Galaxies's day-to-day duties in the past several years, turning over those responsibilities to newer staff members like David Nelson, Rich Booth, Todd Rogers, Patrick Scott Patterson, and Nik Meeks.

You can hear Walter Day's comments on his retirement, the future of Twin Galaxies, and Ottumwa, Iowa's efforts to open a Video Game Hall of Fame & Museum later this year in the video interview below:

Readers, our journey is almost over! Your faithful interim editor (me) has had a lovely time interimming these last two weeks: at the end of today, though, we must part ways. We had some crazy times, didn't we? Remember the time I posted that thing about an arts-and-crafts project I was impressed with? Or the time I dug up something wacky on YouTube? I'm sure it was wonderful.

Simon has been great, and so supportive -- I feel like I got away with a lot -- and, with bittersweet feeling, I will return Eric to you promptly on Monday morning.

OK! Some news:

- Gamasutra - DICE 2010: Kotick Talks Passion For Industry, Debuts Indie Contest
The Activision Blizzard CEO's keynote had a few salient takeaways: Foremost, he's sorry about the misconstructed remarks from before -- they were made in jest. Secondly, he wishes he'd partnered with Harmonix, in lieu of Red Octane, when he'd had the chance. And finally, $500K to America's Next Top Indie Designer! I think that covers everything. (But read Simon's coverage just in case.)

- Gamasutra - DICE 2010: Uncharted 2 Leads AIAS Winners With 10 Awards
Farmville wins, you guys! And on Twitter, there was plenty of real-time gaiety for Scribblenauts -- I like to imagine that, at that instant, the awards ceremony was totally illuminated in the glow of cellular phones.

- Joystiq - Steve Wiebe reclaims Donkey Kong Jr. world record
Twin Galaxies reports that, as of his February 14 performance, documented underdog Steve Wiebe is once again the reigning Donkey Kong Jr. champ. Time will tell whether Wiebe can also best Donkey Kong, Sr.

- YouTube - Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown
So, er, Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown was just announced. We're excited, right? Oh, fine. Maybe I am posting about this more for myself than for you.

- Massively - An introduction to Myst Online for newbies
Suddenly, quietly, Myst Online: Uru Live relaunched and is now free to play. I'm delighted! I missed my opportunity the first time around, but in my girlhood, I actually read all the Myst books. Ask me anything about Atrus! Go on!

- FingerGaming - Katamari Damacy Creator Unleashes Noby Noby Boy in App Store
Man, I'm glad this finally happened, because Boing Boing contributor Brandon Boyer was about to crack from the stress.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: We've really enjoyed having you around, Jenn. Don't be a stranger! - Simon.]

Phil Day, the Australian teacher who took the Galaga World Record (tournament record) recently, has popped up on couple outlets to talk about his achievement. ABC2's program Good Game posted a video interview with the 35-year-old champion this morning, sharing footage of him mashing the arcade game's fire button and sharing his personal book of high scores.

For a more in-depth story on Day's accomplishment, though, look to Just One More Game's article, which examines his Galaga history beginning with his childhood introduction to the fixed shooter, leading up to his purchase of an arcade cabinet and his students encouraging him to beat the top scores.

One reason the record holder says he's stayed with the game for so long is he went blind in his left eye in the late '90s, preventing him from playing games like cricket or squash that require depth perception. "This is where video games are a great equaliser," he says. "Doesn’t matter what age you are, or gender, or in my case, if you are blind in one eye, you can still be a serious contender.”

Every video game world record story seems to need a little drama to keep people's interest, and Day's tale isn't an exception, as JOMG's piece even goes into Twin Galaxies' King of Kong-esque rejection of his first attempt for the top score. You can read the full three-part article here.

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The Virtusphere is a 10 foot hollow sphere that serves as a "locomotion simulation" platform. Pair it with a head-mounted display and a 3D environment, and users can walk or even run around freely in different virtual worlds -- a first-person shooter map, architecture/construction sites, famous locations, museums, and more.

VBS.tv (Vice Broadcasting System), which put together the entertaining documentary about Twin Galaxies's Walter Day, published this informative piece interviewing the company behind the Virtusphere and demonstrating its Holodeck-esque experience.

One great thing about the sphere is that when you're tired of its virtual applications, you can push it off its platform, jump in, and pretend you're in that American Gladiators event.