Gary Whelan is a national star in the United Kingdom, appearing in a full page story in the Manchester Evening News on December 21, followed by two national papers -- The Sun (half page story) and The Daily Express (full page story) on the 22nd -- with pictures. Also on the 22nd, the BBC ( British Broadcasting Corporation ) filmed a TV slot for the 6:00 PM and 10:00 PM news. Also on the 22nd, Whelan appeared live on two radio interviews: one for The British Services Radio (worldwide) and the other for the National Radio Station 5 Live .

To see a sample of the stories, here is the story from the BBC, December 21, 2004

Video game "record score" claim
Mr Whelan said he would keep playing until he reached 1m points

A man who has spent at least two hours practising on a vintage video game for the past 25 years has secured what he says is the highest ever score.

Gary Whelan, of Duckinfield, Greater Manchester, has been playing the space invaders game, Galaxian, since 1980.

He said he had set a world record of 399,290 points, beating the previous record held by a Californian.

Mr Whelan said he would not stop playing until he had reached at least a million points.

He has always been really interested in video games...

Trish Whelan, Gary's wife 
He said: "You've got to put some effort into it and some time into it.

"My marriage is probably the same.

"The worst it's been is if my wife shouts me for my tea. I say 'I'll be down in a minute', but obviously, if I'm on a good run, I'll keep on going till my tea's cold."

His understanding wife of 24 years, Trish, said she had not considered divorcing him.

"It's not like I didn't know what I was getting into," she said.

"He has always been really interested in video games.

"At least I know where he is and what he's up to. It's our silver wedding next years so I'll wait till then and then we'll see."