Japanese game director tells of debugger who can press a button within a 16.6 millisecond window

A recent post by Japanese game creator Tokihiro Naito on his X (formerly known as Twitter) account tells of his most astonishing encounter with a video game bug and his amazement at the debugger who managed to catch it. The post has been gaining attention from users, with many also contributing with their own debugging-related tales. 

Tokihiro Naito is a game creator working for Japanese publisher M2. He is known for his contributions to action RPGs and open world gaming, most notably having created the Hydlide series. In the abovementioned post, he reminisces of working with a debugger who was able to target a bug that happened in literal split seconds – successfully targeting the 1/60 second moment with a success rate of 60 to 80 percent. In another post, Naito also expresses his admiration at debuggers’ ability to sniff out where a bug is likely to occur. 

Users were understandably impressed with the story, commenting that even seasoned fighting game players can’t target a specific single frame with that high a success rate, calling the debugger’s reflexes “beast-like.” There were even some debuggers in the crowd who offered some of their experiences, giving insights into the lengths they had gone to discover bugs. 

It seems it’s not just senses and reflexes, but also the effort some debuggers put into getting into every nook and cranny of a game that makes them so remarkable. Developers seem to have mixed feelings for them as they are glad to resolve any bug but are also frequently given the run around with bugs that are close to impossible to detect. 

With the onslaught of users hyping up the profession and skills of debuggers, one humble debugger reminded people to make sure to maintain realistic standards.