Game Informer Interviews Ocarina of Time Speedrun World Record Holder

About a week ago we reported that speedrunner Joel “Jodenstone” Ekman broke the Ocarina of Time Any% world record with a time of 18 minutes and 7 seconds. The feat came as a bit of a surprise, and many found themselves looking for more information about this accomplished newcomer. Game Informer recently sat down to interview Ekman, who discussed the world record, his relationship with previous record holder Cosmo, and his life outside of speedruns.

If you watched the world record attempt, you noticed how emotional Jodenstone was at its conclusion. In the interview, he explained exactly what was going through his mind:

“Q: In the stream where you broke the record, you were very emotional. What was going through your head? It seemed like you were almost in tears.

Ekman: Oh yeah, I was close actually. I have been having so many good runs that I have thrown away at certain points, so when I realized that I was five seconds ahead before entering the final fight? That’s when I realized this is going to be it. I am finally getting this. I have been working on this eight hours a day for the last month or so at least. I’ve been investing myself quite a lot into it.

Q: How do you feel about your record? Relieved? Do you plan on continuing to push the record?

Ekman: I am thinking about it. I will take a short break now, but I am thinking about pushing it a bit further. It can’t be pushed much, though. It’s getting close to the limit honestly – unless something new is found, which can always happen.”

Jodenstone’s current record shaved three seconds off the previous record held by Cosmo, which many believed no one could top. So when such a feat came to pass, some speculated that Cosmo would not be pleased. Ekman set the record straight:

“Q: Have you heard from previous Ocarina of Time speedrun record holder Cosmo?

Ekman: Yeah, we’ve talked a bit. He congratulated me on Twitter for sure. We actually did a race at DreamHack. It’s a local LAN in Sweden. It’s the world’s biggest computer gathering with more than 10,000 computers there and there are tons of competitions and we dod a couple of runs. We really competed against each other for awhile.

Q: You guys aren’t really butting heads then? Speedrunning is a friendly competition?

Ekman: Yeah, generally we’re just happy if somebody breaks the time. You’re happy if someone else is promoting your game and playing it. That’s generally good for the community, because the more people that work on it, the bigger the game will become, pretty much.”

The final section of the interview explored Jodenstone’s activities outside of speedrunning. Ekman, surprisingly, works as a curling instructor:

“Q: What’s your day job? Or are you a twitch streamer full time?

Ekman: Yeah currently, it’s almost like that. I have the weirdest schedule ever. I am a twitch streamer for eight hours a day, and then a couple times or once a week I am a curling instructor and you probably don’t even know what sport that is.

Q: That is super random. I would never have guessed you were a curling instructor.

Ekman: I think it’s safe to say I am the only curling instructor and professional twitch streamer – at the moment. I have been playing the sport for 14 years.”

Jodenstone also hints at the possibility that he’ll release a commentary video of his world record run, similar to Cosmo’s. He also expressed the possibility of taking on Majora’s Mask as his next project. I’m definitely excited to see what the speedrunner does next, especially if he takes on the Ocarina of Time 100% category someday.

Source: Game Informer