Old arcade games don't actually save high scores permanently, they're just kept in RAM and get wiped when the cabinet is powered off.

Ever gone to an arcade, looked at the top scores on a cabinet, and felt this sense of mystique and wonderment as you read the top player's initials? Wondering what kind of life that led this outcast of society to the pursuit of gaming greatness? Imagining the atmosphere of the venue as this anonymous soul unleashed the culmination of hundreds of coins and thousands of hours spent travelling and playing into the apparatus of wood and acrylic that now befalls you?

Turns out it was just a slightly drunk dude who came in with his co-workers yesterday, putting in some quarters for fun. And the score isn't even that great.