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'MineThon 2' Minecraft marathon for Child's Play now mining, crafting
To quote the greatest Christmas movie of all time, "It's not the giving, it's not the getting, it's the loving." But, sometimes loving is giving, especially when you don't expect anything in return. To wit, a group of Minecraft enthusiasts are giving up the next 72 hours of their lives in the hope that you might give up your dollars to Child's Play. MineThon 2 runs from now until 2 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, December 24, and until then the group of five volunteers will be mining and crafting around the clock, occasionally stopping to host auctions, contests and raffles, perform skits and to interview guests of interest to the greater Minecraft community.Charitable folks who donate $10 or more are white listed to play on the same server as the MineThon crew, while dropping $15 or more grants server bonuses like call commands and faster queuing. All of the proceeds collected go directly to Child's Play. To watch the event's live stream and/or donate, click here.
Indie Games for Good marathon is already massive, starts tomorrow
Indie Games for Good, the massive video game marathon that directly and fully benefits Child's Play Charity, begins tomorrow, October 19, at 10 a.m. PT. Indie Games for Good is an interactive gaming extravaganza, with viewers deciding which games marathoners play (and for how long), and setting challenges and potentially winning prizes.People who donate get points, which they can use to "buy time" for any particular game on the list, and gaming stops when the donations do. Games already gaining traction include Amnesia, Bastion, CarneyVale: Showtime, Cave Story, Digital: A Love Story, Dungeons of Dredmor, Escape Goat, FTL, I Wanna Be The Guy: Gaiden, Pocket Planes, QWOP, The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai, and tons more. Whew.Last year the Indie Games for Good marathon lasted 79 hours and raised close to $7,000. More than $4,000 has been raised in pre-marathon donations this year. Good luck, gamers for good.
Breakfast Topic: Our community is great, and how it saved my cat
The World of Warcraft community is a special group of people. We've got numbers, diversity, and a ridiculous amount of charity from good people whose tenuous connection to each other is because of a virtual world. Personally, I wouldn't want it any other way. The WoW community does good things. Many of you recently heard about my cat Rocky, who was not doing so well because of a deep infection in both of his ears. Because of the generosity of our community, Rocky's bills were taken care of and we could get him the immediate help he needed. My little buddy is alive because of this community. It's such a trivial thing to worry about in the grand scheme of things, but it personally affected me in such a profound way. Sure, we have our low moments. We have our high moments, too, and it's all worth it. From Blizzard's own charity drives to Child's Play and the community reaching out to help sick children, I'd say we've got a pretty good track record. What has the WoW community done that has affected you personally?
Child's Play raised $3.5 million in 2011
Child's Play announced today the charity received $3,512,345 in donations in 2011, easily besting the $2.2 million from the prior year. The goal for 2012 is to reach $3.5 million again, a goal it should be able to hit if gamers keep giving at the same exponential rate they have been for nearly a decade. Child's Play was founded in 2003 when the charity first sent a truck of toys to Seattle Children's Hospital and now supports over 80 hospitals worldwide. A recent charity gala helped raise $351,000 for the group that donates toys, games and cash to hospitalized children -- oh, and someone got a sweet life-sized (non-functional) Half-Life Gravity Gun.
Indie Games for Good is helping Child's Play by killing themselves, over and over
Indie Games for Good is smack in the middle of its weekend marathon, raising money for Child's Play Charity. Its schedule is packed full of entertaining indie titles, which they're playing on a live stream right here and on justin.tv. Alongside play time, Indie Games for Good is hosting interviews with developers, including Kayin of I Wanna Be The Guy, Nigel Kilmer of Beret and Tim Ambrogi of Jamestown. The indie warriors have raised more than $3,000 so far, and if you're interested you can donate to an individual game to ensure they play it to your satisfaction. No one can lose in this scenario, except for the player when it's time to start I Wanna Be The Guy. Because that's how that one works.
Child's Play 2011 starts annual drive, trying for $2 million in donations
Halloween has passed us by, which means the season of charity is here, and Child's Play has started up its yearly drive for donations. Child's Play, started by the fine folks at Penny Arcade, is dedicated to providing sick children in hospitals all over the world with video games and toys to play while they recover, and has raised nearly $9 million in money and donations since it was founded in 2003. This year, Child's Play is aiming for at least $2 million in donations, in part through a slew of events during the next two months, including the annual Desert Bus for Hope marathon later this month, and a Charity Dinner and Auction on December 8 up in Seattle. The group has picked up $450,000 in donations this year already, putting it well on the way towards its final goal. You'll probably have a few other opportunities to donate over the next few months, but if you would like to jump in and help the kids out now, Child's Play accepts checks, Paypal donations, or you can even text in your donation by sending "GAMERS" to 50555. So go ahead -- even if the bells haven't started ringing in your neighborhood just yet, take this chance to give a little bit to those in need.
WoWathon 3 begins June 30 for Child's Play charity
WoWathon, an event raising money for the Child's Play charity, is kicking off its third annual fundraising broadcast on June 30, 2011. So far, both WoWathons have raised a combined total over $13,900 for Child's Play. The event hopes to bring in even more this year. WoWathon puts a team of rotating players through the paces of leveling from 1 to 85 without stopping for almost 2 weeks, broadcast for the world to see and to share their trials and tribulations. Here are some quick details: When It starts June 30, 2011, at 8 a.m. It ends when the gang hits 85 (an estimated two weeks). Where Lightbringer (US) Who There are about seven participants. The characters are named Chylds and Playy. We've covered WoWathon in the past and encourage the community to come out in support of our brothers and sisters in arms to raise money for a good cause. I asked Alex Guerrera, one of the members of the WoWathon team, about this year's event, and he was most excited to answer.
Child's Play golf tournament to be held just before E3
Child's Play and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) Foundation are teaming up for the first annual Child's Play Invitational Golf Tournament. The event will be held at the Brookside Golf Course in Pasadena on Sunday, June 5, right before E3 kicks off. The entrance fee for the tournament (a third of which is tax deductible) is $150 for those with clubs, or $175 if you need to rent some -- we hear they frown upon picking up sticks from the ground to use as clubs. All proceeds go to the Child's Play network and partner hospitals. Beyond the good feeling of helping sick children, the entrance fee will also net participants gift bags and other perks; it's all listed after the break.
Child's Play breaks annual record with over $2 million raised
Child's Play has become the ubiquitous ur-charity for the gaming community. Founded by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins of Penny Arcade fame, it's grown into a multinational event for gamers the world over to help out needy children. It's also made a tradition out of breaking records for overall donations every year, and this year is no exception, with the total amount raised coming out to over $2 million for the year and nearly $9 million over its lifetime. The record-breaking effort has always been helped by enterprising fundraisers from the community, and the MMO community is no exception; notable fundraising efforts this year include the Lord of the Rings Online-inspired fundraiser from A Casual Stroll to Mordor and Sony Online Entertainment's donations for the purchase of in-game pets, together with other non-MMO events such as the infamous Desert Bus for Hope marathon and the Humble Indie Bundle. The entire gaming community, online or off, can take pride in another record-breaking year for Child's Play.
Child's Play 2010 site now live, accepting donations
While you read up on Black Friday deals and pour over reviews from this year's holiday game releases, might we suggest taking a time out to donate? Each year, Penny Arcade's Child's Play charity collects donations from gamers of all walks of life -- be they Desert Bus marathon runners, major game developers, or anyone in between -- in an effort to provide "donations of toys, games, books and cash for sick kids in children's hospitals across North America and the world." Last year, CP raised over $1.7 million, and the charity's expansion in 2010 will certainly help to best that milestone and allow over 70 hospitals to be chosen and donated to directly. Head over to the Child's Play website for specifics on how to give, or text "GAMERS" to 50555 and donate $5. You totally just did it, didn't you? You're the best!
15 Minutes of Fame: Making Child's Play of WoW
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. Kristin Lindsay makes child's play of WoW. In fact, she makes child's play of gaming in general and even of her work. That's because Child's Play, the charitable organization that brings games, books and cash to sick kids in children's hospitals across North America, is her work. As project manager at Child's Play, Kristin helps the organization raise millions of dollars worth of toys and cash for children's hospitals and put a positive face on gamers and gaming. Child's Play was created by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins of the online comic strip Penny Arcade. This year, the group has raised $1,302,367, shooting to surpass last year's $1.5 million total. We dove into a niche in Kristin's busy season to visit with her about her WoW habit, her work with Child's Play and how we WoW players can help Child's Play achieve a record-breaking year for hospitalized kids.
Child's Play raises over $1 million so far
It was announced today that the Child's Play charity has raised over $1 million so far this year. The charity, created by Penny Arcade to aid children in hospitals all over the world, has already raised a total of $1,010,680.28. Said Child's Play project manager Kristin Lindsay, "With so may people out of work, we've been amazed at the huge response this year." The charity hopes to surpass $1.4 million by year's end, which would be on par with what it brought in during 2008. Several events for Child's Play have been planned or have already taken place this year. Notably, the Desert Bus for Hope marathon pulled in over $130,000 in November, while Harmonix will be throwing the Ümloud Rock Band night fundraiser on December 9. Readers can find out more about Child's Play at the official website.
WoWathon for Child's Play
Have you heard about WoWathon? Three gamers have been playing WoW since August 1, broadcasting live in order to raise money for the charity, Child's Play. They are streaming live right now on Ustream and have been for 54 hours as of this writing. Starting from level 1, they have leveled their characters to 35 so far, all while responding to chatters.They are not account sharing and have the blessing of their realm's GM, for those of you who are worried about them going against the ToS.Child's Play is the charity that the guys at Penny Arcade put together to provide toys, games, books and cash to sick kids in children's hospitals. The WoWathon team's goal is to reach $5000 in fundrasing for the charity and are currently near $2300. If you wish to donate to help them reach their goal, please go to their website and click on the Chipin button. We are talking to them now, so stay tuned to WoW.com for an interview with the team.[Thank you to the many readers who have tipped us about this awesome event.]
