marathon
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Summer Games Done Quick charity speedrun marathon kicks off Sunday
Speed Demos Archive, an online collective and host for video game speedruns, announced that its next streamed charity marathon will begin this Sunday and extend through June 29, in partnership with SpeedRunsLive and Twitch. Next week's Summer Games Done Quick marathon will raise money for the Doctors Without Borders charity, with viewer donations going toward a number of featured incentives, challenges, and prize raffles. The organization's January event Awesome Games Done Quick raised more than $1 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, attracting over 100,000 simultaneous viewers during peak hours. Featured games include The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Octodad: Dadliest Catch, and a grueling seven-hour trek through Final Fantasy 6. A full schedule is available here. [Image: Speed Demos Archive]
Twitch teams with Operation Supply Drop for military charity
Video game broadcasting platform Twitch is partnering with Operation Supply Drop for the 24-hour charitable game streaming marathon 8-Bit Salute. The marathon is entering its third year and will be held May 17 - 18, with donations raised during 8-Bit Salute used to fund video game care packages for both combat-zone deployed troops in the military as well as those recovering in military hospitals. Past funds from Operation Supply Drop include Operation: Dragon Punch in September 2011, which aided a squad Northern Afghanistan. Twitch will promote the event and encourage its "top broadcasters" to participate as well. The announcement mentions a few Twitch partners that have already pledged their support of 8-Bit Salute, such The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog and gaming headset manufacturer Astro Gaming. Viewers will have the opportunity to win prizes during the marathon via Operation Supply Drop's website. Those looking to participate in this year's 8-Bit Salute event can register here. [Image: Operation Supply Drop]
Single quarter lasts record-breaking 85 hours on Armor Attack
Armor Attack, an arcade game from 1980, was part of two record-breaking achievements this week when John Salter of Oakland, Ohio shattered not only the previous high score, but also the previous record for longest time played on a single credit. As reported by Patrick Scott Patterson, Salter managed to hold out for 85 hours, 16 minutes before he finished his run with 2,211,990 points. Although the game itself ran without pause, Salter himself took power naps throughout his marathon, using extra lives he'd built up as a buffer so that he wouldn't lose. The previous record for longest gaming session on a single credit was 84 hours, 48 minutes, set by George Leutz on a game of Qbert. The previous high score on Armor Attack was 2,009,000, set by Tom Larkin in 1982. We assume that shortly after his victories, Salter removed his glasses, revealing that he was Superman all along, and flew off into the sunset. [Image: Cinematronics]
Before Halo we had Marathon -- play Bungie's three Mac classics free
Mac users have always been second-string players in the world of computer gaming. For every AAA title that debuted on both Mac and Windows, a hundred games never reached for that gleaming Apple. Growing up in the '90s, I was a Windows user and never heard an end to the complaints from my Mac gamer friends about the vicious neglect of the gaming community. With one shining exception. The one series that didn't come to Windows -- Marathon. Now, thanks to the wonders of the internet, you can play each and every game in the Marathon trilogy for free, on your modern machine. Utilizing the Aleph One game engine and with the blessing of Bungie, these three classics now run on Mac, Windows and Linux. Marathon 2 features the enhanced graphics found on the Xbox Live remake, while Marathon Infinity has support for online multiplayer. With three titles for nothing, you've got a lot of gaming to do. The titles are also available for iOS if you'd rather play on your iPhone or iPad. You can find them here; Marathon 1, Marathon 2 and Marathon Infinity. Developed by a pre-Halo Bungie Studios, the Marathon series was on the cutting edge of the first-person shooter genre. Marathon introduced concepts like dual-wielding weapons and real-time voice chat in multiplayer. The three games feature a physics engine that allows for changing gravity, bringing as much depth to actual gameplay as the incredibly complicated story. Marathon 2 continued the innovations with the ambient noises and the ability to swim. It was also the only title in the trilogy to be ported to Windows. For Marathon Infinity, the series took a hard turn toward the surreal with a story that transcended time and space to send you blasting evil through alternate realities. These open-source updates have been available for a while now, but our readers may not have been aware of them. Readers who grew up on modern shooters may be unimpressed by Marathon's graphics at first, but once you get involved in its tales of inter-dimensional alien warfare, this game will go from history lesson to heart-pounding thrill ride. See what the developers of Halo were working on before they changed console gaming forever. Give Marathon a spin.
See hot indie game action (and cake) in the Supershow Collective marathon
The Supershow Collective marathon begins tonight at 7PM ET and runs through the weekend, with live streams of some hot Steam, Greenlight and other indie games, plus developer interviews, special guests and giveaways. The whole spiel is organized by indie developer Robot Loves Kitty and indie PC site Greenlit Gaming. The marathon starts with the Indie Showcase from Greenlit Gaming, which will feature more than 24 hours of continuous Steam gaming and developer interviews, including bits of Kingdom Rush, Contrast, Teslagrad, Race the Sun, ANNE, Risk of Rain, Mousecraft, Tower of Guns, Drunken Robot Pornography, Monster Loves You, Dungeon of the Endless, Broforce, The Novelist and Torchlight 2. Picking up where the Indie Showcase leaves off, the Indie Dev Showcase from Robot Loves Kitty begins at 7PM ET on Saturday, featuring streams and interviews of Hot Tin Roof, 6180 the Moon, Dyscourse, Continue?9876543210, Reus, Cloudbuilt, Droquen, Crypt of the Necrodancer, Life goes On and more. The Indie Dev Showcase ends with cake at 7PM on Sunday (cake not provided). Watch (and eat) it all right here.
Child's Play raises $2.5 million in 2013, $520K from Desert Bus
The 7th annual Desert Bus for Hope charity gaming marathon raised $522,348 for Child's Play, an organization that provides games, consoles and toys to sick children in hospitals and therapy facilities worldwide. Since 2003, Child's Play has raised more than $20 million, and this year alone it saw $2.5 million in donations. Online comedy group LoadingReadyRun started the Desert Bus gaming marathon in 2007, and it has since raised more than $1.7 million for Child's Play – making it "the most successful charity gaming marathon in the world," its description reads. Those who watched Desert Bus 7 can help make next year's marathon even better by filling out a brief survey.
Extra Life fundraising marathon begins tomorrow
It's once again time for gamers from around the world to come together for a cause with the annual Extra Life charity event. Every year, thousands of gamers commit themselves to playing video games for a whopping 24 hours straight from 8 a.m. November 2nd until 8 a.m. November 3rd. Participants are asked to raise money through their marathons by soliciting donations from family, friends, or even livestream viewers. In the end, all of the cash raised over the course of the event goes to Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, where it's used to provide hospital treatment for children in need. But of course, if you're reading Massively, then you're probably an MMO fan, so perhaps you'd like to join one of your favorite MMO studios in its Extra Life efforts. Funcom, Trion Worlds, En Masse, and Turbine all have teams taking part in the event, so if you want to be a part of Extra Life and show your allegiance to one of those studios in the process, all you have to do is head over to that team's Extra Life page and click "join team." Not only do all players who register for Extra Life get a digital copy of Defiance and a RIFT starter pack (for free!) just for signing up, but many of the studios are holding events and prize giveaways for players who participate under their banners. Know of other MMO studios or individuals playing MMOs for charity this weekend? Share links in the comments and spread the love.
Extra Life and Sony partner for 25-hour charity drive
Charitable foundation Extra Life is teaming up with Sony Computer Entertainment America to host this year's series of 25-hour gaming marathons to raise money for hospitals within the Children's Miracle Network. The first 50,000 participants that raise $10 or more will earn a 30-day PlayStation Plus membership. The first 20,000 that clear the $25, $50 and $75 goals will win When Vikings Attack, Wipeout HD and LittleBigPlanet Vita, respectively. The event's grand prize consists of a 1 year PS+ membership and "a lineup of PS4 games" that includes Knack, Killzone: Shadow Fall and Driveclub. It will be awarded to the team that raises the most funds from today until 8am PST on November 3. If you're interested in participating, sign up here. Due to laws in the UK and Australia restricting the ability of non-profit organizations to raise funds in either country, international participants will need to play their marathons for the benefit of the international efforts of three hospitals: Boston Children's, SickKids in Toronto, or Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Fighting game marathon tonight to raise funds for Boston
Boston's fighting game community is hosting a 26-hour gaming marathon to raise money for The One Fund Boston, benefiting those who were affected by the Boston Marathon bombings.Starting today at 8 PM Eastern time and running through 10 PM on Saturday, participants will stream tournaments, speed runs, and requested games at Game Underground's retail store and arcade in Framingham, Massachusetts. Local admission is $10, and all marathon content will be streamed at Game Underground's Twitch channel.The marathon will showcase competitive play for Injustice: Gods Among Us, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition. A full schedule of events is here.
PSA: Week-long speed run marathon for charity starts today
Awesome Games Done Quick 2013 is the third annual marathon gaming event in which players attempt to complete games as quickly as possible for days on end. The marathon runs through Saturday, January 12 and is raising donations for the Prevent Cancer Foundation.The week-long event is being hosted by the Speed Demos Archive and features over 115 games. Head over to the AGDQ 2013 site to watch the live stream of the event.
ExtraLives aims to hit $100K for charity with Pokémon marathon this weekend
The good folks at ExtraLives.org have raised $91,837.25 since 2009, and they're hoping Pokémon will help put them over the $100,000 mark this coming weekend. Starting up on Saturday, December 29, the team is going to start up three different Pokémon sessions at the same time, marathoning Nintendo's addictive little monster capture RPG all the way into 2013.They'll start with the old Game Boy titles, and then make their way up into the DS era, campaigning the whole time to try and raise money for charity.The marathon will begin at noon on Saturday, and each of the three streamed screens will be running a different version of Pokemon, so you'll get to see for sure just how different the game is if you go with Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle for your first pet. The infamous Pokémon bootlegs will also be making an appearance. All the money will be going to Free the Children, so it's for a great cause.Our heartfelt holiday donations: Let us show you them.
'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.
Assassin's Creed marathon for Child's Play happening right now
Alpha Iota, an academic honors society from Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, California, is hosting an Assassin's Creed marathon to raise money for the Child's Play charity. This is the second year the organization has hosted the fundraising event; it garnered over $1,400 in donations last year.The "Assassins4Kids" group is also auctioning off a number of Assassin's Creed-related merchandise, such as paintings and hoodies, and has already clocked over 40 hours in the Assassin's Creed series. Assassins4Kids is streaming the game (and at night, sleeping) marathon through December 19, which can be found after the break.[Thanks, Roger!]
The Speed Gamers return with another 72-hour marathon for charity
Texas-based marathon-gaming group The Speed Gamers is preparing for its annual winter charity drive once again, this year raising funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation through extensive exposure to Mario and his various exploits.Starting at 7 p.m. Eastern on December 14, the group's non-stop 72-hour gaming session will work its way through a respectable block of Mario games, spanning the vastness of the plumber's body of work, both new and old. The whole event will be streamed live on the group's official website, where viewers can donate to not only help a worthy cause, but to also win prizes and play practical jokes on the marathoners.So far this year, The Speed Gamers has already raised $59,324.36 for charity, thanks to its insane 168-hour Pokemon marathon last June. In total, the organization has accumulated $369,304.15 for various causes since it was founded in 2008.
Breakfast Topic: The story behind your own personal WoW marathon
We all have a WoW marathon story -- that time we were sailed so far into the world of Azeroth for so long that we didn't come up for air for an utterly amazing (appalling?) number of hours. The thing is, in World of Warcraft, marathon play sessions aren't a given merely by dint of the game's design. Even back in the old-school days of classic WoW, activities have always been fairly discrete (nothing like the panicked, griefer-fraught, emotionally wringing 40-hour camp I ran for my j-boots in EverQuest, WoW's most immediate predecessor -- a routine camp for an item widely considered a must-have). Instead, WoW marathons are mostly special occasions of our own design and choosing: a charity marathon, a push for realm firsts or even world firsts. Before we go any further, a quick poll: %Poll-78567% OK, so now that we know how long you've played in a single sitting, give us the backstory. What was so compelling that you couldn't tear yourself away from the keyboard? Was that marathon out of the norm for you? Was it a rewarding experience that helped you accomplish a particular goal? Would you do it again?
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.
Sony unveils Meb Keflezighi Edition Walkman W Series, fills it with the marathoner's coaching wisdom
NBC may have retired its Olympic spirit by repurposing its dedicated app, but Sony's sporting fever hasn't broken, as its just announced the Meb Keflezighi Edition Walkman W Series. A special edition orange hue graces the third-time Olympic marathoner's device and, like the other players in the line, it features a water resistant design, a quick-charge mode and an eight hour battery life when fully juiced. Twenty-four minutes of audio coaching by Meb himself are preloaded into the player's 2GB memory, which is estimated to store roughly 470 songs. Eager to hear the athlete's dulcet tones as you pound the pavement? You can pick up the player for $69.99 at Sony's online and brick-and-mortar stores, or wait until October for its arrival at Walmart.
Super Mario Marathon 5 raises over $43k for Child's Play (and counting)
Super Mario Marathon 5 is streaming live from a Mario-themed living room in Indiana, where a group of gamers are playing select levels from a variety of Mario games. The levels they play are determined by the amount of money donated, with 800 total levels across ten Mario games available for them to complete.Donated money goes directly to the Child's Play foundation, which aims to improve "the lives of children with toys and games in [its] network of over 70 hospitals worldwide." Last year's event raised over $112k in donations to the foundation. Donations can be made here, and the stream can be viewed on the Mario Marathon site.[Thanks, Stefan!]
Activision/Bungie contract reveals four-game plan code-named 'Destiny', potential for new Marathon
As a side effect of Activision's ongoing court battle with former Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella, details of the company's deal with Bungie have been made public in documents posted by the LA Times.According to the documents, Bungie has agreed to create four "sci-fantasy, action shooter games" in a project code-named "Destiny" (for which Bungie filed trademarks last year). The first will be an Xbox exclusive (360 with the option for its successor) in fall 2013 (versions for other systems would follow one year later) with followup games on Xbox successor, PS3 successor, and PC in 2015, 2017, and 2019. Four DLC expansions, code-named "Comet," are included in the deal, due fall 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020.In the contract, Activision reserves the right to take over the "Destiny" property if Bungie fails to meet its requirements; however, it stipulates that it will not begin more "Destiny" projects until Bungie has completed its work.The contract also gives Bungie the freedom to put five percent of its staff to work on a prototype for a new game referred to as "Marathon," with the team size allowed to grow after certain operating income. There are also rules governing how much of the company's staff can work on Bungie.Net, Halo Reach DLC and other projects.That takes care of the next eight years or so of video game news. Who wants tacos?
Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment to raise money through games marathon
The Oakland-based Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment has been trying to carry out a second round of donation-based funding for a few months now, but things haven't quite come together as well as planned. So, things are getting serious: They're going to play some video games.Starting this Friday afternoon, the museum will be hosting a marathon of various games, including Super Metroid, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Fallout 3, and Resident Evil 3, along with a few other classics. The event will be streamed on the museum's website, and the goal is to raise $1,000 for every game that's defeated on the stream. If more money than the $20,000 goal is raised, they'll keep playing until one game is beaten for every $1,000 earned.All the funds raised will go to the Museum, to keep up the collection there and continue all of the programs the organization hosts (including, just recently, one of the locations for MolyJam). MADE is accepting donations from now through the marathon this weekend.
