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Gaming for Good raises over $10m for Save the Children
Gaming for Good, a charity organization headed up by Internet personality Bachir Boumaaza (aka Athene), has successfully raised over $10 million for global youth advocacy group Save the Children as of this week. Gaming for Good offers up dozens of downloadable PC games that can be purchased using points earned from charitable donations. A number of publishers and indie studios have joined the campaign and offered their games up as free donation incentives, including Square Enix, Remedy Entertainment, The Fullbright Company, and Cellar Door Games. Donations processed through Gaming for Good and its fundraisers are matched by the United States Agency for International Development and multiplied by a factor of 13. Previously, Boumaaza partnered with Razer and DC Entertainment to raise over $1 million for African hunger relief.
Razer, DC Entertainment and Athene raise over $1 million for African hunger relief
As part of the Sharecraft 2012 Save the Children Challenge, Razer, DC Entertainment and web personality Bachir Boumaaza (more widely known as Athene) have raised over $1 million toward African hunger relief. Athene, sponsored by Razer, used his reach to help garner donations. DC Entertainment pledged to match all donations up to $1 million, and accounts for "approximately half" of the current total ($1,010,704 as of this writing).The money goes to Save the Children, which will use the funds to aid in the hunger crisis in the horn of Africa. The drive still has two days to go, and those interested in donating may do so here.
OneBigGame assembles 17 game composers for album to benefit children's charities
Gaming charity OneBigGame has partnered with developers for such as Chime and WINtA, with a portion of the profit they've generated going to benefit children's charities. Its new project, while still game-related, is decidedly less interactive -- but nonetheless compelling. The organization has announced it's teaming with the Game Music Initiative to bring together 17 game composers to create the OneBigAlbum, featuring new works by the likes of Masaya Matsuura (above, PaRappa the Rapper) and Emmy award-winning Christopher Tin (Civilization IV). Eighty percent of the proceeds will go to Save the Children and the Starlight Children's Foundation, each receiving half. OneBigGame hasn't firmed up a release date yet, but we'd say keeping the album on your radar would be a sound move. We've got the full list of composers who are contributing just past the break.
Frogster sends Save the Children 82,000€ check
While Frogster Interactive, as a company, has been dealing with some rough times of late, the players of both Runes of Magic and Bounty Bay Online have opened up their hearts -- and their wallets -- to do some good. Recently, players in both games have had the option to pick up certain special mounts and ship covers to help fund the Save the Children initiative in Bhutan. Frogster kept a small portion of proceeds from the item sales to cover VAT and basic administration costs, while Runewaker waived its share of all profits from those items. While previous fundraising in Frogster's free-to-play games has always been met with great success, this year players more than doubled last year's 40,000€ raised for Save the Children by raising 82,000€! This year's initiative was to assist the families in Bhutan, a small landlocked country in the Himalayas sandwiched between India and China that is home to a burgeoning Democratic government. Due to the major cultural shifts occurring in the country, children are inundated with information via internet and cable TV while their parents are unable to read and write -- let alone navigate the newfound technological morass they find themselves thrust into. Save the Children seeks to build schools for the children as well as help Bhutani families navigate the influx of new technology, all while preserving the country's cultural heritage for future generations. According to a press release, Kathrin Wieland, Executive Director of Save the Children Germany e.V., was surprised and delighted at the great generosity of the gamers: "I am very happy about the engagement of Frogster and its players, which allows us to clear a path for these children to a positive future." We certainly wish Save the Children the very best of luck with the hard work ahead and applaud Frogster and Runewaker as well as the giving players of Runes of Magic and Bounty Bay Online who have made that work possible.
Chime charity drive to end Dec. 1, with XBLA update
Sometimes lost in the rabid daze of "good" deals this Black Friday week are genuine opportunities to spend a little money on good causes. If you've been meaning to pick up "that charity game" on XBLA -- and in doing so, donate 100 percent of your 400-point purchase to charities, including Save the Children and Starlight Children's Foundation -- you have until December 1 to do so. Come next Wednesday, Chime's 10-month charity drive will expire, at which point the game will be updated to donate 5 percent of all $5-purchase royalties to publisher OneBigGames, which then passes the donations along to its charity partners. Additionally, the update will remove the game's high-score cap. "Now that this cap has been removed it will finally be possible to discover the best Chime players in the world," game director Brynley Gibson, of developer Zoe Mode, said in an announcement. "This fix has been a long time coming and is absolutely one made for the fans; we hope it tides them over until we can announce our plans for where we are taking Chime next."
Forza 3 'limited edition' content for sale, some proceeds go to Haiti relief
If you snatched up a used copy of Turn 10 Studios' two-million selling racer, Forza 3, you now have the chance to tune up the game with some new content from Xbox Live. There are four new packs available for purchase, each previously only available through new standard and limited editions of the game. Here's a rundown of each pack's specs: Sidewinder Proving Grounds Track Pack (400 / $5) -- This pack features 18 courses, including an updated version of the Sidewinder Proving Grounds from Forza Motorsport 2. Benchmark High Speed Ring Track Pack (400 / $5) -- A four-mile stretch of road to test your car's mettle, the Benchmark High Speed Ring Track Pack also features a large parking lot environment for online multiplayer games of "Tag" and "Keep It Clean." Motorsports Legends Car Pack (400 / $5) -- As suggested by the name, this pack features 10 of racing's most classic cars: 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA Stradale, 1964 Aston Martin DB5 Vantage, 1981 BMW Motorsport M1, 1960 Chevrolet Corvette, 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona Hemi, 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, 1980 Fiat 131 Abarth, 1967 Lamborghini Miura P400, 1971 Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R, and the 1965 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe. VIP Membership Car Pack (800 / $10) -- This pack unlocks VIP status for your profile in Forza 3, giving you special recognition as a VIP on leaderboards, in multiplayer lobbies, on ForzaMotorsport.net, in the in-game storefront and places your auctions at the top of the Forza 3 auction house. It also unlocks five additional cards: 2008 Aston Martin DBS, 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, 2007 Ferrari F430 Scuderia, 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, and the 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997). During the month of March, Turn 10 Studios will donate $10 for each download of the VIP Membership Car Pack (up to $100,000) to Save the Children. The proceeds will be donated to victims of the Haiti earthquakes.
This Wednesday: Chime for charity on XBLA
Today's lone Xbox Live Arcade release is Chime, the not-for-profit project from Zoe Mode and OneBigGame. 60 percent of proceeds from the 400 ($5) game will go to Save the Children and Starlight Children's Foundation, so consider it a surprisingly entertaining chance to stop being such a selfish jerk. If you're looking for a pre-purchase glimpse, check out the trailer above or download the demo on Xbox Live. We'd ask you to chime in with your opinions, but that joke's been done. Just now. Shortcut: Add Chime to your download queue [Xbox.com] %Gallery-77193%
Runes of Magic collects over 40,000 Euros for charity
Remember the Save the Children charity event from Runes of Magic back at the end of November? Frogster created a special mount -- Moa's Charity Steed -- at a reduced price, and donated 3 Euros to Save the Children for each mount purchased. The event lasted from November 20th until December 28th, and Frogster released the final numbers yesterday: "Thanks to the great efforts of our Runes of Magic community, Frogster has donated 40,000 Euros to the international charity organization Save the Children." In those few weeks allotted for the event, players purchased over 12,500 Moa's Charity Steed mounts to support Save the Children, and the official announcement pointed out that 170 helpers from the charity are working in Haiti today, no doubt supported in large part by the generosity of RoM fans. It's always great to see game studios and players step up and support a good cause this way, so we at Massively add our sincere thanks to Frogster's.
Runes of Magic Save the Children charity event
Frogster is kicking off the holiday season in Runes of Magic in the best way possible -- by running a promotion designed to give back to a good cause. Runes of Magic has a brand new mount available in their item shop: the Moa's Charity Steed, pictured above. While most mounts are priced at 395 diamonds, this one has a special promo price of 295 diamonds. The Charity Steed is aptly named: every time someone purchases one of these new mounts, Frogster will donate 3 Euros ($4.50 USD) to the Save the Children Deutschland charity organization. Save the Children is a worldwide agency that is working in over 50 countries to improve the lives of children through parent education, literacy and nutrition programs, immunization clinics, and acting as advocates for children's rights. (The German site can be viewed here.) The event is going on now and will last until December 28th, so you have plenty of time to pick up your new mount and enjoy doing a good deed.
