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'Desert Bus' video game charity has raised nearly $80,000
Each year a group of selfless volunteers agrees to play what some call the world's most boring video game for hours on end in an attempt to raise money for the Child's Play hospital charity. Now in its 13th year, the Desert Bus for Hope fundraiser kicked off today. In its first five hours, it has raised nearly $80,000.
'Child's Play' trailer shows Chucky controlling smart homes and drones
A reboot of the Child's Play franchise will hit theaters this summer and while we already had a good idea killer toy Chucky would be more of a robot with AI capabilities this time around, the latest trailer provides further confirmation he'll be able to control smart homes. Terrifying.
Humble Bundle milestones: $50M to charity, $100M to devs
Humble Bundle has raised more than $50 million for charity since launching its first sale in May 2010 – the Humble Indie Bundle, as it was called back then. That bundle introduced the idea of "pay what you want" pricing and offered customers power over the allocation of their payments, plus the chance to do something good for charity. Specifically for that first promotion, it was the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Child's Play Charity. "When my co-founder Jeff [Rosen] first contacted the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Child's Play for our first promotion, no one knew who we were," Humble co-founder John Graham tells Joystiq. "After pitching the confusing idea, in probably too much detail, he was cut off: 'So let me get this straight, you are basically asking if you can give us money? Sure!'" Humble Bundle now supports a roster of more than 50 charitable organizations and has expanded with weekly bundles, ebook bundles, mobile bundles and the Humble Store, which by itself raised $1 million for charity by June 2014. That very first Humble Bundle raised roughly $400,000 for charity – $200,000 each for EFF and Child's Play – at the time an "incomprehensible" amount to John Graham. "It produced a lot of pressure to keep going," he says. "Our potential to raise another $400,000 for charity felt like a moral obligation. Raising more than two orders of magnitude beyond that goal was not something we ever considered."
Desert Bus for Hope rides again, charity drive begins today
The eighth Desert Bus for Hope charity drive officially kicks off today. We've been fans of the marathon for many years here at Joystiq, but in case you don't know what it's all about, here's the rundown. The folks at LoadingReadyRun sit down to play Desert Bus, one of the most mind-numbingly boring video games ever created, in which players drive a bus from Las Vegas to Tucson ... in real-time (a feat that takes 8 hours). Nothing happens. Just a long stretch of desert road and a bus that lists just enough to make sure you keep paying attention. The more money the charity makes, the longer these brave souls have to keep playing. Proceeds go to Child's Play. In other words, you pay to watch people suffer, and the money goes to a good cause. Everyone wins! Not only that, but you'll have your shot at winning some prizes (including lots of games donated by Joystiq). Okay, not everyone wins – someone still has to play the game, after all.
Indie Games for Good charity marathon starts Friday
On October 17, the fourth annual Indie Games for Good marathon begins, with all proceeds directly and fully benefitting the Child's Play Charity. The festivities will be broadcast live and feature "over 100 independently developed games, many of which will be chosen by the viewers who make donations." As part of the charity marathon, viewers will have an opportunity to win prizes via giveaways and raffles as well as participate in live auctions. The Indie Games for Good charity notes that in its four-year life, the group has played over 240 hours for charity and raised more than $30,000. All donations toward the event will go directly to Child's Play, ensuring the organization founded on the principle of bringing entertainment to sicks kids worldwide will be awarded every cent from viewers. The marathon begins October 17 at 12pm PT and will be available for your viewing pleasure on the Indie Games for Good website. The length of the marathon is linked directly to the amount of money raised. To date, this year's event has already raised over $1,000, promising at least 50 hours of marathon entertainment.
Path of Exile announces Child's Play charity event
Grinding Gear Games has announced a brand new two-week race event for Path of Exile that involves prizes and a special in-game item that will benefit the Child's Play charities. The new helmet skin, called the Angelic Mask, costs $5 and will be available only during the two-week event. The race itself is described as an ambush/invasion featuring prizes that include in-game items, NVIDIA graphics cards, signed art prints, and much more. Check out the full press release after the cut for more details.
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Child's Play closes year with record-breaking $7.6 million
An incredible holiday drive propelled Child's Play's annual fundraising to $7.6 million, a new record for the charity organization by more than $2 million. Considering that annual figure was at $2.5 million as recently as November, it's a remarkable achievement by Child's Play and its backers alike. "Child life specialists reach out to us every year, overwhelmed and amazed at the generosity of gamers," wrote Jamie Dillon on the Child's Play site. "The iPads they use help distract and comfort kids as they prep for surgery. An Xbox will find its way to the community playroom for siblings to play together again. The movies, craft supplies, CDs, toys, and books sent from Amazon wishlists let kids just be kids for a moment: not sick kids, not hurt kids, not scared or lonely kids. Just kids playing like kids. And it's all thanks to you." As ever, the money was raised by a variety of activities, from gaming marathons and charity streams to bake sales and auctions; Desert Bus alone contributed an impressive $520,000 towards this year's funds. The $7.6 million raised in 2013 takes Child's Play's total across a decade to over $25 million, with all that money going to improving kids' lives in 90 hospitals worldwide. If that doesn't warm your heart at the turn of the year, nowt in 2014 will.
Robotic chimp, metal dragon aid sick kids in Saints Row 4 charity DLC
Sure, they're a bloodthirsty gang of polysexual criminals, some of whom literally get off on violence, yet the 3rd Street Saints also have a softer side, and a recent agreement to aid Child's Play proves as much in typical Saints Row style. Here's how things work: If you pay a visit to Steam, you'll notice a new DLC pack for Saints Row 4 entitled "Child's Play Pack." All profits generated by sales of the $3 pack will go toward the Child's Play Charity, which seeks to outfit hospitals and family crisis centers with gaming machines in the hopes that kids might find comfort and solace in one of Mario's colorful adventures. That's the happy, heartwarming bit, but this being a Saints Row joint, you just knew things had to take a turn for the wacky at some point. Included in that $3 charity DLC pack are two new skins for the PC iteration of Saints Row 4, a metallic simian named Robochimp and Digital Dino, which is either a clear homage to Mechagodzilla or proof that creating robotic dragons is just too cool for any development team to ignore for long. Finally, the pack also includes a new vehicle, dubbed the "Retro Racer." It's not much of a vehicle, and looks like a cross between an amusement park ride and that bullet ship George Méliès shot at the moon in 1902. Still, in a world of weaponized dubstep and the vocal stylings of Biz Markie, this new ride barely registers as "quirky."
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.
Custom Luigi 2DS up for auction, 25% of proceeds to Child's Play
Remember Rose Colored Gaming's Luigi 2DS, the modified handheld that looks good enough to be a real Nintendo product? Now that it's up for auction, you can celebrate the Year of Luigi in style by establishing yourself as the bro's biggest fan. The bidding period will conclude on November 17 at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, with 25 percent of the proceeds going to the Child's Play Charity. Despite the interest the singular unit has drawn, the auction page explains that the unit was built under the vision of a "one-of-a-kind item, and as such, there will not be a run of more than one." The green and white color scheme is complimented with an indentation of Luigi on the back of the device. [Thanks, Wes!]
LotRO players support charity by following Frodo's journey in-game
Frodo's initial adventures from the Shire to Rivendell have a special significance to some Lord of the Rings Online players, because it's this journey that they're recreating in order to raise funds for charity. The Fellowship Walk, as it's called, is already underway with a goal to raise $5,000 for Child's Play by October 24th. For every monetary milestone met through donations, players in the game will recreate a portion of Frodo's walk with the ultimate goal of arriving in the Last Homely House. The player event also includes charity auctions, giveaways, and a treasure hunt. You can read more about the Fellowship Walk on LOTRO Players. [Thanks to everyone who sent in this tip!]
Today's live gaming: Pokemon, Dota 2, Starcraft 2 and Zelda
A trio of eSports competitions are streaming for your viewing pleasure today, as is the kickoff of a week-long Zelda marathon for charity. Coverage of the Starcraft 2 World Championships' European league has already begun, but the American league will start reportin' for duty at 4 p.m. EST. Day 4 of The International's main event continues at 3 p.m. EST, which can be viewed here or live in Dota 2. The Pokémon World Championships for video game finalists start at 8 p.m. EST, with the trading card game finalists following at 10:30 p.m. EST. You can watch both here. If you're more into watching people raise money for charity rather than for themselves, the Triple Speed Runners are launching a week-long Zelda Marathon at 7 p.m. EST. The marathon will follow the timeline of the Zelda series rather than the order of each game's release, starting with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Prizes can be won by watching the stream, but 100% of donations will go to Child's Play Charity.
'NoiseChan & Nugget: Adventures in Chiptune' features hot jams, good causes
Chiptune internet radio program Noise Channel Radio, in conjunction with digital music label Ubiktune, has released a compilation album of (surprise!) chiptune jams, dubbed NoiseChan & Nugget: Adventures in Chiptune.The album, available through BandCamp on a pay-what-you-want basis, features songs from Adventure Time/Double Dragon Neon/Contra 4 composer virt, in addition to 10 other artists. Additionally, all album sale proceeds go directly to Child's Play, which means that while Adventures in Chiptune is technically available for free, you could drop some bucks for a good cause.
Replica Portal gun signed by Valve and auctioned on Ebay for charity
The only thing better than donating to a worthy charity is donating to a worthy charity and getting a full-size replica Portal gun signed by the entire Valve team out of it. Warm fuzzies and a new toy.Valve signed a replica Portal gun for the Games Art and Music charity event in Florida, and now that the show is over, GAAM is auctioning it off on Ebay, with all of the funds benefiting Child's Play Charity. It's like helping two charities in one go.The Ebay auction started off strong, but because of some technical issues, it was reset and now needs to make up some ground to reach its previous peak. The auction ends tomorrow, December 28, at 10:37 a.m. PST. If you have a pure heart and an empty space on your mantel, this bidding war might be for you.
'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.
SMITE issues doomsday patch with Mayan god
Everyone's hopping on board the (non-existent) apocalypse bandwagon, and SMITE may have the edge on irony. Today the MOBA has expanded to include the Mayan god Xbalanque as well as a host of new features and additions. These changes include special holiday skins, a jousting map and 1v1 queue, a themed "match of the day," changes to the conquest map, and an improved item store. Hi-Rez Studios is participating in a 24-hour "post-apocalyptic" livestream charity event for Child's Play tomorrow, and our very own Patrick will be joining them to cover it. Check out Xbalanque's reveal video after the jump, if only to figure out how to pronounce his name! [Source: Hi-Rez press release]
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!]
Humble THQ Bundle ends, earns $5 million from 885,000 bundles
The Humble Indie Bundle's first decidedly non-indie bundle, the THQ Bundle, has come to its anticipated end. All told, says the organization, the bundle raised $5 million, split as buyers chose between THQ, charity donations, and the Humble Bundle group itself.The whole project seems to have been a rousing success: 885,251 bundles went out the door, and THQ added a few big games into the pack during the sale. The average price for all titles sold was $5.76, and the top contributor to the cause was THQ's president Jason Rubin, who at the end had contributed a total of $10,000 to the proceedings.In fact, considering THQ's financial battles lately, this might be one of the company's biggest successes this year. Wonder what else they've got over there to bundle up and sell out the door?
Desert Bus 6 now accepting donations on its road to Hope
This year's Desert Bus for Hope gaming marathon is now open for donations. In little over 10 days, the bus will leave its virtual depot and take a road trip across several games in an effort to raise money for Child's Play.The full schedule of this year's fundraising festivities isn't online yet; look for that on Friday. Prizes – sometimes not very good ones – will be given out throughout the event and interviews will be conducted with call-in guests. If you'd like to donate some of your simoleons, you can do that by heading over 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.
