childs play
Latest
CCP Games supports Child's Play, offers tour of HQ
The Child's Play charity, brainchild of the Penny Arcade creators, is a community-based children's charity that benefits from generosity within the game industry -- both from the companies that make games, and the gamers themselves. Child's Play aims to help sick children, both in North America and abroad, and to that end has raised over $2 million worth of donations. Their official site paints an encouraging picture of the kind of positive change they're effecting in the lives of children, and how you -- as gamers -- can get involved. The other half of the success story of Child's Play is the involvement of the game companies, themselves. CCP Games, the creators of sci-fi MMO EVE Online, is continuing its past support of Child's Play in conjunction with EVE Fanfest 2008. The main item to bid on is a private tour of CCP's Reykjavik HQ, where the highest Child's Play bidder will get to see how the game is run, and will get to meet the staff that keeps New Eden alive. See CCP's announcement and the 2008 silent auction page for the full details about how you can get the guided tour while benefitting sick children. It's a win-win situation for any EVE fan with deep pockets. Bidding in the CCP-Child's Play silent auction starts at $1000 (USD), with bidding already open as of today. Bidding ends October 22, and of course multiple (increasing) bids are possible and encouraged. The tour itself will be given to the highest bidder on November 5th, in advance of EVE Fanfest 2008. However, the charity auction isn't limited to the Reykjavik HQ tour. Additional items will be auctioned off for Child's Play during Fanfest, and will be given to the highest contributors on the spot.
Super Mario Galaxy mod reaches for the stars [update 2]
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/mods/Super_Mario_Galaxy_Wii_mod/'; Mamma mia, that's a nice mod. We'd expect no less from the ever-so-incredible Morpheon Mods crew, who've put together quite a nice collection of Wiis for us to gawk at. The Super Mario Galaxy theme of this particular mod, though, helps it rank as our favorite of the bunch.The LEDs are a nice touch, especially the ones in the back-lit marquee, and we approve of the various sounds they've rigged to the console. We also like the twinkling stars effect -- simply awesome. All in all, it's a stunning mod that can be yours if you have deep pockets, since it's up for auction on eBay. This is one auction that we won't mind seeing skyrocket, however, since a portion of the profits will be donated to Child's Play!%Gallery-20580%[Update: The eBay auction has been removed, for unknown reasons. If the item gets relisted, though, we'll be sure to update the post again with the new link!][Update 2: Yay! The auction was relisted and the eBay link above has been fixed. Or, you can just click here.]
Gallery Nucleus' Art of Blizzard show
Penny Arcade made mention of this in a recent news post: Gallery Nucleus in the town of Alhambra, California, will host a showing of artwork from the talented artists of Blizzard, this Saturday, March 8th, from 7 to 11 PM. It's not known exactly how many pieces of concept artwork will be shown, but it gets better: each piece shown is purchasable, with the evening's proceeds to benefit Child's Play, the wonderful organization we posted about before. You'll also get a chance to speak with the devs and artists of Blizzard and maybe get a little insight into how they work their magic.But wait, there's more! The evening will also see live demos of the World of Warcraft trading card game at Nucleus' new gallery space one block over. You can read the event information on this downloadable PDF. Gorgeous galleries, fascinating conversation, and absorbing gameplay -- what more could you ask for? That's easy: someone make this a traveling show!
"Art of Blizzard" benefit show to be held Saturday
Our good friends at Massively beat us to the punch on this one: as seen on Gabe's (of Penny Arcade) little blurb yesterday, Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra, California is holding an "Art of Blizzard" Benefit Show for Child's Play, the charity started by Penny Arcade to buy and donate videogames to children in hospital. Additionally, Blizzard artists and developers will be in attendance at the event, and Upper Deck will be there demo-ing the WoW TCG (which is probably where some of the art comes from) as well. And the art is going to be from all of Blizzard's different games, not just World of Warcraft.The PDF press release has more info, and admission is free to the public. I don't think any of our correspondents are in the area, but if you're around and get to go, be sure to take pictures and send them along to us. It definitely sounds like a fun event, and it's always great when developers put their time and work in to help out a worthy charity.
Four48 faces Resident Evil challenge
Remember that group of guys who tried to beat four Zelda games in forty-eight hours? They've dubbed themselves Four48, and have done quite a few marathon gaming sessions in order to raise money for charity.Now they're at it again, it seems, but this time, they're not just racing against the clock. The Four48 crew is competing against seven other teams this weekend to see who will be the first to complete Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition. The only thing at stake, besides gamer pride, of course, is a copy of No More Heroes that will go to the winning team. They'll be taking donations as per usual, which will be given to Child's Play. They're also webcasting the event, so if you find yourself with little to do this weekend, it might be worth checking out.[Via Joystiq]
For NCsoft, spreading joy is Child's Play
NCsoft has a reputation for focusing on both the human element as well as the metahuman in their games, and their corporate culture is no different. This year, the City of Heroes team is auctioning off a poster signed by the development team, a signed City of Villains Collector's Edition game box, and a City of Villains Lord Recluse statue, with all of the proceeds benefitting the Seattle-based Child's Play charity. Whether you frequent Paragon City or make your lair in the Rogue Isles, it's Child's Play to help yourself to some CoX goodness this holiday season, and to help out children in need at the same time.
Child's Play raffle donations soar to over $12,600
If you haven't heard of the fabulous raffle being hosted by the folks at the Bronze Kettle, then you must have been living in a box. A box where you hadn't heard that the donations count has reached $12,654.00! That is definitely cause for celebration; and celebrate we shall!To be fair, one person donated $10,000, but as Shelbi points out, even if this hurts your chances to win one of their many prizes, the tickets are still for charity. In fact, 100% of the money raised will be heading straight to Child's Play.If you haven't purchased your tickets yet, or you have a few extra bucks lying around, head over before it's too late! Currently, the raffle is scheduled to take place at 11:00pm CST today, Friday the 14th of December, at Booty Bay on the US server Dark Iron. Not only will you get the chance to participate in the server event, possibly hosted on vent, but the entire shebang will be liveblogged over at the Kettle. Although you don't need to attend the event to win, it's looking like it's going to be a blast. Just look for Shelbi and Jon on Aereyan and Kaelwryn. Raffle entries will be closing as of 8:00pm CST, and although you can still donate after that point, you will not earn a ticket toward a prize. Make the jump for a complete listing of prizes, and remember; each $1 donated earns you one ticket, and one chance at one of twenty fabulous prizes.
Cheap Ass Gamer raises $11,000 for Child's Play in only four days
Ever wonder what devout followers of Cheap Ass Gamer do with their saved cash? From the looks of it, they give to charity. Last year, site owner (and wonderful Tokyo tour guide, if you must know) CheapyD raised $10,000 through CAG for Tycho and Gabe's Child's Play Charity, and in this year it only took four days to beat that record.This year's fundraiser is a raffle: for every $5 you donate, you received one raffle ticket for one of 38 prizes (one grand prize and 44 runner-ups - there are some duplicates, read carefully). $11,300 has been donated as of this writing; excluding CheapyD's initial $1,000 donation, that's 701 people who have given $10,300, or an average of almost $15 per person. The fundraiser ends December 31, although CheapyD has declared he might extend the contest a week. Care to donate a few extra dollars to a good cause, and perhaps walk away with some nice gaming gear? Head over to the CAG page and use the widget to donate for eligibility. The bar has been set pretty high for next year's fundraising.
FigurePrints donates custom figure to The Bronze Kettles' Child's Play charity raffle
Yesterday, Jon and Shelbi at The Bronze Kettle announced that they had added several more prizes to the list for the charity raffle they are sponsoring for Child's Play. In addition to the already mentioned list of prizes, The Bronze Kettle revealed that Blizzard and FigurePrints have donated a custom FigurePrints action figure of your in-game World of Warcraft character to add to the raffle as the Grand Prize. These figures have, to date, only been available either with the purchase of a Dell XPS M1730 laptop valued at around $4500, or by winning a place in the random drawing that FigurePrints will be holding on December 21st. This could be your chance to win one of these extremely exclusive figures, a full week before they go on sale to those lucky enough to win a place in the first official drawing. You can read more about FigurePrints and their custom World of Warcraft action figures of your in-game character in this WoW Insider interview with Ed Fries, the founder of FigurePrints.
Charity raffle for Child's Play
It's the season of giving, and the good folks at the Bronze Kettle have been auctioning their services for Child's Play, a gamers' charity that funds pediatric research and donates toys and games to hospitals. I am pleased to announce that the grand total of their efforts is a whopping $651 donated!Unfortunately, they are no longer holding auctions. Instead, they have decided to broaden their efforts so more people can participate and win, without having to have a couple hundred dollars to contribute. You will not only have the chance to win some amazing prizes, but you will also be invited to an in-game event hosted by Jon and Shelbi. As always, 100% of the donations will go directly to the charity. If you admired the prizes being auctioned, then make the jump for the full scoop!
Ensemble auctions off signed 'Age of ...' series for Child's Play -- free global shipping
We got a little note today from Ensemble Studios, best known for the Age of Empires series and currently creating Halo Wars, stating that the company created an auction on eBay with all proceeds going to Child's Play. The auction involves everything you see above (essentially the whole Age of series), signed by the Ensemble development team. Estimated value is $300 and as of this writing the bidding was at $280. You guys can push that up -- it's for charity!We spoke with Ensemble Studio's Producer Brian Lemon to find out why the company decided to do this. He explained that the studio already donated something similar to the Child's Play auction which occurred in Seattle, but wanted to give its fans around the world a more public opportunity to win the package. To show its commitment, Ensemble made worldwide shipping of the bundle free. A nice idea for a good cause.
Weekly Webcomic Wrapup: charitable edition
While shopping for your loved ones (or for yourself), don't forget to think about donating to Child's Play Charity, Tycho and Gabe's (of Penny Arcade fame) effort to give video games, movies, and toys to children's hospitals worldwide. We could laud the charity for a thousand words, but we'll spare you and just say this: donate, donate, donate.Without further ado (donate!), here are our picks for the week's best game-related webcomic; be sure to vote for your favorite! ... it is a falsehood Versus the end boss New Games Journalism Nintendo Defense Force And I am the overachiever! Space for rent
Transmogrification for charity, auction 3
The series of charitable auctions being hosted by the folks over at the Bronze Kettle and Starprints are progressing nicely, with the second auction already successfully completed. To date, they've donated $450 to Child's Play, and are still up for hire!If you're looking for the perfect gift for the gamer in your family, look no further. Should you put a bid in on their latest auction, you could acquire your own personal WoW artist who will work with you to create a custom avatar for use in forums, message boards, IM software, and more. You will also help design a custom charm to hang on your DS, your cell phone, etc, as well as an original illustration, all after the WoW character of your choosing. You even get a free cell phone strap and your charm is shipped to you at no cost. In addition, although the top of the auction page claims that only customers from the United States are eligible, the actual text assures us that anyone, anywhere in the world can bid, and shipping will still be free.
Selfless crazies play Desert Bus for charity
The guys behind LoadingReadyRun have a very unique way of contributing to this year's Child's Play charity: they're playing one of the worst games of all time.Desert Bus is one of several mini-games included in the never-officially-released Sega CD game Penn and Teller's Smoke and Mirrors. The Desert Bus mini-game challenges players to drive Penn and Teller's tour bus from Tuscon, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada... in real time... and at a maximum speed of 45 mph.It's a task that takes 8 hours to complete, and earns players one point in the game. The task can be completed back and forth as many times as the players can stomach, each time earning one point. The LoadingReadyRun team has pledged that the more money they receive, the longer they will sit and endure this painful, painful game. Over $1,000 USD have already been donated, which guarantees the masochists at least 64 hours of play-time. To see just how crazy they are, check out the gameplay footage after the break.[Thanks, Graham]
Child's Play auction update: $300 raised
While wandering over to check out one of my favorite blogs, the Bronze Kettle, I noticed that they had posted this uber cute (and free) wallpaper. Of course, the real reason that I headed over was to check out the status of their first charity auction for Child's Play. I was extremely pleased to hear that it had raised $300! For those of you feeling out of the loop, or who would like a refresher (for charity), there are lots of places to go and find out what this Penny-Arcade charity is all about. The Child's Play About page is an absolute fountain of information. It walks you through their mission and how they came to be, as well as the ways in which they work to benefit sick children, from funding pediatric research, to donating toys and games to enrich their lives. It also provides very detailed contact info, as well as guidelines for donating, volunteering, and running your own auctions for their charity. It tells you everything you'll need to know about getting involved; for example, you cannot donate your used games and gaming machines, but you could set up an auction and donate from the sale. The original post from Penny-Arcade, talking about why they started Child's Play, and what they hope to accomplish, is also very informative. For some perspective, they report that we (the gaming community) have already raised $200k, when we closed last year at only November at $260k! Also hit up the Child's Play events page, which lists (IRL) events that the organization holds.
Bronze Kettle auctions character art for Child's Play
It's that time of year again-- the time of gamer giving, and the good folks over at The Bronze Kettle are running a terrific event for Child's Play that is sure to bring in some great cash for the annual Penny Arcade sponsored charity. They're auctioning off a custom Starprints illustration, charm, and avatar of the World of Warcraft character of your choice. Starprints actually sent us one of their pieces for our recent fan art contest, and while they didn't win, they are definitely cute little charms, and a completely original piece of art for your character.As of this writing, the highest bid is only about $31, but come on, people! This is for charity! If you have any interest in getting your character immortalized in a piece of art, get out those wallets and offer some cash. Not only are you picking up an illustration, charm, and a custom avatar, but you're supporting a great cause, too-- 100% of the sale price goes straight to the charity, which supports hospitals around the country with videogames and other needed items for children.And stay tuned to the entire Joystiq network for more Child's Play related giving this year
Role in Fable 2 up for auction through Child's Play
Admit it, somewhere deep inside you is a long unsatisfied yearning. In the deepest untouched regions of your psyche is the desire to become immortalized in a video game ... as a non-player character. Now, thanks to the fine blokes (and lasses) of Lionhead, you're dream can come true. At least, it can come true if you've got the scratch. The company has decided to auction off naming rights for five NPC characters in Fable 2. It's all being done for the Child's Play dinner auction, so the proceeds will benefit the charity, which donates toys and supplies to children's hospitals around the world. So, if you fancy yourself as a farmer, shopkeeper, important villager, monk, or quest character, start saving up -- the auction takes place on December 11.Lionhead is also offering up some other goodies, including a pair of underwear signed by Peter Molyneux (we would never take them off, Peter). Hit the "read" link for the full list of items being donated by Lionhead. This is also probably a good time to tell you that you can head over to the Child's Play website if you're interested in donating directly.Finally, a word of warning. The folks at Lionhead are of the cheeky sort. It's quite possible that one of the NPCs being auctioned is this one. Make sure you read the fine print.[Via Joystiq]
Fifth annual Child's Play charity drive begins
Child's Play organizers have announced that the annual charity drive is now underway. The drive was first launched some five years ago by Penny Arcade masterminds Gabe and Tycho as a fundraiser for the Seattle Children's Hospital, and has since grown to become a global hub of good will for those in need, while simultaneously demonstrating that gamers by and large are not the anti-social jerkwads the media would make them out to be. Those interested in contributing to the drive, which now includes hospitals in more than 25 states and five countries, can easily donate items though purchases made via Amazon, and officials note that the tax deductible gifts will be sent directly to those hospitals in need. In addition, the annual Child's Play Fundraider Dinner is scheduled to take place on December 11 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, and will as always include both a silent and live auction, with all proceeds going towards the charity.
'Stay gold, Zelda-cube'
Inspired by the craftsmanship and generosity of Morpheon Mods' Zelda-themed Wii and DS Lite auctions, Australian Michael Page hacked together a Hylian GameCube of his own to sell, pledging a portion of the proceeds to Penny-Arcade's Child's Play charity.The black-and-gold-painted system (PAL) features 11 bright LEDs in total, four of which light up through the holes drilled above the controller ports to indicate their player numbers. Additional LEDs have been installed next to the vents and inside the disc tray. According to Michael, the image of Navi on the transparent cover "looks amazing" when the blue glow hits it. The Legend of Zelda's phoenix and Triforce emblem have also been slapped onto the controller panel for extra effect. All that's missing now is the trademark "secret" chime whenever you open its lid. Hop onto Epona and gallop past the post break for more photos of the mod.
Weekly Webcomic Wrapup: Charity Edition
If you like the adjacent postcard, created by VG Cats' Scott Ramsoomair, it's part of a set of four holiday postcards designs done by webcomic artists from Apple Geeks, Staccato, and Angry Zen Master. You can view and purchase the set here; all proceeds go to Child's Play.Speaking Child's Play, those interested in owning a print and a sketch of the Phoenix Wright parody can bid on it, knowing all proceeds from the auction go to Child's Play. Here are our picks for the week's best gaming webcomics, be sure to vote for your favorite! The Next Step Game Boy Snap, Crack, or Pop Reindeer Games Mmmph! Hah! Video Game "Rewards" Obvious Decision A series of unfortunate decisions (an oldie, but goodie) Wii? Free polls from Pollhost.com
