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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.
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.
Humble Mobile Bundle 3 hops on the Desert Bus with Hundreds of Spiders
The Humble Mobile Bundle 3, which made its debut last week – headlined by Vlambeer's Ridiculous Fishing – has now added three new games, available to those who have contributed more than the average pay-what-you-want price. Driving simulator Desert Bus, about a bus on its way from Arizona to Las Vegas, is perhaps the most well-known of the trio. You may have heard of it from its annual fundraising campaign called Desert Bus for Hope, which recently cleared over $520,000 for Child's Play – an organization that coordinates donation of toys, games and consoles to sick children in hospitals across the country. Alongside the game about driving a bus for hours is minimalist puzzle game and former iOS-only success Hundreds, which tasks players with tapping circles to increase their size and numerical value, with the goal being to accumulate a total of 100 on-screen points. The third game on offer is Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor – an action-adventure platformer. A sequel, titled Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon, is due in the spring. There are currently just over six days left on the Humble Mobile Bundle 3 clock.
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.
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.
Desert Bus classic gets an iOS port, for charity's sake; AaAaAA!!! coming too
Penn and Teller's Smoke and Mirrors is one of the weirdest cult titles in all of video gaming -- it's an old game for Sega CD that was more of a prank than anything else. While it did teach you to do a few tricks, the most famous minigame in the entire package is called Desert Bus, a weird little game that's designed to more or less accurately replicate a bus trip between Tucson and Las Vegas. In other words, you need to drive a bus along a highway at 45 mph for about eight hours, at which time you get a point, and can opt to drive back for another one. It's silly and kind of mean and very strange -- all the things you expect from Penn and Teller. Every year around this time, a group of folks actually plays this game, streaming it live on the Internet for charity, and this year they're going one step further: the title's actually been released as a port for iOS, and all profits from the game itself will go straight back to Child's Play, a group that helps put video games in hospitals for sick and recovering children to play. I don't actually recommend buying the title for anything but charity: the bus lists to one side as you play, so you literally have to "drive" for eight hours if you want to beat the game. But it's only a buck for a universal version, and since all of the proceeds go to a good cause, I recommend it anyway. In other, more traditional port news, the really excellent but strangely titled AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! - A Reckless Disregard for Gravity is also getting an iOS port -- and yes, that is its name. The game has you falling through space, trying to hit various objects and miss others, and it was a whole lot of fun when it came out on the PC a couple of years ago. There will be new features and content, but the developer hasn't announced a release date yet, so stay tuned. AaAaAA!!!, as it's called in shorthand, has a weird title but is a lot of fun, so we'll keep an eye out for it on iOS.
The Daily Grind: What was your longest single play session?
You probably heard tell of the Final Fantasy XI boss fight that would not end, but most of us don't have stories quite like that. We still have our marathon sessions, though, times when we log in and then find ourselves 12 hours later seriously contemplating calling out sick from work. Marathon sessions are one of those things that nearly every gamer deals with sooner or later, and while you might not understand the motivation if you don't play, anyone who knows MMOs will know the thrill of logging in and just going. Sometimes they're sessions in which the stars align perfectly and you just seem to be getting good drops left and right. Sometimes the session is just a great party that's steamrolling difficult content. And sometimes the session is a real match of wits, you against the game, and you are determined to keep hammering at it until it gives you what you want. So what was your longest marathon session like? What got you into it, and what was the most memorable part? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
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.
Desert Bus for Hope 2010 promises more punishment for charity
It's that time of year again -- when a profoundly boring unreleased game is played for days on end in an effort to procure other, better games for hospitalized kids. Desert Bus for Hope is a marathon in which the members of LoadingReadyRun play "Desert Bus," a minigame from the canceled Sega CD game Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors, over and over again in shifts, beginning tomorrow, November 19 at 9PM ET. This year, instead of enduring the monotony of Desert Bus (in which players drive a bus from Tucson to Las Vegas, never going faster than 45 miles per hour) for four hours at a time, the members of LoadingReadyRun plan to play in twenty-four-hour shifts. And they'll keep playing as long as donations to Child's Play continue to come in. In addition, fans will be able to donate money to throw "virtual pies" at the team in an online minigame that will be hosted by The Escapist. One lucky LoadingReadyRun cast member will even get a real pie in the face. We'd say we also look forward to the charity event that will directly follow this one. You know, the effort to raise funds for Loading Ready Run's psychiatric treatment -- but they're Canadian. Their Desert Bus-related PTSD will be treated for free.
Help the Desert Bus for Hope at 2 p.m. EST and win terrible games
Today at 2 p.m. EST, Joystiq's own preternatually handsome Justin McElroy will be visiting the brave men and women of the Desert Bus for Hope, and you should tune in! For starters, you'll get to watch former people who have been turned into little more than husks by extended exposure to one of the worst games ever draw strength from the timeless good looks and boundless compassion of Mr. McElroy. But, almost just as importantly, you'll also have a shot of winning a box of terrible games. The Desert Bus team will select one person who donates here between 2 and 3 p.m. at random, and we'll send that unlucky SOB a box full of unpleasant games and other random swag. It's better than nothing but just barely. Besides, you're helping sick kids while treating your ears to a heaping dollop of everyone's favorite Thanksgiving treat: Justin McElroy. isn't that enough for you?
Wherein Joystiq helps sick kids by punishing Canadians
The best way to wield the hulking girth of the Joystiq Biomass is to help people. The second best way? Helping people by hurting Canadians. It's so rare that the opportunities to do that present themselves, we wanted to draw your attention one last time to LoadingReadyRun's "Desert Bus for Hope," wherein the British Columbia-based troupe raises money for the Child's Play charity by playing the world's most boring game.They've been at it for four-and-a-half days now, and have raised a staggering $55,000. Sadly, though, it could all come to an end around 11 p.m. EST tonight unless you act now, give all you can give, and help keep those Canadians stationary. Go, Joystiq Biomass! Attack!
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]
