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Be a big Hollywood producer by funding Indie Game: The Movie
What if we told you that you can join the ranks of the Hollywood Elite and knock out your positive karma requirement for the day in one fell swoop? It's true -- all you have to do is donate a bit of cash to help fund Indie Game: The Movie, a documentary from BlinkWorks Media about all the factors that go into making an independently developed video game. You probably pieced the premise together from the title. You can check out a clip from the film featuring Team Meat's Edmund McMillen on BlinkWorks' Kickstarter page before deciding whether it's worth supporting. A variety of gifts are available for contributors -- for instance, folks who donate $10 will get a mention in the Special Thanks portion of the film's credits. That's how one Mr. Bruckheimer got started, don't you know.
Humble Indie Bundle offers five great Mac games for pay-what-you-will
A group of independent game developers have released a "Humble Indie Bundle," and if you're a Mac gamer, it's a treasure trove. For a donation of your choice (the retail value is set at $80, but you can pay what you want, and you can even specify whether your money goes to the game developers or a couple of different charities), you can pick up the indie classics World of Goo, Aquaria, Gish, Lugaru, and Penumbra Overture, all playable on Mac, Linux, and Windows. Amazing deal, and this is about the most generous and customer-friendly way to do it. Any one of these games is well worth the purchase, and not only are you supporting developers and charities, but you're supporting the decision to release great games like this cross-platform, without DRM, and without a publisher or middleman getting in the way and taking a cut. Excellent deal -- they've already raised over $31,000, and if you play games on your Mac at all, definitely head over there and put ten or twenty dollars in the pot to support the bundle.
Blizzard gives $1.1m to Make-A-Wish following in-game panda sales
Okay, avid World of Warcraft players. We take back all the mean things we said about your habit of purchasing in-game vanity pets with real-world money, even though the in-game pets do nothing while the real-world money does everything. See, we didn't know that you were actually just donating money to charities in a sort of roundabout fashion. You're like money launderers, but with Tier 9 armor sets. Blizzard recently donated half of the proceeds from players' purchases of a special pet, the "Pandaren Monk," to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, for a grand total of $1.1 million. The O.C. Register reports that Blizzard made a few more wishes come true at its HQ during the check-signing event -- WoW art director Sam "Samwise" Didier sketched kids' characters for them, and even hooked up 17-year-old Jordan Cofinco with a shiny new level 80 character. In short, Blizzard -- and anyone walking around WoW with a tiny Kung Fu Panda following close behind -- just gained some major karma points.
Blizzard donates $1.1 million to Make-A-Wish from Pandaren pet sales
Blizzard made a donation of over $1.1 million to the Make-A-Wish Foundation yesterday in a special presentation held in Irvine, California. This was 50% of the total sales of the Pandaren Monk Pet in November and December of last year. Blizzard invited 15 Wish children and their families to the ceremony and also to hang out with the WoW developers and learn how the game is made. Blizzard has a long standing relationship with Make-A-Wish. The story of Ezra is heartwarming, though tragic. Mike Morhaime also thanked the players: This donation also reflects the spirit and generosity of our players -- their enthusiasm for World of Warcraft and for supporting a good cause made this possible. Purchasing the Pandaren Monk pet no longer donates money to the cause, but is still available at the Blizzard Store.
Over $40,000 donated to EVE Online "PLEX for Haiti" initiative so far
When the Republic of Haiti suffered a devastating earthquake on January 12th, groups around the world struggled to give as much aid as possible. Proving that gamers are givers, several MMO companies rushed to provide a way for their players to donate to registered relief aid charities like the Red Cross. Sony Online Entertainment raised over $25,000 in just three days by selling in-game items in Free Realms, EverQuest and EverQuest II. They donated 100% of the proceeds to charity and even added $10 of their own money for each purchase made. CCP ran their own EVE Online "PLEX Aid for Haiti" initiative where players were encouraged to buy PLEX and then contract them to the "CCP PLEX for Haiti" character in-game. Even PLEX purchased in-game with ISK helped the appeal as every two PLEX contracted to CCP equaled $35 US Dollars of cash that was bought but not converted into game time. CCP could then donate the full $35 without making a loss. It was a clever scheme that allowed players who were short on cash but rich in-game to donate real money to charity. CCP have just announced that so far the total tally of PLEX donated to the appeal has reached 2,290, which has a real cash value of just over $40,000 US dollars. One player donated a staggering 341 PLEX, which has an in-game value of over 88 billion ISK and makes a real world donation of almost $6,000. Of note is the revelation that only 1.4% of the donated PLEX were bought directly for cash, while players buying the PLEX using their spare ISK contributed the remaining 98.6%. That's a testament both to the generosity of gamers and the innovative system CCP used to collect aid. Hopefully we'll see this strategy used in future when someone is in desperate need of aid as it has proven very successful. For those that still want to donate, CCP are currently still accepting donations of PLEX to help the people of Haiti.
Behemoth collects over 30k for Haiti relief, extends promotion again
Since January 20, the team at Behemoth have been raising money through Xbox Live DLC sales of Castle Crashers and Alien Hominid to support relief efforts in Haiti. Over four days, Behemoth has collected $15,585.65 through DLC purchases; however, since the promise was to donate 200% of all DLC sales, The Behemoth has matched the total leaving the donation jar filled with $31,171.29! That's great, but for The Behemoth it isn't great enough. Today the team announced they will continue to extend the promotion until the total donation jar hits $50,000. What a bunch of sweethearts. Check out a list of the DLC you can buy to help offer support for the people in Haiti. They really need your help.
Get over $1000 worth of pen-and-paper RPGs for donating $20 to Haiti
Like tabletop RPGs and want to help Haiti? That should include every single one of you. Otherwise, get off this site right now and go roll yourself a 20-sided die and see how much fun it is. Then come back, and go donate $20 to Doctors Without Borders through the Gamers Helping Haiti program on DriveThruRPG.com. Just by throwing a Jackson in the pot, you'll get the chance to download $1481.31 worth of old school pen-and-paper RPG rulebooks, scenarios, campaign settings and addendums. That's more orcs, droids, bards, free actions and critical hits than you'll ever need in your entire lifetime! The set includes the full Serenity RPG, the Castlemourn campaign setting and full sets of rules for both pirate- and zombie-based roleplaying games, among about a million other little RPG related downloads. Not to mention that by donating, you're helping out the cause of Doctors without Borders in Haiti, and you don't have to be watching CNN to know that those folks need all of the bonuses to Strength they can get these days. What are you waiting for? Don't roll for initiative -- just go do it! [via The Escapist]
The Behemoth DLC revenue going to Haiti this week
Not to be outclassed by larger companies in the gaming industry, indie dev studio The Behemoth has announced its own initiative for helping out with recovery efforts in Haiti. Any revenue brought in by DLC purchases for Castle Crashers or Alien Hominid on XBLA will go directly to the Red Cross. The promotion is titled "The Behemoth Super Haiti Chicken Super Charity," because, hey, what else would you call it? The folks at Behemoth also plan to match this sum of money with some of their own, coming directly from their pockets, wallets and bank accounts. That's quite generous of them -- why not show your own support by picking up some DLC for Alien Hominid or Castle Crashers before the promotion ends next Sunday?
ReCellular will recycle your phone and donate all proceeds to Haiti disaster relief
It might've been hard to watch pictures of the latest natural disaster striking the island of Haiti recently, but lending a hand in the relief effort shouldn't be. If you've got an older cellphone -- functioning or otherwise -- batteries, chargers, or other accessories, ReCellular wants to hear from you. The cellphone recycling company has launched a Phones for Haiti program, whereby you can donate your unwanted handsets and rest assured that 100 percent of the revenue raised from them will go to helping Haiti survivors rebuild. Partnering with the American Red Cross, ReCellular will even pay for the shipping of your castoff electronics, so really, how much easier do you want it?
Child's Play charity raises more than $1.7 million in 2009
Though the guys over at Penny Arcade would probably find more eloquent ways to articulate this piece of news, we'd like to simply say: Holy crap, you guys. The annual Child's Play charity drive raised over $1.7 million in donations in 2009. Despite the fact that everyone lost their jobs, and the stock market ate all our monies, you still found a way to dig deep and give games to sick kids. This is us high-fiving you. (Smack!) To learn more about the charity, check out the latest episode of PATV. Not only does it give a nice history of the foundation, it also does a great job of showing you where your donations end up.
Atlantica Online offers a charitable donation
Admit it. At least once when you were shopping for this year's frenzied rush of consumerism, you took advantage of a "buy one get one free" deal or something similar for yourself. You got a present for the person you were shopping for and a little something extra on top of that, nothing wrong with it. Even though the holidays are thankfully receding into memory, though, you can still get a bit of that rush of something for you and something for others in Atlantica Online for a couple more days. Ndoors Interactive is offering a set of in-game stocking stuffers that also donate a portion of their profits straight to charity. The stocking stuffer randomly contains one of 30 rare item sets, all of them having various positive boosts on any Atlantica Online character. In addition, each one purchased also has a portion of the revenue from that sale donated to Child's Play, a well-known gamer-centered charity that has continue to skyrocket in donation volume over the years. The only catch for the stocking stuffer is that you have to move quickly -- the pack is disappearing from the store after December 30th, just in time for the new year. And, really, isn't it worth getting that one last rush of being kind to others while being kind to yourself?
Buy a mount in Wizard101 for charity
Remember when you would try and convince your mother to get you something with the rallying cry that it would be educational? It didn't always work, but it was usually worth a try. Kids playing Wizard101 -- or adults looking to justify their latest impulse purchase to their spouse -- will be able to unleash a variant on that: "But it's for charity!" The Meowmodon mount, pictured above, has just been unveiled as the newest addition to the mount options in the game, but there's a twist: buying it sends no money to KingsIsle. It moves straight on to charity. Each time the mount is purchased, KingsIsle will donate the full cost of the mount, roughly $15 US, to two charities, the Austin Children's Shelter and the ever-popular Child's Play. Moreover, the mount will only be available between December 14th and January 5th of next year. The fact that it's a limited-time item makes it even more attractive to many parts of the gaming community, and it marks a Wizard101 player as having donated to worthy causes at one of the most important times of the year. So if you have any interest in owning it, by all means, head to the page with all the details, and remember that you don't have to feel even remotely bad about this impulse purchase.
Last week of Hearts, Hands and Voices
Azeroth United, the internet media community for all things World of Warcraft, has been holding a charity drive for Child's Play since November 1st. Hearts, Hands, and Voices has already surpassed their initial goal of $5000 and is now hoping to reach twice that by their end date of December 13th. Sunday, our very own Mike Schramm played Rock Band for 9 hours -- until his fingers hurt -- to raise money for the drive. Also, you can blame Syrana for all your troubles on Twitter and help raise money for the charity, just by tweeting. If you wish to join in on the fun and support this Penny Arcade-run charity, please donate by clicking on the ChipIn link at the main HHV site, or any of the supporting sites. ChipIn was the same service that the WoWathon players used to also raise money for the hospitalized children who are the recipients of Child's Play's funds, toys, games, etc. The donations from this service go directly to the charity. Hearts, Hands and Voices have drawings for donating $10 or $20 that include some really cool things like ThinkGeek gear or a Warcraft Stein. Please go check out the goodies you could win just for a small donation to a great cause. And if you don't, well, I blame Syrana.
Real World Heroes gives titles for charity in City of Heroes
It's trite and cliche, but also true -- the holidays are the optimal time to stop and remember that there are people less fortunate than you in the world. Charity drives step up in frequency and everyone looks for the spirit of the holiday, of giving gifts out of kindness and hope that others can share in your good fortune. That being said, it can help give an incentive for everyone if there's something more to be had than simply the warm fuzzy feeling. Real World Hero, a player-run charity drive, has teamed up with the community team in City of Heroes to provide a little extra incentive for players of the game to step up and do something super. Running between November 30th and December 24th, players who include their character information when they donate will be eligible for a limited-time special gold title for their character, marking them as a generous soul. The event is not being officially sponsored by the company, but the support is certainly added incentive to take part. With Operation Gratitude, Donate Games, and the ever-popular Child's Play as the designated recipients, it's a good time for City of Heroes players to be a bit more heroic in their day-to-day lives and be known for it in-game to boot.
12-year-old Make-A-Wisher designs GameStop's holiday gift card
Rather than choosing something selfish like the opportunity to ride Donald Trump like a pony or a trip around the Moon with the original Apollo 11 astronauts, 12-year-old Make-A-Wish Foundation wish recipient Emily Adkins instead chose to give back to the foundation. In designing the Holiday 2009 GameStop gift card, Adkins secured $1 per card purchased (up to $100k) for the Make-A-Wish coffers. Though the design will be featured amongst other gift cards this year, GameStop is offering the donation deal across all card designs. Any gift cards purchased from now until December 26 will go towards the donations, though none of the proceeds will bring Emily any closer to riding Donald Trump like a pony. Isn't that just a crime?
Sony & Microsoft offer software for UK university education program
Keeping in line with recent contributions to President Obama's STEM education initative, both Microsoft and Sony have signed on for development software support to UK school Kingston University. A recent press release from the school boasts a "state-of-the-art laboratory aimed at providing the next generation of game developers with the skills needed to take computer gaming into the future," even employing "Xbox and handheld PSP game consoles" at each workstation. According to Darrel Greenhill, games technology program head at KU, students are "working to industry standards even before they've left the classroom" with the donated software. Currently the university offers games programming and games technology degrees for undergrads, but will also begin offering post-graduate game development degrees in 2010. Unfortunately, no official date has been set for when computer gaming will reach "the future."[Via Develop]
Activision establishing 'Call of Duty Endowment,' donating $1 million to war veteran aid
On the eve of Modern Warfare 2's official release, the game's publisher has announced intentions to donate $1 million to veteran-related charities through a newly created foundation. The "Call of Duty Endowment" (or simply "CODE") is said to "support other groups that assist veterans with their careers," reports the Washington Post. Though he's mostly known for facepalm-inducing hard business quotes, Activision head Bobby Kotick thoughtfully commented, "How do you expect people to actually join the military if when they leave the military they can't integrate back into the free market they're supposed to be protecting? The joblessness rate that [veterans] should have should be far less than the national average, not more." The foundation's first donation will be for $125,000 to the Paralyzed Veterans of America and will go towards the opening of a vocational rehabilitation center.
TripleSpeedRunners take on Nintendo trio for charity
Harnessing the power of Nintendo franchises for charity, the folks at TripleSpeedRunners will be spending 48 hours this weekend speed-running through games from the Donkey Kong, Star Fox, and Kirby series. Live streaming of the event will be handled on the crew's website, with live commentary and chat available to cheer the players -- or jeer 'em if you're a player hater.All proceeds from donations during the event will go to DC Outreach, an organization that provides worldwide support to families affected by Dyskeratosis Congenita. Last time TSR got together, it raised $1,140 for the DC charity, but we know with the full support of the Joystiq BioMass behind them we can help them double that. Right, folks?The speed-runs kick off this Friday at 7PM ET sharp.
Last week to join Mend Pet's SPCA charity drive
The last time we posted about Brajana and her SPCA charity drive over on Mend Pet, she'd only just started it and was revving up to get a nice list of prizes going. Nowadays, she's got a great list of prizes (including a free FigurePets set, a few good loot cards, some custom-made character artwork, and even a custom-designed UI -- you can make yours look just like Turpster's if you want), and she's rolling into the last few days of the drive. It all ends on Friday, July 31st, so if you haven't gotten your donation in to the SPCA International yet (the money will go to volunteer programs, including animal shelters all of the world, and help out with food, shelter, and vaccination costs), do so right away. And make sure to follow the instructions on Brajana's site -- for every donation you make, no matter how big or small, you'll get two chances to pick up some of that great loot, and you'll be helping out real-life pets all over the world.It's a great way to help out a worthy cause, give some back to the Warcraft community and the hard work that bloggers like Brajana do, and maybe even win some free stuff. Remember, she's asking for your donation before Friday, July 31st, so head over there and get it in as soon as possible.
Pixel Equity offers games and good intentions for needy children
A long time ago, Joystiq reviewed Being a Good Person, calling it "a lot of fun" and "something everyone should try," making it one of the few things to ever receive Joystiq's coveted Editor's Choice Award and a perfect 10/10 review. If you haven't tried Being a Good Person yet, you might want to check out Pixel Equity, a new charity "that connects those who want to share video games with those who want to play them." Gamers will be able to donate money and used games to needy kids that can't afford what is still, admittedly, an expensive hobby.It's a concept that certainly has good intentions behind it, but we're still a little skeptical of the site's limited donation options and lack of transparency. Currently, people can only donate to one NYC-based group, Youth Action Programs and Homes, which is requesting a PS3 and Wii, among other gaming items. As a startup charity, there are no case studies to read, and even more distressing, there's little information on who will get these donations, and how they will be used. Providing more information on the organizations that benefit from donations and offering tax exemptions are just a few things Pixel Equity can do if it continues to grow.[Via Kotaku]
