On Gaming and Charitying

In which we investigate an interest and introduce a great opportunity.


I am a member of the 'Nintendo Generation,' which according to one thing I read online constitutes those people "old enough to remember the Soviet Union¹ yet young enough to master the internet²."

Now I don't know if I fully agree with that definition but none the less I would say that I that is where I fall.  I remember the Christmas my sister and I got our NES, playing Mario while the cat batted at the screen, or jamming the Zapper right up to the screen when playing Duck Hunt.

Video games were a large part of my childhood and are an indelible part of my memories.  I love the fact that in Blades of Steal, if you get a fight the loser goes to the penalty box.  I learned that Japanese game cartridges are different from US ones when we tried to import Super Mario Bros. 3 when our friends were in Japan.  I remember my sixth grade class (the boys anyway) splitting down the middle civil war style and having the classic SNES v. Genesis argument, SNES all the way ps.  I know that if you plan on playing a Game Gear on the way from Indiana to Wisconsin and you don't have a car adaptor all six batteries will be dead with in an hour and a half.  I remember how stunned I was the first time I played Metal Gear Solid on the PlayStation and how many hours my friends and I spent playing Golden Eye for the N64, helicopter pilot for life yo.  I know that on 9/9/99 the Dreamcast came out, and I think I have only seen two in my whole life.  I remember skipping class when I got the call that there was an extra PS2 for me on launch day (don't worry dad I just skipped billiards).  I still remember Jeremy and I watching Brian play Silent Hill 2 and being absolutely terrified the whole time.  I know that I have never enjoyed Halo and found the Timesplitters series much more fun.  Just last weekend I stay up until 2am playing Mario Bros. Wii with a bunch of my friends.

I don't play video games as much as I used to.  But I think it will always something that I do, it's a part of who I am and I look forward to when I have kids of my own and if they are into games I can share that experience with them³.

When I got to college I started following an online comic strip that focused on a lot of videogame humor.  Published three times a week the strips are accompanied by postings by the author and the artist.  Often they will cover various topics that come up.  Back in 2003 they came across an article in the Seattle paper (where they are based) that made the claim that videogames were training kids to be killers.  This was certainly not the first such article and Gabe and Tycho (the authors) were tired of all videogamers being painted with the brush of sociopath time-bombs that would do little for society as a whole.  So they decided to do something about it.

They contacted Amazon.com and Seattle Children's Hospital to create a charity called Child's Play.  They asked their readers to visit the wishlist and purchase items for the hospital to use with the kids there would be there over the holidays.  In the month that the charity ran they managed to raise $250,000.  That's incredible, they were totally blown away, as were most people that followed it.  Even the guy that wrote the original article responded.  Most people probably would have said, "Job well done," and walked away but they decided to try again the next year.

In 2004 they added four additional hospitals and raised $310,000.  2005 saw the addition of 7 hospitals in the US as well as in Canada and England, that year they almost double their amount to $605,000.  In 2006 hospitals from Egypt, Australia and four more from the US were added and over a million dollars was raised, $1,024,000.  In 2007 a hospital in Hawaii and New Zealand were added the total amount raised was $1,300,000 was raised.  Last year $1,430,000 was raised.  Those are huge numbers.

This year, with time still remaining, Child's Play has already raised $1,302,367.  That's over 6 million dollars in a 7 year period.  That is simply amazing.

So in this holiday season if you find yourself with a little extra spending money I urge you to think about giving to Child's Play (but really the important thing is for you to give so find something you are passionate about and give a little back).  Follow this link and you can click on one of the many hospitals they serve and find out what needs they have.  Anything you buy is tax deductible and will be shipped straight to the hospital.

God bless, and have a happy holiday!

Oh yeah, it's not too late to suggest a topic for my holiday edition of random thoughts.  I will be writing that blog next week so get them in soon.

Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A⁴


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¹I totally would draw tank fights as a kid that were USA vs. USSR.  Dirty commies.
²I kicked the internets butt all the way up and down its tubes.
³Always play age appropriate games, don't be one of those parents that gets their 6 year old GTA.
⁴Thirty lives, booyah!