Gamertell

Over this past weekend, starting from Friday at 5 PM CST and commencing on Sunday at 5 PM CST, a group of friends took on four Zelda titles in a row in an epic feat to raise money for Penny Arcade’s Child’s Play charity. The four buddies planned on taking on the recent Zelda canon: Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess in a 48-hour contiguous challenge that began as a ploy to garner $20 for pizza and ended up raising over $1150 for the fund (which benefits sick children in hospitals by providing “toys, games, books and cash”). While the players didn’t quite meet their virtual goal - they were thwarted by a buggy copy of Majora’s Mask and never got to Twilight Princess - they received well over the projected $1000 and countless numbers of supportive emails and fan art submissions.

The event was streamed over live video and liveblogged, with many of the most entertaining fan submissions (including some great limericks) getting special attention. Cameron posted the final blog at 5:21 PM, announcing the results. From the blog:

“... this weekend wasn’t about us, the e-mails, or even the sweet limericks. Instead, it was about how a love for something as simple as a couple of video games can pull together the masses and raise over $1150 to help a bunch of kids through a kickass charity such as Child’s Play.”

What an inspiration - this is a perfect antidote to all the mainstream media “gamers are violent misanthropes” rhetoric that gets thrown around. My compliments and congratulations to the good folks who participated and proved that gamers can make a difference.

Read [Cameron Banga] Via [Kotaku] Also Read [Child’s Play]