Now I know that I have a very limited readership, I'm guessing most of you either know me directly or are here by mistake (on an unrelated note all off you who keep telling me how much you like this blog... tell other people instead). So it would be a bit weird for me to give over a big old chunk of my time to talk about the activities of a much more successful website. So without further ado I intend to devote today's blog to some of the goings on and happenings over at PennyArcade.
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| Their logo alone is better than anything I have ever created |
I'm well aware that whilst being smaller my readership here is also fairly diverse so if you don't know Penny Arcade, the brainchild of Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins, is a web-comic specialising in gaming and dick related humour. That doesn't seem like much until you realise it has been running for thirteen odd years and is a completely functioning business. They've released games, have their own online TV show, been put on that Time magazine list of the worlds most influential people (not the shitty online one where people get to vote, but the real one made by journalists) and run not one but two massive gaming conventions. The best way to explain the influence these guys have to an outsider is simple, the have a policy of not linking to other sites because the massive increase in traffic has been known to completely fuck up other people's servers.
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| Not my foolish beliefs but those of TIME FUCKIN' MAGAZINE |
However I don't want to talk about any of that I want to talk about something that these guys started back in 2003 a little thing called Child's Play. Child's Play started out as a really simple idea, Mike and Jerry, tired of the vast amount of negative publicity that gaming and gamers got in the media, if you are unaware of this may I compliment you on the quality of the rock you live under, decided to do something good. The idea was simple to get their readers to send some of there used games and consoles in and then give them to a local hospital for the children's ward.
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| Pictured: Something really fucking good. |
To call the first drive more successful than anticipated would be something of an understatement. Child's Play is now a full fledged charity. In 2011 they raised $3,512,3345 for 80 hospitals worldwide. Some of you reading this will be thinking that this money might be better spent on helping with medical treatment and the like, but other charities have that covered. Trying to make a child's regular trips to the hospital for chemotherapy less dreadful is one of the most noble things that exists. Anyone who games can tell you how absorbing and engrossing a past-time it can be, and when a child is sick that's exactly what they need. I'm not going to lie to you here letting a kid play Mario at the hospital isn't going to magically make there cancer go away but it let's them be a kid rather than a patient.
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| The key thing to note in this image is the smile |
What prompted me to write this blog today was that during my thrice weekly visit to Penny Arcade I saw a post about that impressive figure I mentioned above. It included this line...
“There was also a short coda about how we're ever going to top that number, which is a fear I understand completely”
... They just raised over three million dollars to improve the lives of sick children and the only thing they focus on is the mountain they have to climb to beat that figure. I'd also like to point out that the man who wrote that line also once wrote this line.
“Every night we are raped to sleep by the dick-wolves.”
Before you ask, No, I will not give you anything even approaching context about that. The point I'm making here is that there are some very good people in the world and they are working exceptionally hard to try and do something good. I implore you to join them in doing this. It's not hard click a link make a donation, £10, £5, £1. Giving to any charity gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling inside but this one also gives you the most masterful bitch-slap against anyone who bad-mouths gamers, the internet and people who laugh at rape related humour. Seriously just click on the link and have a look and if not then fuck off and don't darken my corner of the internet again.
eddie <go on do something good for once in your worthless life>
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