Desert Bus For Hope (Raising Money for Child's Play)

The Loading Ready Run crew

Every year the comedy group, Loading Ready Run, does something amazing - They organize a gaming marathon to raise money for Child's Play.

Chances are that if you have visited The Escapist Magazine or Penny Arcade you already know of them, they are the mind and talent behind several shows including Unskippable, Daily Drop, Checkpoint, ENN, Loading Ready Run, and Feed Dump. The group consists of Graham Stark, Paul Saunders, Kathleen De Vere, James Turner, Matt Wiggins, Jeremy Petter, Alex Steacy, Bill Watt and Tally Heilke.

The game played is Desert Bus, from an unreleased SegaCD called "Smoke and Mirrors" by Penn and Teller. The experience is described to be "the most boring game ever", and it involves driving a virtual bus in real time from Tucson to Las Vegas (8 hours) and every trip earns the player just 1 point. Although the game is boring, the event is anything but - The group keeps the driver and audience entertained with several special giveaway competitions, silent auctions, live on screen auctions, and call in from celebrities including Jonathan Coulton, Neil Gaiman, and Felicia Day...And even occasionally Cthulhu appeared and people are found guilty of witchcraft (true fact).

Child's Play is a charity who helps children who are forced to stay in hospital for long periods of time by purchasing toys and games ranging from colouring books to game consoles, to make their stay more pleasant. They are an amazing charity. For more information click here.

The event started on 18th November, and three days into the marathon, they are still going strong with almost $180,000 raised for the Child's Play Charity.

CLICK HERE to go to the Desert Bus Website

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The Nerd Machine Limited Edition TR Merchandise (Benefiting Child's Play Charity)

Source: Official Tomb Raider Blog

While the 15-year celebration has drawn to the close, the exhibition’s end marks the start of Crystal Dynamics’ Partnership with The Nerd Machine!

A limited run of tees and prints featuring Brenoch Adam’s “Shipwreck Beach” are now available to purchase online, with a portion of the proceeds going to Child’s Play Charity. More details and the official product description can be found below!

• “Shipwreck Beach” Limited Edition Poster: $20
• “Shipwreck Beach” Limited Edition Tee: $25
• “Shipwreck Beach” Limited Edition Tee (2XL): $27 

“Shipwreck Beach” Tee Product description: The Tomb Raider franchise is reborn. The Nerd Machine has partnered with Crystal Dynamics to bring you the Limited Edition 15th Anniversary Tomb Raider Tee, designed by studio artist Brenoch Adams. This unisex tee begins the march toward the highly anticipated launch of the new Tomb Raider title in Fall 2012. Only 1000 shirts will be produced so get yours now. As an added bonus, a portion of the proceeds will go to Child Play Charity, a game industry charity dedicated to improving the lives of children with toys and games in a network of over 60 hospitals worldwide. 

As a special bonus, the first 50 individuals to order the “Shipwreck Beach” poster will receive a special edition signed by artist Brenoch Adams. And yes, The Nerd Machine ships worldwide!

As a final gift to everyone who has been following our 15-Year celebration, an animated screensaver based on Brenoch’s work is available for download for free on both Mac and PC platforms. Enjoy!

If you missed out on the month-long celebration, you can find the archived art ready to download for your desktop at tombraider.com/15. Additionally, we ended October with a handful of community contributions, which can be found here. Thank you to all the talented fan artists who participated!

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