From Friday last week to Sunday, I joined an awesome group of people in a 48-hour gaming marathon to raise money for an even more amazing organisation. SpecialEffect is a charity that creates custom controllers and solutions for people with disabilities—gamers just like all of us—so that they can enjoy the videogames that we take for granted. They bring happiness to everyone they help, something that is apparent in the pure and radiating smiles you see in their videos.
It was a long weekend, and while there were some hiccups—nothing is ever perfect—there were some amazing moments, some quite hilarious as well! Here are my highlights of the Gamely Giving Gameblast 2016 marathon!
Nathan – All the Single Ladies
Nathan kicked off our marathon with The Uncharted Collection, and his humour carried the stream for the first five hours, and in the process he dropped some of the best quotes of the weekend—thanks to Phil, we could record those quotes for posterity—with the favourite being “All the Single Ladies, All the Single Ladies!” At some point we started to feel the bot liked it more than we did because even randomising the quotes, it just kept coming along!
He even promised to dance with the song in the background. We’re all waiting for that Nate!
Timlah – Where’s the Popcorn?
Late in the night of the first day we had my good buddy Timlah from Geekout South-West take over the stream, and he played a ton of Flash games I had never heard of that were amazingly fun. By the end though, as I clamored for Golden Axe, he decided he’d play a tower defense game. The audience loved it, but one thing we all realised was that the in-game audio sounded very much like making popcorn, so much we started asking for it!
Kim – Gimme a Break!
Kim took the early morning shift on day two, starting right after Timlah’s turn. She played The Secret of Monkey Island, a title she’ll tell you has special meaning to her. But that wasn’t the best bit for me. No, it was during her time with The Elder Scrolls Online, when exploring she had to start swimming around the island, only to find no shores and just more water and endless cliffs. As she turns a ‘corner’ you can almost feel her hope to find dry land, but TESO trolls her every time! It was fantastic…for me!
Ben – Polly & Isaac
While Ben is a cool streamer on his own, during his participation it was his children who took the prize. With their antics and banter, they kept us rolling on the floor laughing just as much as they made us go “awwwww”!
Pete & Ethan – The Swear Jar
Pete & Ethan’s stream was a blast, but the best parts were those were Ethan decided to call his father on his behaviour, showing the world the infamous Swear Jar Pete keeps filling up! And while he tries to defend himself, he’s not match for his son’s unrelenting comments! It was hilarious!
Phil – No Cry
Phil had a special surprise in store for us: Far Cry Primal! He led us as his caveman persona on hundreds of fetch quests, but when the dreaded eagles showed up, he started having Far Cry 4 flashbacks. The trauma was so strong he sang to them a personalised rendition of a Bob Marley song, titled: “No, Eagle, no cry!” But the eagles didn’t care…they never do!
Kevin (Me!) – Can of Whoopass!
I got my butt handed to me in Batman: Arkham Asylum on Hard. I kept trying to rush the game and it pushed back. But there was ONE fight, one beautiful moment where I was in the zone and took people out left and right. I was the Geek Knight at that moment!
Kevin – The Final Countdown
Don’t ask me why, but I had Europe’s song in my head every time I thought of the count getting to zero. So I made my request for how the message should go!
Keep it Clean!
What better way to end this party than with Quiplash, PG-13 edition! Ethan did the impossible: he dethroned Kim from her undefeated spot! Still, she won 5/6 games. What was her secret? Write things down she knew Ethan would love, and as all our senses of humour are similar to his, she had it in the bag!
The marathon may have ended but there is still time to donate for SpecialEffect! Please help us raise money for this amazing cause!
Forget walking simulators – we now have fantasy themed swimming simulators.