Tag: Gameblast

Gamely Giving’s Gameblast Starts NOW!

As the title says, we’re finally kicking off our charity event, our delayed participation in SpecialEffect’s Gameblast event. We’ll be playing for the next 72 hours with a variety of genres and video games, some new, some old and some borrowed or imposed to us.

All money raised during the event will go directly to SpecialEffect, a fantastic organisation which develops custom solutions in software and hardware to help those with disabilities enjoy video games to their hearts’ content.

Go to https://www.twitch.tv/gamelygiving to check out our stream. The first player is Pete, kicking it all off with Crysis for the next 6 hours. At 10pm, Nathan takes over with some fun time hunting mechanical animals in Horizon Zero Dawn.

If you’d like to donate to our cause, you can do so in two ways:

  • Go to our JustGiving page and donate from there
  • Text ‘GGGB99 £5’ to 70070

But if you can’t donate, don’t worry, you can still help us achieve our goal. As we mentioned it on the Gamely Giving site, these are the other ways in which you can help us out!

If you’re wondering when I’m going live, it’ll be tomorrow at 10am, playing Super Mario Galaxy 2. I hope to see you all there.

Now, stop reading this and go to our Twitch channel and join us for three days of gaming fun!

 

Gamely Giving’s Gameblast 2017!

SpecialEffect is a UK-based charity organisation which develops custom solutions—software and hardware—to allow people with disabilities to enjoy videogames. I’ve mentioned SpecialEffect in the past, particularly when at an EGX or Rezzed event as they always have a booth present, and I’ve mentioned some of these solutions and how amazing I’ve found them, be it the chin-based controls for Rocket League or the Eye-tracking controls for Minecraft.

SpecialEffect, much like other non-profit organisations with ties to the gaming community, has its annual game-centric fundraising event. It’s called Gameblast and in the past couple of years I’ve had the opportunity and pleasure to do my little bit as part of the Gamely Giving team, comprised of writers from fellow websites, such as GeekOut South-West, Later Levels and the now defunct 1001Up.

Gameblast 2017 took place on the last weekend of February but for several reasons, we couldn’t take part in it, so we’ve decided to hold our own belated Gameblast next week and upping the ante compared to the traditional single-day event. We’ll be broadcasting our charity stream for 72 hours, from Friday 28th to Sunday 30th of April 2017. Continue reading Gamely Giving’s Gameblast 2017!

EGX 2016 – Merge Games – Sublevel Zero Redux, Aragami, Mainlining and Hopiko

Last year I spoke to Merge Games about a ton of games, with Riot being my favourite, and later that year and even into 2016 they helped out with my charity works, both on Extra Life and Gameblast with the Gamely Giving crew. I knew Merge was going to be at the event so I made sure to catch up and talk to Nick Clarkson, their head of PR and Marketing.

It’s rare for me to see PR people so passionate about the games they’re talking about, as strange as that may sound. There is only a handful I’ve spoken to in the past few years who seem to be as into the games as their audience is, and Nick is one of them. Continue reading EGX 2016 – Merge Games – Sublevel Zero Redux, Aragami, Mainlining and Hopiko

Two days of Fun – Gameblast 16 Highlights!

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! Continue reading Two days of Fun – Gameblast 16 Highlights!

We Came, We Saw, We Gamed – Gameblast 2016!

From Friday last week to yesterday, 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. SpecialEffect brings happiness to everyone they help, something that is clear in the pure and radiating smiles you see in their videos.

So how could I not join Gamely Giving? It meant that I could help SpecialEffect change someone else’s life, bring happiness to them, help them realise that as long as they want it, achieving their goals and dreams is possible, that having disabilities doesn’t mean they won’t enjoy what other people take for granted. They will, because there are phenomenal people out there, people lke those in SpecialEffect, dedicated to helping them make it so. Continue reading We Came, We Saw, We Gamed – Gameblast 2016!

Gameblasting for SpecialEffect – Gamely Giving Kick-Off!

We’ve prepared for it, planned, collected prizes, set schedules and warmed our broadcasting muscles. We’ve show awesome games, long games, short games and done a bit of everything. Our big boss has been hard at work behind the scenes, whipping us into shape (with an actual whip!) and making sure we have all our responsibilities down with practiced efficiency, while also coordinating everything, so we owe her a lot!

There are plans, spreadsheets and more, but it’s all for this day:

Gameblast 2016 starts TODAY! We’re raising money SpecialEffect, an amazing charity that creates custom hardware and software to help those with disabilities to enjoy the games many of us take for granted. It’s inspiring and humbling to see them at work, and their success stories will melt even the coldest heart. Continue reading Gameblasting for SpecialEffect – Gamely Giving Kick-Off!

Blast Off for SpecialEffect – GameBlast 2016

In 2014, a group of friends asked me to join them for a charity event called GameBlast. At the time I didn’t know anything about it nor about the charity they were backing, SpecialEffect. When they told me about it, I found the organisation’s work inspiring. Now, as I go into a second GameBlast with that team, Gamely Giving, It’s an honour to be part of this effort, to be another Gameblaster. Continue reading Blast Off for SpecialEffect – GameBlast 2016

Here Comes a New Challenger! – Extra Life 2015

Last week I announced I was taking part in this year’s Extra Life, to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals as part of the amazing Team Tomb Raider Community.

Last year I was part of another site’s writing staff and through them I had the honour, the pleasure and the privilege of participating in Gameblast 2014, raising money for SpecialEffect, a UK-based organisation that focuses on helping people with disabilities enjoy the world of gaming and in turn helping them through gaming. It was a wonderful experience that left me with the desire to do more. Continue reading Here Comes a New Challenger! – Extra Life 2015

Gamely Giving

This will be short & sweet.

Right now, the 1001up team, yours truly included, is having a Gaming Marathon for Special Effect, and awesome charity using Games to help children with special needs, also making it easier for them to play their games.

Go on our JustGiving page and donate for this amazing cause, and then join us on twitch for the rest of the day for our gaming stream (here and here), and be ready for any of the cool surprises we have on the way, including some special Phoenix Online Studios guests later this afternoon while we play Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller!

Gaming, charity and awesome surprises, what are you waiting for?

For complete information, go to yesterday’s post on 1001up.com!