Microsoft and Mark Wahlberg team up to give Kinects to Boys and Girls Club

by David Hinkle on Nov 4th 2010 11:15PM

You don't have to tell Mark Wahlberg how to have a good time. The man is well versed in pleasant recreational activities, which made him the perfect candidate for a new program from Microsoft, who will donate Xbox 360 consoles and Kinect to the the Boys and Girls Club of America. "Thousands" of clubs across the country will receive the donation package, which includes the 4GB Xbox 360 S Kinect bundle and a copy of Kinect Sports.

"When I heard Xbox 360 wanted to give Kinect to Clubs across the country, I had to jump in and help," he said. Wahlberg is active in the Boys and Girls Club of America, having spent a majority of his youth at Clubs. The promotion is part of the Boys and Girls Club's initiative to promote exercise and healthy activity amongst youth. We've never been to a Boys and Girls Club, but we imagine they're largely open warehouse space, because Kinect kinda needs that to work.

Source: Microsoft

Tags: boys-and-girls-club, boys-and-girls-club-of-america, kinect, Kinect-Sports, mark-wahlberg, microsoft, microsoft-kinect, xbox

Reader Comments (67)

Mark Wahlberg is the schitte. Word.

@Joseph9307 Say hello to your mother for me.

BTW- joystiq appears to be doing some sort of intense back pedaling here with the Kinect. First, the review. That trashes the idea that you need space to use the thing. And now, all these positive-type stories about the Kinect. So obvious, but whatever.

@Muckrak3r

I don't see how this is considered back-pedaling. Microsoft gifting a bunch of kids with Kinect doesn't have anything to do with the shortcomings of Kinect itself.

@Muckrak3r

Seems to me that someone was stung by Joystiq's candid review of the hardware. They have been pretty positive about games overall (aside from the rainsoaked box one) but they were critical on the hardware experience due to lag, inconsistent UI controls and requirement for a large space. Other than that, I think they believe it's a good piece of technology but it definitely is not aimed at the people who come to Joystiq for their news - it's more for the people who get their gaming news from the NY Times or other national newspaper.

@Muckrak3r

I think you have a distorted sense of reality.

@Muckrack3r

What is so obvious? A review of a product and a report about a news story aren't mutually exclusive.

@Muckrak3r
I'm sure the places these kinects are going to go to have plenty of floor space for this. More than I have anyhow. (not enough in case anyone cares, no? Ahh well.)

Damn MS using children to tug at my emotional imperative sub-routine.

*shakes fist*

Girl on left: Meh, that's cool I guess.
Boy on right: Hmm....Interesting.
Boy in the middle: F**K YEAH!

@Xiegfried

actually... the kid in the middle is thinking, 'jokes on you, microsoft... this bitch is hitting ebay/kijiji/craigslist when i get home."

@golobulus

I see what you did there

Love the expression on the kid in the middle. The other two just dont know how to appreciate when random awesome things just fall on your lap like that

@Smithsmithers

Wow.. shame on those kids for having different personalities and emotional states. I'm with you Smithsmithers - these kids don't realize that the disposable piece of hardware in their hands hold the power for them to turn their lives around and make up for everything that has happened to them.

/s

@ToTheMoon

oops.. hit the submit button too early.. on a side note, it was nice of the organization and Marky Mark (I'm sure he hates that name) to team up for this. Despite what Smithsmithers said, I'm sure that the kids on the sides are happy and appreciative.

"The promotion is part of the Boys and Girls Club's initiative to promote exercise and healthy activity amongst youth."

They didn't think about.... going outside?

@Ezio Auditore da Firenze lol they do have mandatory outdoor activities that all the kids regardless of age have to do everyday but the kids usually spend an average of 2 hours a day (summer time mind you) in the game room in front of video games. ( voulenteered for a few years now :P )

@Ezio Auditore da Firenze
Outside? Don't be ridiculous! Outside is a where the pedophiles hang out. Ready to snatch an unwitting child once a single foot leaves the house /s

@Ezio Auditore da Firenze

Outside? Are you serious?!

There are lions, tigers and sexual predators out there.

@MrSpaceCowboy

There are tigers in Kinectimals though, and that's probably the most harmless game.

@Ezio Auditore da Firenze

This is the kind of stuff that half a billion ad campaign was used for. I know you were just making a joke though.

@MrSpaceCowboy

What you meant to say is

Outside? Are you serious?!

There are lions, tigers and sexual Bears out there.

@zefur Like this guy?
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll259/metalface4/d33a5e3c.jpg

@arrrdawg Too bad you're behind on your news. Apparently it's already been debunked by Consumer Reorts.

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2010/11/consumer-reports-tests-kinect-facial-recognition-problems-video.html

Haha I like how you find a segue to throw in the space issue.

Aw Mark, we all love ya.

Say hi to your Xbox for me.

@Uncle Jesse

Coming from you that sounds strangely creepy and unsettling.

Psssh mircrosft couldnt give them the 250gb bundles?

@Urmomlikesme

For a situation like this, where they aren't being consitently used by a single user, I wouldn't think save games or DLC really matter that much, so a big HDD is much less important.

"KINNNNEECCCT!!!!! SUCCESS!"

@The Cole Train
"KINNNNEECCCT!!!!! FOUR!!!"

"Why won't my Kinect recognize me?"

"It's because you're black"

@FrozenPlasma

http://www.ehow.com/how_5098734_photograph-dark-skin.html

All Cameras have issues with a dark skin tone. My $700 DSLR needs a grey card and good lighting to take a good portrait of someone with a darker skin tone.

@KingOfGods
Your camera is racist

I spent time at the B&G clubs as a kid, and volunteered there when I was a teenager. I can honestly say they are pathetically funded. The local elementary school let us have a trailer and use their playground, and there was typically very little to do. At least we had a foosball table.

I probably watched The Road to El Dorado about 20x one summer there.

So many kids are going to be happy because of this. In the age of Dreamcasts and N64, my B&G club had a barely working atari 2600. Even if it is marketing, when MS and Bill Gates do things like this it really warms my heart.

@R Planteer
Isn't Bill gates just a chairman now? I somehow doubt this has much of anything to do with him. Still, it's a really nice gesture on Microsoft's part. And some really nice publicity, naturally.

@Mach2
I was largely referring to this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_%26_Melinda_Gates_Foundation

Wow. That kid really knows how to party.

@Mach2

I think he just reached puberty and jizzed in his pant.

@WonderbreadUSA Too bad you love MS so much that you bought this load of toss. Seriously, it's an eyetoy from 2003 and nothing more. Oh wow I can navigate the UI with my hands like in minority report... except with annoying lag. Kinect adventures is so cool for 10 minutes! just like wii play. You can go blindly buy this crap just like a few other fans but you'll soon find yourselves all alone. It's toss, it needs a controller and sorry you are the controller is not enough. Rip off the wii does not equal profit especially when you are five years behind. Dear MS, kinect blows, pleze give me more halo. thx

@arrrdawg You must be an Orphan kid. only orphan kids thinks so negative of themselves and others. do you need a pair of shoes?

@arrrdawg

Ragging on a product that you don't own. Where have a I seen that before?

@arrrdawg
Yeah, I see your point. It would've been pretty F'ed up to give them Playsations & eyetoys too. Screw those kids & this story. Wait, what?

@arrrdawg lol why you mad though?

Question: did Marky Mark let the kids know when they dance with grandma online the internet she will not have a USB cable to hook up the Kinect to her launch Xbox 360?

@Jack Kevorkian

Joke fail? Did you mean power adapter?

@Jack Kevorkian

Well of course Marky Mark knew that, which is why he gave them all 360 S bundles so they wouldn't have to worry about that. What a smart guy he is, right?

i heard microsoft saw a black guy on the sidewalk and totally crossed the road to avoid him the other day.

@arrrdawg

Where did he say he bought this.

Jesus dude, settle down. You'd swear that kinect came and murdered your family or whatever. Wouldn't you rather this be successful and become a new and great piece of hardware? Why anyone hopes something new and interesting fails is beyond me.

@arrrdawg Looks like someone should go back and have a look at my comment history. I try to be fair to everyone. I don't even own an xbox, and I'm not about to buy one because of Kinect. But that's no excuse for me to troll the comment section with baseless claims.

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Kinect Sports

Microsoft and Mark Wahlberg team up to give Kinects to Boys and Girls Club

Reader Comments (67)

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:18PM Joseph9307 said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:30PM Muckrak3r said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:41PM Ezio Auditore da Firenze said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:51PM ToTheMoon said

Posted: Nov 5th 2010 12:11AM LockeDaemonfire said

Posted: Nov 5th 2010 12:49AM Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell said

Posted: Nov 5th 2010 2:03AM SuperWoody64 said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:19PM CaptainProtonX said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:22PM Xiegfried said

Posted: Nov 5th 2010 12:45AM golobulus said

Posted: Nov 5th 2010 1:02AM Prboi said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:22PM Smithsmithers said

Posted: Nov 5th 2010 12:00AM ToTheMoon said

Posted: Nov 5th 2010 12:02AM ToTheMoon said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:23PM Ezio Auditore da Firenze said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:51PM skelbono said

Posted: Nov 5th 2010 12:26AM glemtvapen said

Posted: Nov 5th 2010 12:37AM MrSpaceCowboy said

Posted: Nov 5th 2010 12:42AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 5th 2010 12:51AM Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell said

Posted: Nov 5th 2010 6:20AM zefur said

Posted: Nov 5th 2010 6:33PM Metalfacedoom said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:24PM WonderbreadUSA said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:24PM supermajic said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:24PM Burnflare said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:28PM Uncle Jesse said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:57PM sonicspike41 said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:30PM Urmomlikesme said

Posted: Nov 5th 2010 12:44AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:30PM The Cole Train said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:48PM arrrdawg said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:32PM FrozenPlasma said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:48PM KingOfGods said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:49PM arrrdawg said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:35PM R Planteer said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:39PM Mach2 said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:57PM R Planteer said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:36PM Mach2 said

Posted: Nov 5th 2010 12:20AM FriedConsole said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:47PM arrrdawg said

Posted: Nov 5th 2010 12:50AM Espada said

Posted: Nov 5th 2010 1:07AM Prboi said

Posted: Nov 5th 2010 9:23AM swooded said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:56PM Arsenic13 said

Posted: Nov 4th 2010 11:58PM Jack Kevorkian said

Posted: Nov 5th 2010 12:51AM KingOfGods said

Posted: Nov 5th 2010 1:08AM Prboi said

Posted: Nov 5th 2010 12:01AM Jack Kevorkian said

Posted: Nov 5th 2010 12:02AM Xcrucio said

Posted: Nov 5th 2010 12:09AM WonderbreadUSA said

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