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Activision establishing 'Call of Duty Endowment,' donating $1 million to war veteran aid

by Ben Gilbert { Nov 9th 2009 at 12:00PM }

On the eve of Modern Warfare 2's official release, the game's publisher has announced intentions to donate $1 million to veteran-related charities through a newly created foundation. The "Call of Duty Endowment" (or simply "CODE") is said to "support other groups that assist veterans with their careers," reports the Washington Post.

Though he's mostly known for facepalm-inducing hard business quotes, Activision head Bobby Kotick thoughtfully commented, "How do you expect people to actually join the military if when they leave the military they can't integrate back into the free market they're supposed to be protecting? The joblessness rate that [veterans] should have should be far less than the national average, not more." The foundation's first donation will be for $125,000 to the Paralyzed Veterans of America and will go towards the opening of a vocational rehabilitation center.

Zoe Mode creating not-for-profit XBLA puzzler for children's charity

by Randy Nelson { Nov 3rd 2009 at 11:59PM }

click to enlarge

OneBigGame, a non-profit games publisher founded in 2007, announced today that its first title will come from Zoë Mode, creator of games such as Crush (PSP), You're In the Movies (360) and co-developer of the SingStar franchise (PS3) with SCEE. Called Chime, the music-based puzzle game will launch this winter on Xbox Live Arcade.

The first screens, while sort of soothing in their minimalism, don't exactly explain anything about how the game's played. Thankfully, Zoë Mode goes into detail about the gameplay on its newly launched Chime site.

The developer is the first of what OneBigGame says are many others currently creating 15 titles, with at least 80 percent of all revenue made from them going to two charities: Save the Children and Starlight Children's Foundation. Zoë Mode developed Chime pro bono and has committed to giving all the royalties it receives from the XBLA game -- which it says will be around 60 percent of its purchase price -- to OneBigGame.

Other developers signed on to produce games include Shiny founder David Perry, PaRappa the Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura and prolific adventure game designer Charles Cecil (Beneath a Steel Sky, Broken Sword).

Gallery: Chime

Grow a moustache for charity, end up in Red Dead Redemption

by Griffin McElroy { Oct 31st 2009 at 11:30AM }

A classy gentleman never needs a reason to grow some over-lip facial hair -- however, Rockstar and the Movember Foundation are offering a pretty good incentive for you to grow a glorious moustache. While the latter is asking all applicable males to grow sweet handlebars to raise awareness and donations for men's health issues (primarily prostate cancer), Rockstar is offering the charity's mouthbrow-growing participants a rare prize: They can end as a character in Red Dead Redemption.

The charity event and contest kicks off tomorrow, so if you're interested in helping out, sign up on the Movember Foundation page, and on Rockstar's contest site. Oh, also, you're going to need to shave that sweet Fu Manchu you're already sporting, and start over from scratch. C'mon, you haven't seen your philtrum in like, three years. It misses you.

TripleSpeedRunners take on Nintendo trio for charity

by Ben Gilbert { Oct 14th 2009 at 2:00AM }

Harnessing the power of Nintendo franchises for charity, the folks at TripleSpeedRunners will be spending 48 hours this weekend speed-running through games from the Donkey Kong, Star Fox, and Kirby series. Live streaming of the event will be handled on the crew's website, with live commentary and chat available to cheer the players -- or jeer 'em if you're a player hater.

All proceeds from donations during the event will go to DC Outreach, an organization that provides worldwide support to families affected by Dyskeratosis Congenita. Last time TSR got together, it raised $1,140 for the DC charity, but we know with the full support of the Joystiq BioMass behind them we can help them double that. Right, folks?

The speed-runs kick off this Friday at 7PM ET sharp.

Money can buy you a custom Beatles: Rock Band Xbox 360

by JC Fletcher { Sep 8th 2009 at 6:29PM }

You have two options for getting your hands on one of these custom-designed Beatles: Rock Band Xbox 360 consoles. You can either offer the winning bid on the unit being auctioned by Microsoft -- which has a current high bid of $680, with almost ten days to go -- or you can purchase the 360-exclusive downloadable version of "All You Need is Love" and be automatically entered into a drawing to win one. Of course, the costlier eBay method has better odds!

Whichever method you use, all of the proceeds will go to Doctors Without Borders. That makes you a hero for trying to win a prize or playing a song in a video game!

Gallery: The Beatles: Rock Band Xbox 360 console

Extra Life helping sick kids ... again

by Justin McElroy { Aug 14th 2009 at 10:00AM }

Wow, talk about milking a franchise. Just a year after they and 1300 other gamers helped raise $120,000 to fund pediatric cancer research and treatment, Sarcastic Gamer is gearing up to hold the Extra Life charity gaming marathon again. (Really guys? Annualizing? Maybe they should get Madden as a spokesperson, AMIRITE?)

If you, for some reason, want to support a sequel instead of an original IP, you can sign up to take part right here. Then, find a few people to sponsor you to play games all day Oct. 17. Here's hoping that next time Sarcastic Gamer can find a cure for sequelitis.

Stride Gum giving away $25,000 to help support struggling arcade

by Andrew Yoon { Aug 13th 2009 at 1:00AM }

Let's face it: the arcade scene in America has seen better days. The availability of peripheral-based games on home consoles and the kinetic gameplay offered by the Wii have put many arcades out of business. Stride, in its continuing efforts to gain the respect of hardcore gamers, has begun an interesting new promotion called "Help Save the Arcades." The gum company will be awarding 100,000 quarters (or $25,000) to one of four struggling arcades: Arcade UFO in Texas, StarBase Arcade in California, Game Galaxy in Tennessee or Star Worlds Arcade in Illinois. Which one of these four takes the grand prize will be determined by you, the internet.

Players will have to play a free Flash game, Zapataur, to take part in the promotion. After playing, players will be able to don points to one of the four arcades. The one with the most takes the cash -- and presumably, survives for just a little bit longer.

CharityWatch: TheSpeedGamers tackling Final Fantasy I - XII

by Griffin McElroy { Jul 19th 2009 at 1:00PM }

We know, we know -- another Sunday, another gaming marathon for charity. Still, we figured that the 30 tips pointing us to this particular marathon which we received within the course of ten minutes meant people were interested in it. Still, if you do find yourself annoyed, then you can go screw right off. It's charity, dude.

The fine philanthropic folks over at TheSpeedGamers are spending this entire week completing Final Fantasy I - XII in an attempt to raise at least $20,000 for an autism treatment organization named ACT Today. By our calculations, that's 15,000 random encounters, 1,300 levels-up and about 200 unbearably long, villainous soliloquies over the course of seven days. That's enough to drive even the most hardcore Squeenix supporters insane -- why not go reward their self-abuse with a few bucks for charity?

Madmen completing every Mario game for charity

by Griffin McElroy { Jul 12th 2009 at 12:00PM }

We love Mario. We mean, we're somewhat contractually obligated to, being huge nerds and all. Still, there's certain stages in the core Mario games that are simply excruciating to play -- we usually skip them during our nostalgic romps. That's why we can't help but admire the efforts of three men who are playing through every Super Mario title -- collecting every star, completing every level and Shining every Get! (Err -- getting every Shine.)

They're not doing this for fun, of course -- for the second year in a row, they're running through this "Mario Marathon," collecting donations for Child's Play. They've already been at it for two days -- but with the team yet to totally complete Super Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Sunshine, then Super Mario Galaxy again (as that totally secret character), there's a lot of ballgame left to be played.

Pixel Equity offers games and good intentions for needy children

by Andrew Yoon { Jun 16th 2009 at 11:40PM }

A long time ago, Joystiq reviewed Being a Good Person, calling it "a lot of fun" and "something everyone should try," making it one of the few things to ever receive Joystiq's coveted Editor's Choice Award and a perfect 10/10 review. If you haven't tried Being a Good Person yet, you might want to check out Pixel Equity, a new charity "that connects those who want to share video games with those who want to play them." Gamers will be able to donate money and used games to needy kids that can't afford what is still, admittedly, an expensive hobby.

It's a concept that certainly has good intentions behind it, but we're still a little skeptical of the site's limited donation options and lack of transparency. Currently, people can only donate to one NYC-based group, Youth Action Programs and Homes, which is requesting a PS3 and Wii, among other gaming items. As a startup charity, there are no case studies to read, and even more distressing, there's little information on who will get these donations, and how they will be used. Providing more information on the organizations that benefit from donations and offering tax exemptions are just a few things Pixel Equity can do if it continues to grow.

[Via Kotaku]

AMD doles out grants for educational game push

by Justin McElroy { May 29th 2009 at 8:00AM }

Perhaps as penance for all the brains it's helped to rot with WoW, Counter-Strike and Dolphin Olympics over the years, AMD has announced that it has awarded three grants for the creation of educational or "serious" games to build skills in science, technology and math.

There are, of course, no specific games being talked about, but we've got some killer ideas if anyone wants to break us off a piece of that sweet, sweet grant money. (Oh, a sneak preview? How about a fully 3D version of Mathman? Yeah, we thought so.)

Buying Real Heroes: Firefighter could make you a real hero

by David Hinkle { May 14th 2009 at 8:00PM }

Click for more firefighting heroes

Epicenter Studios has announced an initiative to assist real heroes through the sales of its game, Real Heroes: Firefighter. The studio says that it will donate a share of the proceeds to the Firefighter Cancer Support Network, a charity that aims to "provide timely assistance to all fire service members and their families in the event of cancer diagnosis," though Nathaniel McClure, CEO of Epicenter, says he also appreciates how the charity "aggressively promotes prevention and early detection." So, not only will you save virtual people if you decide to pick up the game, but you could be helping in the recovery of real people in need, too. It's like kind of like a Double Stuff Oreo of justice.

Real Heroes: Firefighter is slated for release in June 2009.

Gallery: Real Heroes: Firefighters

ESA holding charity events during E3

by Justin McElroy { May 6th 2009 at 6:05PM }

Did you know that by attending this year's E3, you won't just be filling your pants with game-based thermoses and probably catching swine flu? No, this year you'll be helping to give back with charity events the ESA has set up during the event.

First up is Pro vs. GI Joe, a military support group which will allow attendees to challenge our nation's fighting men and women in tests of video game aptitude. E3 visitors will also be able to buy a special shirt from the event -- designed by one of the attendees -- the proceeds from which will, in part, go to LA-based homeless support group The Midnight Mission.

Attendees can also participate in a Red Cross drive held at E3, siphoning their blood into packs that will almost certainly be mistakenly collected by other attendees for an HP boost.

[Update: The ESA asked that we include a few details so you know how you can get involved. Just to be clear, you can click here to find out how to submit a T-shirt design or register to give blood.]

Sony to donate up to $10,000 in celebration of Earth Day

by Andrew Yoon { Apr 21st 2009 at 11:57AM }

Want to do something green? Why not play a video game or watch a movie? Sony will donate $1 to Conservation International for each "unique paid transaction" made on the PlayStation Store on Earth Day (April 22), with a maximum contribution of $10,000. Each purchase must be made from the PlayStation Video Store.

The PlayStation Store currently features a "Save Our Earth" section featuring a rather eclectic mix of sort-of-Earth-related games, including PixelJunk Eden, Flower, Flock! and er, Burn Zombie Burn.

TechKnow auctions unique Gears 2 console for Make-A-Wish Foundation

by Xav de Matos { Mar 9th 2009 at 9:30PM }

Looking for a new Xbox 360 console with writing all over it? No? Well, how about if that writing includes autographs from some of the developers behind the 2008 sales giant, Gears of War 2? Yeah, we thought so.

The TechKnow podcast has teamed up with Epic Games to auction off an exclusive Xbox 360 console -- featuring crimson skull art from senior concept artist, James Hawkins -- with all proceeds going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The ongoing auction will end on March 12 and currently sits at $465. If you're looking to do some good (while picking up a piece of exclusive swag) hit eBay and make a bid.