To bus, or not to bus. That is the question —
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous tedium,
Or to take arms against a sea of terrible games,
And, by opposing, end them? To quit, to sleep—
No more — and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache and the thousand spattered bugs
That game is heir to — ’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished! To quit, to sleep.
To sleep, perchance to dream — ay, there’s the rub,
For in that sleep of quitting what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this Sega CD,
Must give us pause. There’s the respect
That makes calamity of so long a marathon.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th’ highway’s length, the wheel’s necess’ry justments,
The pangs of despised hours, the end’s delay,
The insolence of comments, and the spurns
That patient merit of th’ others take,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a pulled plug? Who would travels bear,
To grunt and sweat with a sweaty gamepad,
But that the dread of never helping children,
The undispensed charity from whose bosom
No comfort issues, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those roads we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus the Moonbase does make donors of us all,
And thus the loading bars of livestreams
Give way unto the pale cast of the room,
And an enterprise of great pith and moment
With this regard makes ready our captive eyes,
As once again, we run to Vegas.
Or, you know, back to Tuscon. Depending on what hour it is.
The time is quickly approaching. In less than a month, I will be stockpiling almonds, dried fruit, chocolate, tea, and a great deal of bottled water for a lengthy, arduous, and draining ordeal. It is my intention to stay in this very chair as much as possible, for at least 24 hours, all in the name of children’s health in the city of Philadelphia.
Thankfully, I’ll be playing video games the whole time.
Yes, Extra Life is coming soon! Last year I pulled it off successfully, playing Alpha Protocol and other games (if memory serves, things got weird after hour 16 or so) for 24 hours and raising $250 for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. This year, I will be representing CHOP once again, and since I missed out on an opportunity to play Guild Wars 2 as part of a group, I’ll be doing my own thing for the second year in a row.
But which game to play? I’ve given serious consideration to a couple and narrowed my choices down somewhat. I’m not going to do any multiplayer games as waiting in queues is not playing. I also would like to have some sort of live, social component to the gameplay. At the very least liveblogging via Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr, and possibly streaming with Twitch. But I can iron out those details in the weeks to come. First and foremost, here are my top picks for Extra Life 2012.
Wing Commander (and sequels?)
I have to wonder if this old favorite is as good as I remember it being. Space flight sims are few and far between these days, and Wing Commander still boasts a dynamic, branching storyline, interesting and well-rounded characters, and evolving combat that simulate experiences like those from Battlestar Galactica. I want to see if the game (and, time permitting, at least its first sequel) stand the test of time.
LA Noire
This has been on my “to-play” list for a very long time. I’m torn between it and the Assassin’s Creed games I haven’t played yet (Brotherhood & Revelations) but I think LA Noire wins due to the style of the period and the prospect of thinking my way through interrogation scenes. Not to mention the fun of people yelling at me when I let a suspect go or start smacking a witness around. It would tie in nicely to those detective novellas I’m writing. Sadly, LA Noire has no vampires in it. That I’m aware of, at least.
Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013
I already started up the campaign for this game, but I do have the expansion, the rest of the main story, both revenge campaigns, Challenges, Planechase, and general deck management dickery to do. Of course if I run out of all of that stuff I can break my “no live games” rule and just play Magic Online to fill out the time.
Painkiller HD
If anything is liable to keep me awake for 24 hours straight, it’s blasting legions of the damned with a gun that shoots shurikens and lightning.
FTL
If you’re not aware of this little indy gem, you should check out these video looks at the game. It’s a Rogue-like game, hardcore in its approach, with permadeath, random events, surprisingly intense combat, and interesting decision-making. Plus I may let people name the characters on new ships! Then cackle when fan favorites bite the dust. Remember, it’s for the kids.
XCOM Enemy Unknown
I talked about this yesterday and I couldn’t be more excited to play the full game. However, I’d hold off on touching it at all if this is the way I decide to go. Oh, I’ll pre-order it regardless, but I won’t play it until the event begins.
So. Want to help me out?
The poll you’re seeing to your right includes the above games. If you like, you can pick one for me to play on October 20th! I’ll make my decision and lay out a plan of attack next week, in addition to updating my Extra Life profile and giving you all the information you need to donate, tune in, and watch me slowly destroy myself in the name of video games and charity. It should be loads of fun!
The time has come, (the Alchemist said)
To talk of many things:
Of busses — and cards — and handmade-crafts
Of children and of kings.
Once a year they gather there,
A fanciful base on the moon –
(Granted, we know it’s actually Canada,
but don’t spoil it so soon!)
They sit upon their bean-bags and couches,
Displayed for all of us,
For that great and humble event we love,
The one called Desert Bus.
From Tuscon to Las Vegas is their digitized route,
Displayed on Sega CD.
Since Penn & Teller decided (for the lulz)
To make a non-violent game, you see:
There are no bullets, no cars, no rockets,
No prostitutes or pimps.
Just drive and drive and drive some more,
Until you weep like simps.
“What purpose?” you ask? “What’s wrong with them?
“Why do they do these vids?”
The answer’s as simple as it is heart-warming:
They do it for the kids.
As long as donations and auctions abound,
The crew will play the game.
Could be for days or weeks or more,
To them it’s all the same.
They’ll sell hand-stitched crafts of all kinds,
Things mythic and beyond,
They’ll laugh, they’ll cry, they’ll drink Red Bull,
And with us they will bond.
Watch and donate, for the children,
for the auctions and the fun.
Brave as they are, they can’t do it alone,
That crew from Loading Ready Run.
Here it comes now! I hope you’re ready!
There’s room for all of us.
Join us, won’t you? The time has come
to ride the Desert Bus.
