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Child's Play Hits $200,000

Posted by Zonk on from the and-counting dept.

Gamasutra reports that the Child's Play charity drive has already hit $200,000 this year, with the big-ticket auction still to come on the 13th. Donations will be accepted through December 20th. From the article: "The donation so far includes 90 GameCubes, 95 PlayStation 2s, 79 Nintendo DSes, 153 Game Boy Advances of various types, 30 Xboxes, 26 LeapPads, 30 MP3 players, and 49 DVDs, on top of countless software, videos, and other toys. 'Thank you for all the toys!' said Meghan D. Kelly, Director of the Child Life Program at The Children's Hospital in New York. 'Child's Play Charity is like a dream come true!'"

5 of 39 comments (clear)

  1. What about.. by turtled · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What about books, crayons and paper, things to be constructive with kids? With all this crap in the news about ratings, why not go the old fashion route?

    --
    "I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection." -- Sigmund Freud
    1. Re:What about.. by NanoGator · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "With all this crap in the news about ratings, why not go the old fashion route?"

      Because you'd rather put a smile on a disadvantaged child's face than a WTF look?

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    2. Re:What about.. by porcupine8 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Btw, for this reason, I would suggest donating stuff for consoles rather than handhelds... If you hold a DS down in your lap, you're not going to be able to see the screen very well, and holding it up to your face takes a lot of energy. I could not have used handhelds games when I was sick. The donations of handhelds have probably been so high b/c people think hey, they can hold it right there in the hospital bed with them - and some kids can, but there are some that need even less activity than that.

      --
      Warning: Apple/Nintendo fangirl. Likes her electronics cute & cuddly. May be rabid.
  2. PA? by PHanT0 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    No mention of Penny Arcade... ? Props where props are due... yay Gabe and Tycho!

  3. So why no photos? by einTier · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Really, Gabe and Tycho, you're slipping here.

    One of the things that made the first Child's Play so great was watching the amazement as the stuff rolled in. Everyone thought it'd be just a little bit of something, then it just started getting ridiculous. I was checking the site every single day for new photos, just to see how much stuff people were sending. And to be honest, I sent more that first year than I have ever since, simply because I wanted, no, I needed, to see my stuff in that stack.

    Since then, it's just been a number. Sure, $250,000 is a lot of money, but I can imagine it. What I can't imagine are stacks and stack and stacks of PS2's and XBoxes and so many GameBoys I can't see over the top of them! I desperately need to see that visual confirmation. I need to see just how amazed the hospital staff is going to be. Letters help, but again, it's when I look at the photos from the first year that I grasp the enormity of what Child's Play does.

    If I feel this way, I have to imagine others feel this way as well. I think adding extra hospitals was a good thing, because people will contribute more if they know they can contribute some place close, but I think even more would contribute if they could just see what other gamers are doing. I know guys who didn't have much to spare but sent a pack of batteries just because they wanted to be a part of that giant stack of stuff. "Did you see what all the other gamers are doing? I had to do something" was a common refrain. I haven't heard that since the first year, and I think photos have something to do with it.

    --
    -------------------------------------------------- $665.95 -- retail price of the beast.