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Child's Play Profiled by NYT

Posted by Zonk on from the big-time dept.

There's a very nice profile of the Child's Play charity up on the New York Times site. It goes into some detail on the history of the gamer's charity, and paints the participants in a positive light. Good press all around. From the article: "... Common purpose drew Bernie Burns to get involved. Mr. Burns is a member of Rooster Teeth, a troupe that produces 'Red vs. Blue,' an online comedy series based on the game Halo. Rooster Teeth attended the Child's Play dinner auction this year and successfully bid $9,000 to record dialogue for the coming video game Halo 3, a prize comparable to being given a cameo appearance in a movie. The game's developer, Bungie Studios, would probably have allowed the troupe to record the dialogue anyway, but 'it's for charity,' Mr. Burns said of the $9,000 bid." The article states that the charity has raised $2 Million over its lifespan, and the official site is currently this year's contribution to that number is around $885,000.

28 comments

  1. Mr. Burns, you won the auction! by tallman68 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Exxxxxxcelent!

  2. I would like to make a late donation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    of 100,000,000 in gold.
    .
    .
    .
    .
    How do I transfer it from my PS2 memory card again?

    P.S. You laugh now, but virtual money is real enough that our goverment wants to be able to tax it for its "real world value"!!!

    1. Re:I would like to make a late donation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      It is not a question of if you can, but if that donation is tax deductable!!!

    2. Re:I would like to make a late donation by patio11 · · Score: 1

      You can donate gold right now. Unfortunately, its probably IP and then you can only deduct your cost basis, basically how much you paid for the gold. If that cost basis was "sweat equity", then tough cookies, no deduction for you. n.b. I am not a tax adviser, I am just a programmer who has to tell other programmers "Just because you gave someone a program you made which sells for $100 does not mean you get $100 to offset your income with -- you can only deduct the cost of the CD."

      --
      Help poke pirates in the eyepatch, arr.
  3. It is awsome by Thansal · · Score: 1

    Watching Child's Play grow over the past few years has really been an awsome thing. Something about geeks and charity makes me happy.

    --
    Do Or Do Not, There Is No Spoon, There Is Only Zuul. Everything in the above post is probably opinion.
  4. Please! by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wont somebody think of the... oh, wait.

    --
    Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
  5. is it true? by scatteredsun · · Score: 2, Funny

    Is it true it's all going to be donated in Jack Thompson's name? That would rock.

    1. Re:is it true? by -Brodalco- · · Score: 1

      Idk if they're doing it this time, but one time Whacko Jacko promised to donate $10,000 to a charity of Take-Two's choice if somebody made a game based on his idea. When somebody did, JT was nowhere to be found, and Penny-Arcade stepped up and donated $10,000 to Entertainment Software Association's charitable arm. In the check's memo line was written: "For Jack Thompson Because, Jack Thompson Won't".

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Modest_Video_Game_P roposal

      Read more.

      --
      I regret spilling a glass of ginger ale on an achritect!
  6. Absolutely outstanding... by Possibly+Malignant · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I still can't believe that Child's Play raised $885k this year. That's ridiculous growth over the three years they've been running.

    Kudos to Mike and Jerry, and everyone else who makes Child's Play possible.

    1. Re:Absolutely outstanding... by ceejayoz · · Score: 2, Informative

      It's not quite over yet, either. $885k was as of the 22nd, and they made $125k in that week. Their PA newspost that day stated they were on track for $1 million overall.

      Pretty bloody awesome. $2112 of that is from the gaming community I'm a member of. We're pretty happy.

  7. Name Change? by KermodeBear · · Score: 0

    When I saw the name the first thing that came to mind was that awful movie featuring a killer doll. Ugh.

    --
    Love sees no species.
  8. I'd love for Jack to see this. by Conspiracy_Of_Doves · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If Jack Thompson saw this, you'd probably be able to fry an egg on his head.

    JT: "The nerve of these, these, GAMERS! Actually trying to help children! Don't they know they're supposed to be the bad guys?"

    --

    Technoli
    1. Re:I'd love for Jack to see this. by sgt.greywar · · Score: 1

      Indeed, Child's Play beats the pants off of Jack Thompson's offer to donate 10,000 if someone programmed a video game to his specs... IIR someone did it and he reneged on the deal.

      --
      Laborare Est Orare
    2. Re:I'd love for Jack to see this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Indeed, Child's Play beats the pants off of Jack Thompson's offer to donate 10,000 if someone programmed a video game to his specs... IIR someone did it and he reneged on the deal.

      Yep, that's correct. And PennyArcade donated the $10,000 in his stead, with "because Jack Thompson won't" on the "For:" line.

    3. Re:I'd love for Jack to see this. by Satorian · · Score: 1

      And the Penny Arcade guys coughed up the 10k for charity to spite him.

    4. Re:I'd love for Jack to see this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If Jack Thompson saw this, you'd probably be able to fry an egg on his head.

      JT: "The nerve of these, these, GAMERS! Actually trying to help children! Don't they know they're supposed to be the bad guys?"

      That guy's impervious to logic. He's likely fuming right now about the nerve of the Child's Play organization. To think, they infect childrens' hospitals with the game industry's filth, call it a "charity," and get praised for it by the media. The absurdity!

    5. Re:I'd love for Jack to see this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People made mods to other games to create the storyline he had wanted, he claimed that it wasn't what he had asked for, which it could be argued was technically true. He was called on it though, and he changed his tune to say that his Modest Proposal was satire and the whole thing was a joke that gamers were too stupid to get, at which point the PA guys stepped in and said "whoa there, nobody jokes about charity, that shit aint funny" and made the donation in his name.

    6. Re:I'd love for Jack to see this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He was very specific, including lengthy dialog and a cast of characters, so I'm inclined to agree with his assessment - that it wasn't the game he described.

      The retraction exposed the insincerity, though.

      The original act usually doesn't get you in trouble, it's the cover up that inflicts the most pain.

    7. Re:I'd love for Jack to see this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      He even required that it use "Lawyers in Love" as a background song.

      I was kind of disappointed though, I was going to actually take his script with a few minor tweaks at the very end and actually build it, but I'm no artist and not even a game coder, and by the time I had figured out the quake engine, he'd already gone off on his satire rant.

      Whenever he comes up, I still think about dusting off the engine and giving it a shot though (even though the models will all be boxy crap ;). Mostly because I'm curious as to how many legal threats he'd throw at me when I release "Jack Thompson's Modest Proposal", complete with a final shootout with the game company CEO ("Behold! My ultimate invention, a gun with mouselook and autotargeting! I cannot miss!") and in the next room the CEO's daughter (IIRC, the script called for a son), lying in bed hooked up to medical equipment, apparently blind (staring at nothing... "are you the doctor? I think my daddy's hurt..."). And Jack Thompson standing there screaming at you to kill her.

      Add in things like duke nukem style commentary (ripoffs of the UT2K announcer mostly, plus things like "bonus round!", "one up!", "why don't you go respawn!" etc.) plus little bonus things like hanging around the store for a while and getting to see kids showing up alone and wanting to buy M-rated games "but my daddy said I could!" "Tell your daddy to come in here and pay for it!", parents towing their army of kids in and leaving them there wrecking the place while the parents wander off somewhere else, or one mother with a boy in tow who latches onto "deathblaster 3000" and throws a shitfit (complete with language to make a sailor blush) when the cashier suggests that the game might not be suitable for little kids, after the kid knocks over a few stands, the mother tells the cashier to sell her the damn game so she can go home and get some peace and quiet.

      And if you pick up the log hidden in the secret area just to the right of the starting point of the first level and hold onto it until the end of the game, then when you're facing the CEO's little girl, you can smack Jack in the face with it, followed by "Would you like some help with that mote in your eye?" for the best ending ;)

      As for the music, I figured I'd just make it play the first track of whatever CD you've got in the drive on endless repeat, and if you put in the Jackson Browne album, well, there you go.

  9. he reneged... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And the PA guys wrote the cheque on his behalf. Jack Thompson then filed a complaint against the cops for their harassment via $10,000 donation. Jack Thompson's a truly special guy.

  10. Another profile by ryry · · Score: 3, Informative

    In the interest of blatant self promotion, I offer my own coverage of CP in JIVE Magazine :-)

    Yeah, we're no NYT, but still :-)

    --
    -ryry
    ::insert witty .sig here::
    1. Re:Another profile by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Funny
      Yeah, we're no NYT, but still

      What, you mean you still have journalistic integrity?

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  11. interesting edit... by Rimbo · · Score: 1

    ...tfa doesn't really spend much time talking about the benefits, supposed or actual, of giving kids games to keep themselves entertained.

    1. Re:interesting edit... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      CP is a general charity for children's hospitals, funded by gamers. Not a 'give kids games' charity.

    2. Re:interesting edit... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      CP is a general charity for children's hospitals, funded by gamers. Not a 'give kids games' charity. They do promote video games. IIRC the hospitals draw up a wish-list of toys and books and then CP add video games they'd recommend too.

  12. Who will Whacko Jacko demonize next? by -Brodalco- · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Now that geeks and gamers are donating to charity, who will Jacko Thompson demonize next? Think he'll go after the gays and Mexicans, like everyone else? Or think of a new target, like llama breeders?

    --
    I regret spilling a glass of ginger ale on an achritect!
  13. Mr. Burns isn't all that bad. by silentounce · · Score: 1

    I know you children see me as some sort of "booger man", but I'm really not such a bad dude.

    --
    There are many tongues to talk, and but few heads to think. -Victor Hugo
  14. Actually... by Astin · · Score: 1

    The number on the site doesn't take into account all the pledged amounts from various auctions and donations. Mike and Jerry expect that the actual number for this year ALONE will exceed $1,000,000.

    --
    - In hell, treason is the work of angels.