Sunday, December 21, 2008

Thursday, December 04, 2008

WOW! I couldn't stop laughing, and it's for a good cause, bonus.

The thought of playing a video game for charity sounds great on paper, but spend a few hours driving the Desert Bus, and you might have second thoughts.

In an effort to raise money for charity, comedy troupe LoadingReadyRun has been playing the infamous video game 'Desert Bus' nonstop.

First seen in the obscure Sega CD game, Penn and Teller's Smoke & Mirrors (yes, that Penn and Teller), the 'Desert Bus' tasks players with driving a bus from Tuscon, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada. In real-time. The game cannot be paused and the bus won't go faster than 45 mph. Plus, it slightly veers to the right, so you can't just put something heavy on the controller and let the game play itself. The cruel result is considered by many to be the most boring game of all time, an 8-hour feat of gaming endurance few have had the will to outlast.

The folks at LoadingReadyRun, however, have been playing the mind-numbing game for over five days, but they do have an incentive. Donors must pay to keep the crew playing, and the longer they play, the more it costs.

It seems to be working. So far, the newly re-minted 'Desert Bus For Hope' has raised nearly $60,000 for the charitable organization Child's Play, which benefits children's hospitals across the country. You can catch more info -- including a live stream of the, uh, "action" -- here.