• 23Nov 09

  Child's Play 2009 is on.

  So Penny Arcade's annual Child's Play charity drive for children's hospitals is on, and the HotSpot is doling out homework emblems for people who participate (or otherwise donate time/money/effort to the charity of their choosing, just e-mail hotspot@gamespot.com to tell us). GS User @Amozarte Chris VanHuysse wrote in and pointed out that a lot of companies have matching donation programs for their employees. He also suggested that gamers can find out who handles such programs at their own employers and suggest participation in Child's Play to them. He did that at his job, and sent along his letter so others could consider using at as a template to ask their own companies to get in on the act. So thanks a million to Chris, and to all of you who have donated or will be donating in the future! Now here's the letter:

  Child's Play is a charity for children who are stuck in long term hospital care due to severe illness. Hospitals can be scary, lonesome places for adults, let alone children! Imagine spending the better part of your childhood in a place where "going out to play" means being wheeled down a sterile corridor to be shoved inside a loud, dimly-lit machine for a few hours!

  Child's Play, founded in 2003, works with hospitals to raise money for the purchase of toys, games, books, movies, and other forms of entertainment. The hope is that by providing entertainment outlets, kids can forget the IV needles, machines, monitors, and tests for long enough to feel like a kid again.

  Nearly 70 hospitals around the world are associated with the program. They include the US, Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand, and even Egypt! Child's Play accepts cash donations, or donors can opt to browse one of many hospital-specific Amazon.com wish lists to purchase gifts and have them shipped directly to the hospital of choice.

  Child's Play operates throughout the year but has recently launched the 2009 campaign, hoping to raise a total of $1 million in cash and/or gifts just in time for the Holidays. They're almost halfway there thanks to the generous support of other corporate sponsors such as Amazon.com, Microsoft Game Studios, Sony Online Entertainment, and Google. I wondered if our company would consider honoring Child's Play in the spirit of the Holidays? If not this year, then perhaps Child's Play could be considered for our 2010 charitable efforts?

  • Posted Nov 23, 2009 4:43 pm GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 30Oct 09

  Sony is a terrible liar.

  From today's news story on Sony's half-year financial report:

  Though it did not break out Sony Computer Entertainment's earnings, Sony did say that "sales in game business decreased year on year primarily as a result of the appreciation of the yen as well as a decrease in unit sales of PlayStation 2 hardware and software." The company's admission comes just two days after it used the the platform's ninth birthday to declare the PS2 was "showing no signs of slowing down."

  
  

  • Posted Oct 30, 2009 9:04 am GMT
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• 17Oct 09

  Stray Thoughts October 17

  -I wish Comedy Central would stop referring to Jeff Dunham as a "stand-up phenomenon." He's a grown man who has puppets tell his crappy jokes for him. I think we as a society toss around words too casually these days, and that is catastrophic.

  -"High Tides and Green Grass" is still the best fake guitar song I've played in Rock Band, Guitar Hero, or even Rock Revolution.

  -Zombieland is the best zombie movie perhaps since the original Dawn of the Dead. It's gory, it's funny, and it has some things to say when you look at it as a critique of how our tech-driven world of anonymous user names and handles has changed the way we treat each other.

  -Uncharted was fantastic, but I think Naughty Dog missed a grand opportunity. There's a portion of the game where you basically replay the opening scene (thank you, fractured chronology storytelling), but it's a little bit different the second time around. And the differences suggest a change in Nathan Drake, as if the intro was the glossy veneer of the character and the reprising scene showed him as more human, or at least a caricature with an extra layer of depth. Unfortunately, in the very next scene, it's right back to the Nathan Drake of old. They could take the character some interesting places, but seem satisfied to have him just toss glib one-liners and be an Indiana Jones wanna-be. Such a shame.

  -Have you ever tried to talk someone through the Xbox 360 controller synching process on the phone? It's a lot more complicated than it seems when someone who knows what they're doing is handling it.

  -I really hate car commercials, and most commercials that air during football games, for that matter. It breaks my heart to think that the audience to which they appeal is large enough to justify the creation of the ads, much less the purchase of enough air time to show them to millions on a Sunday afternoon. Eat it, Howie Long.

  -While we're on the subject, other gaming Web sites may try to attract people with flashy gimmicks and trendy fads, but here at GameSpot, we believe that good old know-how and an honest day's work is what makes a man a man, and anyone who goes to a different site must be some kind of idiot. Or a communist. You're not a communist, are you? Good, then keep reading GameSpot.

  -When did they start serving energy drinks on airplanes? It seems like a terrible idea to get people completely wired and then fly them across an ocean in a closed metal tube.

  -Have you ever seen The Prodigal Son starring Sammo Hung? You really should. That **** is four stars all the way.

  -Next year's release schedule is nuts. Mass Effect 2, Bayonetta, Army of Two: 40th Day, Dark Void, MAG, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, maybe No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle and Singularity...and that's just January. Next year is going to be ridiculous.

  -PSP Go would be much better if Sony gave a **** about it.

  -If the Dodgers and Angels meet in a LA-area World Series, I predict a massive earthquake along the lines of the Oakland-San Francisco World Series, and an addendum to MLB rules that prevents California teams from ever facing each other in a World Series ever again.

  • Posted Oct 17, 2009 2:35 am GMT
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