Good luck!

:( yeah good luck bro.

Best wishes, man. Nature sucks.

Global warming is going to kill us all.

Well, look at it from the bright side, now you can't play WoW anymore and you get to come outside for a change. Okey, should not joke. I feel for the man and I hope he was insured and that everyone he knows and care for made it.

It's weird, because it often feels like college campuses are invisible and then just like that, a tornado rips through one, taking out almost everything. My campus is in earthquake zone, and I can only hope nothing this horrible happens to it.

G'luck, man! I'm glad you're doing well.

@bangbangblah: dammit, meant invincible.

I'm willing to help honestly. A fellow gamer in need. I don't what i can do but i'm hoping you can pull through. I'm willing to donate you a game or two for you to play :D

Shouldn't we do something to help this guy?

Good to hear that you and the people you care about got out. Best wishes to you and your friends.

@rollerbldes: If only there was a website devoted to games that could help him *cough*kotaku*cough*wink*cough*wink*cough*

Now he can go read a book! Hooray for literature!

God man i feel for you. I grew up in the midwest. I've seen the distructive power a tornado. Thank god that you and your friends god out with no major injuries. Don't worry man, if you stuff is damaged, the schools insurance should cover the damages or if your parents have homeowners insurance.

yea, I was at mall working when the tornado hit. I take it you go to Union?

Jesus that sucks. Heres a video of Storm Eagle getting his ass kicked, I hope it makes you feel better. [youtube.com]

We all know it was the work of that sonovabitch.

Someone get this guy a DS and a copy of Advance Wars. Stat!

@dowingba: I could not agree more!

Damn Global Warming. Tornadoes in the winter?I am glad most of my gaming stuffs reside in a basement safe from wind.

oh god know

save yuour children

we didnt listen we didnt listen
damn global warming and its knives
(southpark refference)

Glad he is ok!

your* and i dont care about an edit button i just love kotaku (hugs future kotaku mascot) /end suck up

yikes.

Man that sucks. How much of the damage will insurance cover? Or does it come under the 'act of god' clause.

55 people have already died from the tornadoes and this is guy sad about his games...come on people there's higher priorities in life.

@set89: Then why are you here commenting?

Seriously, read it again, he was clearly more concerned with his life and the lives of the ones whom he care for then his games.

Hey..............Good Luck with recovering thats pretty hard after losing mostly everything. As long as you still got those close friends I bet you can pull it off. Don't forget to smile :D

woah.. sorry for ur loss buddy... atleast ur alive thats what counts...

Pdubbs601, that really sucks, man. I'm glad to see you still have a sense of humor during all that. I don't know if I could be that strong. Good luck getting everything back to normal.

And now...

@set89: How about you get the stick out of your ass, you self-righteous shithead? All the guy did was comment that he was involved in the tornado and that he was thankful that he and his friends made it relatively unscathed. He mentioned video games at the end, because well, THIS IS A VIDEO GAME SITE AND IT'S RELEVENT. If he had said such a thing to CNN or soemthing, maybe I'd see your fucking point.

I'll never understand why there's always got to be one asshole to shit on the most non-polarizing topics ever.

i'll try to ship you a ps2 after i get this starbucks job. i hope that you will be able to carry on through your recent ordeal with your head held high

@ set89: dude... get your own

@AnEternalEnigma: Make that RELEVANT. Anger at ignorance + lack of sleep = no want proofread.

Man, bad luck... at least you're alive. And hopefully have insurance.

@set89: One time I got mugged. But that's irrelevant because people died probably that very same day.

i'm gonna be a dick here...i don't really see the relevancy this has to video games...seems like nowadays so many people copycatting the EGM letter of the month where the guy had all his games stolen and the community helped him rebuild.

@Irenicus-the one and only: if you're gonna go and say that this guy was "clearly more concerned with his life and the lives of the ones whom he care for," then this REALLY has nothing to do with videogames aside from having to do with a Kotaku reader. i mean, if you're gonna report this, why not:

"Kotaku Reader Mike's Family in Grieving, Grandfather Died of Heart Attack:" dear Kotaku, my grandfather passed away last week, he was a great Duck Hunt pal. uh...that's about it! also i lost my onyx ds lite along with all my games (see my ign account for my games that were in my collection). oh yeah, and my grandpa died. ds lite. black, mind you.

i understand i'm being a dick. but whatevs. i've seen enough rubbish on the internets to be as cynical as i am.

BTdubs, a little info on that EGM thing - two weeks or so after that letter was printed, some copycat copy/pasted an SOB story onto both 1UP and cheapassgamer forums saying "all my stuff was robbed from me," blah blah, "i'm not doing this to receive charity, just want support," blah blah.

the only posts he made on either boards were on those threads. after the threads closed, he never commented again.

@rollerbldes: No. He lost two grand worth of video game stuff. It sucks, but in no way does it warrant any sort of donation. It's just bad luck. He's staying at a friends house. Chances are, he'll be fine.

@blaked567:
Who the hell said we wanted to help this dude rebuild? I sure as shit didn't.

I feel bad the guy lost everything, and he has a real good attitude about it. Hopefully, though, he can find something to do in the absence of games.

@Brian Ashcraft: nothing's explicitly stated. but note how he mentioned what he lost, and note that some of the above commenters have offered some games, a system, what have you. and this is at like 5 in the morning, eastern time.

@AnEternalEnigma: Nope. He didn't "just comment" that he was in a tornado. He begged for shit. It's no different from someone talking about how down on their luck they are, while looking at you expectantly, constantly telling you about what they don't have, or wish they had. It may not be as direct as "give me free shit," but it's just as selfish.

I would have no problem if the guy had said "I lost a bunch of shit, but I'm OK." Instead, he said "I lost an Xbox 360 Elite, a PC with WoW, some controllers, a PSP, a PS2, a TV, and a sound system. I'm so bored!"

That's all I saw before I hit the jump, and I began to get enraged at the possibility that Kotaku would support online begging. Luckily, they didn't (not directly, at least), but I still feel that this article should never have been posted.

Death is a tragedy. Losing some shit? Life goes on.

@Brian Ashcraft: by the way, most of my frustration is directed towards the guy who submitted his story, not to you for posting. so don't ban me pl0x. no quiero la ban hammer. or i guess in japanese, something like ban o shite nai something? i would really love not to have to sign up on a third email address.

BLAKED567 - (Damn reply feature wouldn't work.)..

MadeofSpam, got letter of the month the next month after the robbery happened, I happened to be a regular poster during the time of his robbery, the guy seemed to be a pretty decent guy.. I can't say that he ripped a lot of people off, but I do agree that it's suspicious that he never continued posting after his "I was robbed" post.

As far as things go, I'm not sure that I suspect this user, but it does seem suspicious.

--
If he wants a computer that can run World of Warcraft, he can build one for about 300$.

Minimum requirements:

Intel Pentium® III 800 MHz or AMD Athlon 800 MHz
- 512 MB or more of RAM
- 32 MB 3D graphics card with Hardware Transform and Lighting, such as NVIDIA® GeForce™ 2 class card or above
- DirectX® 9.0c (included) and latest video drivers
- 6.0 GB available HD space
- 4x CD-ROM drive
- A 56k or better Internet connection
- For voice chat, an SSE enabled CPU is required.
--

That is until Lich King comes out, then they're supposed to have a graphic update, but they're not saying what it is.

I'm calling bluff.

From what was posted, the guy's room didn't suffer any damages. All he lost was a car. His room is being quarantined, most likely because it is too dangerous to enter the building to collect belongings.

There are people who truly need your help, whose last thing on their mind is video games. This guy isn't one of them.

@AndrewDB: no no, i'm not ragging on MadeofSpam, i know he was a legit and active member of the community that a lot of other users knew.

i'm complaining about people who read that letter and are like "hmmmmm..." (raises one eyebrow), and then go on to submit on a forum or wherever that "i lost all my games. all i want are some kind words of assertion to make me feel better, that's all. also i had halo3 legendary edition and a 360 with hddvd player."

..well all i got to say is your not the only one!...as I live in Florida I have had a lot of my stuff ruined by hurricanes in the past few years. All I can say Is I know how that feels from a first hand experience, and I feel for you and the rest of the people that may have been affected.

at least you're ok!

ANDREWDB (yeah i dont know how to get reply to work)

I'm not complaining of MadeofSpam, I know he was legit and active in the community, and a lot of people knew who he is. I'm complaining about those who read the EGM article and think to themselves "hmmmm....." (whilst raising one eyebrow in sinister fashion).

lol owned

He probably thought Kotaku would give him $2000 (or that worth in gaming stuff) aswell. Why else write this shit when your homeless. Should think about..like..finding a home instead. Nice try.

@blaked567:

Okay, I wasn't sure if you were talking about MoS. I just wanted to make sure because he's a pretty cool guy.

@Krellie: Here here, if my house got destroyed in a tornado, the /LAST/ thing I'd be worried about is my computer and video game systems.

Wow damn that sounds horrible man, Best of wishes!

This article seems to be luring out the douchebags. Yay!

[ww2.wizards.com] :D

@AnEternalEnigma: Im sure he's upset and as I would be too,but theres no need for him to come here and get sympathy at a time like this,its material goods and he should be thankful for what he still has.

@Furious_Liver: My thoughts exactly.

People flame the guy for something he might just have wanted to share, sharing something he esperienced. But no, he made the post just to get free stuff, he probably started the tornado himself from his secret basement filled with weird looking gizmos from his science kit he got as a kid. Some of you guys are cynical bastards :P

i hope this guy gets all his things back

@ Irenicus-the one and only: yeah, this thread went bad... quickly.

Having had a tornado go through my town, and having friends displaced because of it, I truly say I'm sorry and I hope things go well for you and your friends. It will take a while, a long while, but best of luck to you and my best wishes to you.

He's not asking for free stuff, or your help. He's just giving us a first hand aprisal of what happened, from someone who relates to us. Yes, there are many other families that need help, and they ALL deserve it - no matter who they are, or how much you don't like them.

hey brian a rat eat my ps3, can u help me ?

Then they wonder why gamers don't like the outdoors. [kotaku.com]

Is it normal for you guys in the US to get tornadoes in February?
I blame God and cow farts.

Guys, calm the hell down. I don't think this should be a call to arms. If you've got the giving, volunteering spirit, that's great and rock on.
But I think the takeaway here is that reading something like this makes a large disaster a lot more real and personal. This guy didn't die, but lost all the vestiges of a hobby he (probably) loves, and lost a ton of personal effects. And he's one of our community. So feel for him and be thankful for what you got.

@quemador: Thats what happens when you keep a rat as a pet.

@ineffectmode: And it wasn't even a fanboy related post.

God, some of you guys are just douchebags. Not once did he "beg" as some of you people so put it. And if you didn't notice, he mentioned that he and some other friends got out ok BEFORE he even made one mention of material goods. And I'm also guessing you didn't read the second paragraph of the message. Might want to take the time to do that.