Last month Electronic Arts contacted me to see if I would be willing to create a Spore creature for charity. The idea was that 70 handpicked "celebrities" from the Internets and meatspace would create a creature and send them to EA, which would in turn allow the public to vote on the best creation.

The winner of this little Sporelebrity contest would have $15,000 donated to the charity of his or her choice. Going up against such truly famous people as Carlos Santana, Emeril Lagasse, Richard Branson and Stan Lee, I know I don't stand a snowballs chance in hell of winning. But if by some bizarre twist of fate people selected my TickleMeKotaku creature (which has a prehensile Tickleme Elmo tail) then $10,000 would be donated to Child's Play and the remaining $5,000 would be donated to Jennifer Ann's Group.

Since most of my competitors are absolutely crushing me I have no problem urging you to vote and vote often, really often, for TMK. They announce the winner on July 18, I'm told.

Spore Vote

Mario Marathon Raises More than $10,000 [Updated]

Super Mario Galaxy Wii Mod, Even Hotter With The Lights Off

Some feisty gamers embarked on a charity mission this weekend. Their goal: to play through four Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess in forty-eight hours. While the playing is happening, you can go on to their website to watch some streaming video of the action as well as donate some money for their efforts that will go to Penny Arcade's Child's Play charity.

The four friends have been going since 5pm Friday and according to their latest update, they have completed Ocarina, but hit a snag at the end of Majora's Mask due to multiple console freezes right on the last dungeon. They decided to skip the end of MM and moved on to Wind Waker in which they are currently immersed. The plan is to finish WW, complete Twilight Princess and then loop back around to complete the end of Majora's Mask.

With less than 12 hours to go, will they be able to make their goal? Whether they make it or not, it was a herculean effort that will be rewarded by a nice donation to Child's Play. So far they have raised over a thousand dollars for the charity. You can catch up on all their antics as they race to the finish at 5pm tonight at cameronbanga.com. Good luck, guys. The eyes of the internets are upon you!

Win A Copy Of Grand Theft Auto III, Signed By Jack Thompson

We've seen people go to extreme lengths for both charity and eBay auctions, but this particular item, a copy of Grand Theft Auto III allegedly signed by fan fave Jack Thompson at VGXPO, combines the two in an attractive package. According to the listing, the PlayStation 2 version of the game can be yours (we think) for the low, low price of $4,000, the proceeds of which will be redirected in full to the Child's Play charity. There's even a picture of the signee and auction lister—who we're told is not TV's famous Wil Wheaton—to aid in the proof of authenticity.

What is suspect, however, is whether you actually get the signed copy of the game for your four large, seemingly the entire point of dropping this much cash on a used PS2 game. The eBay listing comes with the unclear note "Please note: I do not actually want to sell this. I am just listing it for show and to hopefully win a contest. However, if you want to spend $4000 on this then I will donate 100% of the proceeds to Child's Play Charity." The seller does have a 99.9% positive rating, so I wager you'll be satisfied. If you do decide to give up the cash, let us know when (and if) you get it.

Grand Theft Auto III Signed By Jack Thompson (PS2) [eBay - thanks, Rick!]

The folks over at NCSoft have amassed quite an interesting collection of eBay auctions for Child's Play this year. The auctions, which will donate 100 percent of the proceeds to Child's Play, includes signed copies of games and posters, rare finds and, the best one, having a Tabula Rasa NPC named after you.

City of Heroes Poster Signed by Dev Team Signed City of Villains Collectors Edition City of Villains Lord Recluse Statue Tabula Rasa Signed Game & Bonuses Tabula Rasa Signed Game & Bonuses Tabula Rasa NPC Named After You!

So far the auctions are up to more than $2500, but NCSoft is hopping to hit twice that figure, so get to the link below to find the auction of your choice and get to bidding/donating.

Help Child's Play [NCSoft]

Fünde Razor Child's Play Total Rolls In

Two years ago Joel Johnson emailed me to tell me he was going to start a local fund raiser in Brooklyn for Child's Play. It was going to be at Barcade and he was, among other things, bringing along a copy of Guitar Hero for people to play. I tried to help by promoting the event on Kotaku. He ended up raising about $1,500.

The next year I was able to pitch in about 50 pounds of schwag for Joel to give away at what had become an annual event in Brooklyn. This year, finally, I was able to ask Joel if I could host my own Fünde Razor here in Denver. I won't say it wasn't frustrating at times to arrange, or stressful to kick-off, but the tremendous showing made it more than worth it and we managed to raise a spectacular $1,839, almost twice what I had expected from a first-time event.

Meanwhile Joel's Brooklyn Fünde Razor hit an all time hight raising $5,161 (including the eBay auction), bringing the grand total raised for Child's Play to $7,000. Wow... just wow. (I dropped in a little cash to make it an even $7,000 because I apparently have OCD)

A very special thanks to NetDevil, LEGO, Bond Street, Dawdle and Neuros for their donations as well as Scott Alexander, Mark Wilson, Robert Workman and all the people who showed up to have fun for charity.

So, what do you think? Should I host another Denver Funde Razor next year?

Fünde Razor

Child's Play Makes A Difference In Atlanta

Charity Gives Children Something To Play [CBS 46]

While Crecente and friends were throwing down in Denver to raise money for Child's Play with their Funde Razor 07 party, the other half of Funde Razor was raging in NYC's Barcade. Fortunately, the guys from Game Grump were there to document the occasion with some photos. From the looks of things, much rocking was done and a good time was had by all not to mention a little cuddle time with a massive Weighted Companion Cube. Man, that thing really gets around...

More pics after the jump

There's no way you're going to wrest that Companion Cube free from the clutches of its owner, but that doesn't mean you can't buy your own. Joel Johnson, besides launching and organizing Funde Razor, managed to deliver unto the charity-attending masses not one, not two, but three of these giant plushies. One was given away at Joel's Brooklyn event, one was given away at the Denver event and the third has been placed on eBay with all the proceeds going to Child's Play.

If you missed out on the events, or weren't lucky enough to win one, now's your chance to buy one for charity. We'll post the total money raised at Funde Razor (Brooklyn and Denver) once this auction wraps up.

Portal's Weighted Companion Cube Life-Sized Plush [eBay]

Wow, just wow. Yesterday's local Child's Play fund raiser was truly a humbling experience. I drove down to Denver about 2ish to unload all of the schwag (including donations from Mark and Joel) and then figure out how exactly to split the signal from an Xbox 360 so it could go into a house sound system, a ceiling mounted video projector and an off-stage television.

We finally got the whole thing figured out and tested about ten minutes before doors were set to open at 6 p.m. Five minutes after six I was still standing in an open room, starting to think that perhaps I had over estimated the interest in a local Child's Play fund raiser... but then the booking manager came up and asked if she should start letting people in.

"People? You mean there are people?"

OK, I'm outta here. I have to run down to Denver to pick up some bits and pieces for the big event tonight at the Walnut Room, then hop by the Rocky Mountain News, where they've been "holding" one of my Rock Band guitars, and then finally get over to the bar to set stuff up and test out the game.

Hope to see some of you there. For those of you planning on attending in Denver, it runs from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. and you'll need to be 21 or older to get in. The cover is a $10 minimum donation.

The ticket gets you, besides a warm fuzzy feeling inside, a door prize ticket. I'm bringing a mountain of swag with me to the fund raiser to give away including the Manhunt 2 straitjacket, one of those Wii bags from E3 06, a Metal Gear Solid multi-tool knife, a Lair lighter, a Valut Boy Fallout 3 bobble head, Zelda hourglass and more shirts than I want to even think about. We will also have a Limited Edition copy of Rock Band for the 360 on hand to giveaway and, of course, that life-sized companion cube.

If you're planning to attend the Brooklyn Funde Razor hit up the official site for the details.

Party Hard With Joel, Crecente and Rock Band

Just a reminder that Funde Razor, the annual Child's Play rock-off in Brooklyn and now Denver, kicks off this coming Wednesday night. I should, by then, be totally over my jet-lag.

Door prizes for the Denver event will include tons of gaming schwag (things like the Manhunt 2 straitjacket, the Ninja Gaiden DS stylus and a Zelda hourglass), a copy of Rock Band for the 360 and a life-sized Companion Cube plushie.

The party kicks off here in Denver at The Walnut Room at 6 p.m. and runs through 10 p.m. I'm told a lot of the local development crowd will be there, which is very cool of them. We will, if I have figured out the technical aspects correctly, be playing Rock Band on the stage. If I haven't, we will be trying to get Rock Band to work for most of the evening.

In Brooklyn the event kicks off at 8 p.m. at Barcade and runs through midnight. It sounds like Joel will have Rock Band and might also have Guitar Hero III on hand at his event.

Are any readers planning on coming to the Denver event or hitting up the event in Brooklyn?

Funde Razor

The Funde Razor Edges Ever Closer

As your Friday night plans are gelling, don't neglect next week's all-important Wednesday night festivities. While mine will include eating a pound of meat soaked in a to-be-determined Mexican sauce, combined with salty margaritas, those in the greater Denver and New York City areas should be adding one of the Funde Razor events to their to-do lists. The NYC gig throws down at gaming and drinking hotspot Barcade, in the heart of Brooklyn. The Denver flavored equivalent tears it up at the Walnut Room, which just oozes class. Both will be a raucously charitable time, featuring Rock Band and Guitar Hero gameplay, plus boozing, all benefiting Penny Arcade's Child's Play charity.

Donations are taken at the door and many coveted things will be given away to lucky raffle ticket holders. For more details on the event that puts the fun back into fund raiser, hit up the official site. Keep in mind, it's limited to those 21 and over. This may be your only chance to see Brian Crecente in a bird shirt or Joel Johnson in frilly scarf in person.

Funde Razor

What you see before you aren't just the coolest damn game-related plushies on the planet. They're not just life-sized, and very huggable Companion Cubes, no they're also the grand prizes for the Brooklyn and Denver Funde Razor events happening on Dec. 12 to raise money for Penny Arcade's Child's Play Charity.

That's right, not only can you hang-out with fellow gamers in Brooklyn and Denver and play a little Rock Band or Guitar Hero on a big-screen, but you have a chance at winning one of these Companion Cubes created by Diane Koss with the help of a grant from the Bond Street Group. Each of the two cubes, seen here sandwiching one standard-issue human female, will be awarded to one test subject in each Fünde Razor facility.

Also: We'll be giving away some LEGO, courtesy of Lego and Net Devil, co-creators of the upcoming LEGO Universe massively multiplay online videogame. More prizes to be announced as we get closer to the event.

Joel Johnson will be on hand at the FR in Brooklyn to make sure people get the goodies and I'll be on hand in Denver to rock out.

Hit the link to check out the complete details for the upcoming, and hopefully soon to be, annual event.

Funde Razor

When we first posted about the Desert Bus For Hope drive, in which a few unlucky charitable types would be forced to play through the bore-torture game Desert Bus for days upon end for a good cause, donations were at $2,000. As of this post, the outpouring of money from sadistic do-gooders is over $12,000. And that's Canadian dollars, too! The good kind! Donations don't appear to be slowing down either, so make sure to do your part to keep that bus a-rollin'.

If you haven't cursed the fate of the already long-suffering bus driving team members shackled to their computers, go on and drop 'em a couple bucks in the name of Child's Play. They'll hate you for it!

The Support Has Been Amazing! [Desert Bus For Hope]