Here's why. We'll have Rock Band and DJ Hero up on stage for all to play, a free console arcade set up on the second floor, a GIANT disco ball under which people could dance if they so choose, silent auction items to bid on, a mountain of swag to win and..

AND one of the door prizes will be a copy of the limited edition, impossible-to-buy Uncharted 2: Fortune Hunter's Edition for the Playstation 3.

It's just a minimum $10 donation to get in the doors and you need to 16 or older, though you'll need to be 21 to buy drinks. The party runs from 6 p.m. to midnight on Nov. 19 at the grand old Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom in downtown Denver.

People will be there and most, if not all of them, will not be square.

Do you want to be square? I don't think so.

You know what to do!

Let's walk through what here:

Three copies of the rare Marvel Vs Capcom 2 vinyl mix tape.
A Brutal Legend statue.
A copy of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Fortune Hunter's Edition
A limited edition, hand-signed and numbered print by Scott Belcastro with letter from the founder and curator of i am 8-bit.
A collector's Edition of Tekken 6 for the Xbox 360.
A rare 3L colored and etched bottle of 8BitVintners wine.
A Tatsunoko vs. Capcom hoodie signed by producer Ryota Niitsuma.

I'll be posting the silent auction details next week, but all of this along with a ton of schwag, free play on stage for DJ Hero and Rock Band and an arcade console will be available to everyone who comes to the 16 and older Kotaku Child's Play Fundraiser on Nov. 19 in Denver.

Check out the details, location and time here.

Last year our annual fundraiser drew in a crowd of about 300 people before hitting capacity, this year we have room for more than 500.

The event is open to anyone 16 or older and kicks off at 6 p.m., running until midnight. If you are 21 or older, don't forget your ID so you can get a wristband to purchase drinks.

We're asking for a minimum donation of $10 to get in and get a door prize ticket. We will be giving away a huge amount of swag including more than 70 T-Shirts, a custom straight jacket, a Guitar Hero drum seat, a popcorn machine and Divinity Dragon knives.

There will also be a silent auction for a number of items including a copy of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Fortune Hunter's Edition, which comes with a CD of the game's soundtrack and a copy of the Brady Games guide; a 3L etched bottle of 8BitVintners wine, rare Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 mixtape vinyls, a collector's edition Chun-Li statue, a Capcom hoodie signed by Niitsuma and limited edition Brutal Legend Statue.

Once again Gabe of Death of the Arcade will be running the free Rock Band and DJ Hero gameplay up on Cervantes' mammoth stage. Since we have two set-ups, we'll be able to cycle through people much faster.

On the second floor, Greg of Colorado Cutthroat will be running a free console arcade which will include a chance to play Tekken 6, Street Fighter IV, BlazBlu, Smash Bros. Brawl, Soul Calibur 4, Halo 3 and Modern Warfare 2 on a number of set-ups.

It sounds like this year is going to be quite a blast, so mark your calendars now! Did I mention that Cervantes has a gi-normous disco ball? Because it totally does!!

In a nutshell: The event will be at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom in downtown Denver on Nov. 19. Doors open at 6 p.m. and close at midnight. Sixteen and older to get in and a minimum $10 donation. Be there and have fun... for a good cause.

If you can't make it you can always donate directly to Child's Play.

So much I've decided to break down the freebies over a number of posts yesterday and today.

Seen here is a misappropriated U.S. Mail box and some poster tubes, and a FedEx space shuttle. Inside? An absurd amount of posters, art and books, lots of books.

Keep in mind all of these will be giving away during the fundraiser as door prizes. The fundraiser in Denver will run from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. tonight at The Mercury Cafe.

Each of the three fundraisers will have their own goodies to give away. This is just for Denver, and only some of the list.

But what about those of you who don't live in Denver, or even in Manhattan or San Francisco? Don't worry I'm cooking up something extra special for the rest of you readers. I'll make sure to announce that contest on Thursday.

Funde Razor Details

Seen here is a two boxes. Inside? Shirts, lots and lots of shirts, including one starring Chuck Norris and that sweet Madworld shirt. You'll also see hats, a helmet even the infamous Street Fighter II Tubo HD Remix press kit.

Keep in mind all of these will be giving away during the fundraiser as door prizes. The fundraiser in Denver will run from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. tonight at The Mercury Cafe.

Each of the three fundraisers will have their own goodies to give away. This is just for Denver, and only some of the list.

But what about those of you who don't live in Denver, or even in Manhattan or San Francisco? Don't worry I'm cooking up something extra special for the rest of you readers. I'll make sure to announce that contest on Thursday.

Funde Razor Details

There's a lot of stuff in there. How much? So much I've decided to break down the freebies over a number of posts today and tomorrow. This is our third of the day. The rest of the goodies will be posted tomorrow.

Seen here is a long brown box. Inside? A very eclectic mix including, two N-Gage with too many games, a Capcom cigar, Castlevania whip, lots of keychains and stickers, license plates, little sculptures, potpourri, Okami potpourri to be exact and more.

Keep in mind all of these will be giving away, one item at a time, during the fundraiser as door prizes. The fundraiser in Denver will run from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. tomorrow at The Mercury Cafe.

Each of the three fundraisers will have their own goodies to give away. This is just for Denver, and only some of the list.

But what about those of you who don't live in Denver, or even in Manhattan or San Francisco? Don't worry I'm cooking up something extra special for the rest of you readers. I'll make sure to announce that contest on Thursday.

Funde Razor Details

Seen here is a big brown box. Inside? LEGOs, bags, cases, keyboard, all kinds of weird stuff.

Keep in mind all of these will be giving away, one item at a time, during the fundraiser as door prizes. The fundraiser in Denver will run from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. tomorrow at The Mercury Cafe.

Each of the three fundraisers will have their own goodies to give away. This is just for Denver, and only some of the list.

But what about those of you who don't live in Denver, or even in Manhattan or San Francisco? Don't worry I'm cooking up something extra special for the rest of you readers. I'll make sure to announce that contest on Thursday.

Funde Razor Details

Seen here is the spectacular giveaways donated by Chumby, Activision, Harmonix, Sony, Microsoft Xbox, Microsoft Zune, TokyoFlash, Elementl Case and Neuros.

But what about those of you who don't live in Denver, or even in Manhattan or San Francisco? Don't worry I'm cooking up something extra special for the rest of you readers. I'll make sure to announce that contest on Thursday.

Keep in mind all of these will be giving away, one item at a time, during the fundraiser as door prizes. The fundraiser in Denver will run from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. tomorrow at The Mercury Cafe.

Here are some of the highlights:

Rock Band 2 autographed by the developers
Guitar Hero World Tour with Travis Barker drumsticks
TokyoFlash Rogue watch
A Gears of War Zune with Zune gift certificate
A Chumby
Neuros SD digital video recorder
Playstation Portable Ratchet and Clank pack with Buzz Master Quiz
Xbox 360 Arcade
Element iPhone case with four lids

Each of the three fundraisers will have their own goodies to give away. This is just for Denver, and only some of the list.

Funde Razor Details

Ledonne and I have a long history: I was the first person to speak with him on the record, for the Rocky Mountain News, later I interviewed him about the Dawson shooting and then broke the news of his game being pulled from the Slamdance Game Festival. While Ledonne and I haven't always seen eye-to-eye, I've always found his take on things thoughtful and interesting. So the discussion should be as well.

It's part of the film festival because Ledonne's documentary, Playing Columbine, will be shown during the fest. If you're in the Denver area and want to check it out the details for the talk can be found over on the film fest page.

Events: Deadly Games: Echoes of Columbine [Denver Film Festival]

The Clinton's didn't spend their pre-speech prep early this week playing team deathmatch Call of Duty 4.

Delegates didn't forego Joe Biden's rowdy all-nighter (I hear some of the Black-Eyed Peas and Snoop Dog were there) to catch some time with Gears of War 2.

Gaming amidst one of the biggest political gatherings of the year is a little more staid, make that a lot more staid.

One of the only public appearance by the monolithic video game industry at the week-long Democratic National Convention in Denver this week was by Microsoft and its Xbox 360.

Microsoft's State Government Affairs folks set up shop in a back bleacher section of the Rocky's Coors Field during Tuesday's A Day at Coors Field. Their demonstration area was packed with flat screen televisions, Xbox 360s, copies of MLB 2K8 and of course one large couch.

"Where better to talk about families and games then in the living room," Fred Humphries told me as I sat down to chat with him. Humphries, managing director of state government affairs for Microsoft's US Legal Corporate Affairs, flew into Denver to help oversee Microsoft, and the Xbox's, showing at the week-long convention.

"We're here to highlight the family settings for the Xbox 360 and talk about ratings," he said. "Education is so important when it comes to the Xbox. We are here to tell people about Play Smart, Play Safe."

The morning event at Coors Field, which gave VIPs, politicians and delegates a chance to hit some balls out on the field of Coors, gave the company access to a stream of politicians in an environment where Microsoft hoped they could get their message across about gaming.

In particular Humphries and his group told delegates and others about how parents can set up a console to only allow their children to play games with certain ratings. They also explained the timer, which allows parents to limit the amount of time gamers can play in a given day or session.

The group also hands out literature to delegates including Microsoft's Family Guide to Video Games and Entertainment and a pamphlet that encourages parents to sit down with their children and actually write out an agreement that spells out how much and what type of games a child can play and when.

"We fully support parents talking to kids," Humphries said.

Humphries and his group make the rounds at a lot of political events around the country every year, he said, and they will definitely be at the Republic National Convention when it takes over Saint Paul early next month.

Microsoft's appearance at the DNC comes a week after the company announced they were teaming up with Rock the Vote to encourage voting through their Xbox Live service.

While education was the thrust of the booth, it was packed with Xbox 360 kiosks. Each system had MLB 2K8 set up to play. The consoles were also loaded with a collection of retro arcade and casual games, perhaps to try and strike a chord with some of the older delegates, like Pac-Man and Uno.

Pong was nowhere to be seen.

The Mario Kart Wii Driving School has been slowly, quietly making its way across the country, allowing gamers to check out the game in the confines of a glass display truck.

The truck hits Denver (across from Skyline Park on the corner of 16th and Arapahoe streets) this Friday at 11 a.m. and is open for business till 8 p.m. It will also be around Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The gamers who swing by to check out the courses and vehicles walk away with an official Mario Kart driver's license that includes their photo, nickname and vehicle of choice.

I think Tristan and I are going to try and make that, sounds like fun.

Take this for what it is, a rumor in the truest sense of the word, rumblings, something most certainly not proven true... yet. Word has it that publishing and development behemoth Electronic Arts is weighing the idea of opening a development studio right here in Colorado, perhaps close to or in Denver.

Why would they do that? Good question. While Colorado is slowing growing as a good place to develop games, with the likes of Idol Minds, NetDevil and Sony Online Entertainment - Denver setting up shop here, it's still not exactly a no brainer. The only thing I could come up with is that it's a place that lots of people visit or want to live and compared to places like San Francisco, and increasingly LA, the cost of living is much, much lower.

We contacted Electronic Arts for comment this morning and haven't heard a thing back. I'll make sure to update if and when they reply.

Update: EA tells me that "We do not currently have plans to open a facility there."

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?"

Turns out there was a line, a line that didn't really dissipate until closer to when the event ended at 10 p.m. In fact at one point they had to stop letting people in because we had exceeded the 142 fire code capacity for the back room... by a lot I suspect.

Attendees included members of the local Game Developers Association, people from the local studios (I talked to people from SOE Denver and NetDevil and suspect Idol Minds was in the house as well) and a lot more readers then I had thought would make it. One couple drove the 100 miles or so from Pueblo to attend, even getting a room for the night in Denver. Wow.

The entire night was spent watching people up on stage playing Rock Band, something that never seems to get old, especially when a light system and concert sound is involved. There were some amazing singers, guitarists and drummers there last night, including not a few expert level players.

I ended up giving out the schwag over the course of the event, and even got a few on-site donations of stuff from Game Daily and Dave Thomas (who snuck a free copy of the Videogame Style Guide into his donation). About 9 p.m. I gave away that amazingly cuddly Companion Cube, but not before giving it a big hug. (For the record Luke, I did not have sex with that Companion Cube.)

The winner, Mike Kappus, of Broomfield, took to the stage and admitted he had no idea what a Companion Cube was, and then shouted out to the audience that he would sell it to the first taker for $50, which he wanted to go to the fund raiser. The first-taker, Erik Rieger, of Denver, ended up giving $80 to Child's Play and then hoisted it above his head with a bit of a maniacal look in his eyes... I told him that the cake was in the other room and we all had a good laugh.

It was a good time for a good cause and I can't thank the people who came enough for helping to make this happen. Thanks again to Robert Workman for the donations, taking pictures for me and helping out on the stage and to the NetDevil folks for donating a ton of LEGOs, which were shipped direct to Brooklyn for Joel's Funde Razor.

I'll be posting an update later today with the final amount raised from the Denver event and more photos, but we definitely topped $1000. Joel tells me his Brooklyn event blew away past Funde Razors.

Ps. Send any pics you may have taken at the event and we'll add them to our gallery.

Big, big thanks to Phillip, Robert and others for the snaps!

Funde Razor

It may be 20 degrees out right now, it may be snowing, it may be icy, but tomorrow I expect sunshine, if not in Denver then at least in The Walnut Room.

Why? Well because that's when we're doing the first ever local Funde Razor here in Denver. 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.

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

Next week, next Wednesday (Dec. 12 to be precise) I will be hanging out at the Walnut Room in Denver hoping to help raise a bit of cash for Child's Play through the first ever Denver Funde Razor: Hall of the Mountain Gods! OK, I made that last bit, the Gods bit, up, but it does have a nice ring to it.

If you're interesting in stopping by to play some Rock Band on stage, drink some beer and perhaps win some goodies all for the good of Child's Play check out the official Funde Razor site for details on both the Denver event and the Brooklyn one, hosted by Mountain Man Joel Johnson. If you do plan on coming to the Denver event hit up the Walnut Room from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. If you plan on Brooklyn, get to Barcade between 8 p.m. and midnight.

Funde Razor

Apparently we've unhinged Jack.

After Kotaku dissected Jack Thompson's latest appearance on national television trying to connect the tragedy at Virginia Tech with video games, the attorney started emailing us... again.

First Jack tried to tie us to allegations that a 14-year-old made a threat against the University of California Berkley campus by emailing one of the sergeants of the campus police. After speaking with the sergeant actually handling the investigation (not the one Jack emailed) I was told that there was nothing to worry about.

Next Jack asked us to remove our analysis of his misstatements on national television and when we politely declined he faxed the FBI in Colorado:

Dear FBI:

This web site at the below url is targeting me:

http://kotaku.com/gaming/virginia-tech/breaking-idiot-thompson-blames-va-shooting-on-games-252702.php

I ask that something be done by the FBI to stop this or prosecute it:

Kyle81 says: Actually the VT shootings are now the biggest mass shooting in US history with 31 dead, not just school shooting. Jack should be shot for taking the opportunity to leech off a tragedy to push his own agenda 04/16/07 03:25 PM

Regards, Jack Thompson

I quickly got on the phone with my friends at the agency (they were among the agencies I covered for five years as a police reporter in Denver) and found out that they hadn't yet processed the fax. I was also told that it was unlikely they would handle such an investigation, if one was even needed, but that the local police might look into it.

Finally, I asked about the fed's policy on pursuing charges for filing a false report... but I'll get to that later. Brian Crecente

Update To be clear, while we fully support freedom of speech we're not such big fans of pointless threats. So stop making them. If nothing else that make gamers look like a bunch of immature hot heads.

Well, a thing.

I've been meaning to get out to the new Frederic C. Hamilton Building of the Denver Art Museum since it was completed late last year, but I just haven't had a the time.

I'm assuming I'm not the only one either, so forgive the lateness of this article.

Reader Brett points out that a particular installation in the new wing of the museum includes a painting which has a gi-normous Lakitu (the cloud guy who throws stuff at ya in Super Mario Bros.) in it.

The painting is part of a collection called RADAR: Selections From the Collection of Vicki & Kent Logan which is made up of modern art from the '90s and 2000s.

The piece featuring Lakitu is Gewinn by Michael Majerus. Now I'm definitely going to have to get out to the museum. I already missed the On the Road scroll and I can't take that sort of disappointment twice. Brian Crecente

I just saw a HUGE Lakitu . . . you'll never guess where! [Videogamemm]

The Sony Online Entertainment-Denver folks were kind enough to have me by their office last night, and then to a suite to watch the Rockies game.

SOE-Denver just moved into their new digs and the place had that new office smell, it also hadn't yet been SOE-ized yet. Sony was still in the process of sending out some neat SOE-flavored decorations. Brian Crecente

By: Brian Crecente

Denver's mass transit system voted down this week a proposal to ban video game ads from its buses and trains, deciding to side with common sense rather than Boston and Portland.

Earlier this week the Regional Transportation District rejected the suggested ban 12-3, citing concerns about freedom of speech.

The ban on adult-rated games was recommended by a committee to the full board after the Parents Television Council and the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood floated the idea.

"It was a tough decision because I think our hearts as a board were with trying to limit exposure to advertisements that promote violence," Boulder board member John Tayer told the Associated Press. "But the overwhelming weight of the legal advice was that if we pursued this, we would face an uphill battle in court."

The council was not present at the vote this week, but a representative said in February that by running mature and adult rated video game ads RTD is doing the residents of Colorado a disservice "with its tacit approval for the dangerous content in the mature-rated video games."

On Wednesday Peggi O'Keefe of the Entertainment Software Association said the proposal was unnecessary and unconstitutional. The industry's Entertainment Software Rating Board enforces strict guidelines about which games are appropriate for minors and how those products can be advertised, she said.

Current RTD policy prohibits deceptive, illegal or obscene material and ads for tobacco products, while requiring that ads be "of a reputable character."

The Council's call for the ban comes after both Boston and Portland put similar bans in place for their mass transit systems.

I spoke with Gavin McKiernan, the National Grassroots Director for the Parents Television Council, earlier this month about the council's decision to try and have a ban passed in Denver.

He said the original idea came from the council's Denver chapter director after he spotted a Grand Theft Auto ad on an RTD train.

"He had seen some of the success in the group we had partnered with in a similar campaign in Boston," he said. "And decided to pursue it in Denver."

I asked McKiernan why they had decided to make their proposal so specific, asking only for a ban on adult or mature-rated video games and not for other things like mature television shows, movies or alcohol.

He said that while the group would be interested in expanding the ban to include adult programming on television, the current rating system would make that quite difficult.

"With advertising television programs its difficult to tie (a show) to a specific rating," he said. "With video games they have the ESRB ratings. "

"We don't put any credence in the television rating programs because they rate their own."

Is it the desire to ban adult and mature video games then, I asked, spurred in part because of the medium rather than the content?

"It's a bit of both," he said. "The bigger concern is with the medium."

What about movies, would the council seek to have ads for adult movies banned?

"There's a difference," he said. "For one, movies and movie theaters have a good history of policing themselves about who can see what. Anecdotally most people assume there is a law saying you can't go see an R rated movie if you are under a certain age."

"The video game industry doesn't have a good history of keeping adult video games out of childrens' hands. We don't anticipate having a similar campaign for movies because of the lack of enforcement (of ratings for) video games."

At least he's up front about his ignorance of the system.