Let’s Watch Nerds Play Video Games to Save Lives
Summer Games Done Quick is live right now.
HOW MANY Y’ALL LIKE VIDEO GAMES? NOW HOW MANY Y’ALL LIKE WHEN HIGHLY TRAINED MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS PROVIDE ESSENTIAL AID TO PEOPLE IN SERIOUS NEED IN CONFLICT-STRICKEN AREAS OF THE GLOBE? Then boy do I have an event for you.
A couple of years ago, my esteemed co-editor Dubya introduced me to Games Done Quick, a semi-annual event that brings indoor kids from all over the world together to play video games really, really quickly for charity. Previous events have benefited cancer research and natural disaster relief. This week’s event, Summer Games Done Quick, is benefiting Médecins Sans Frontières (that’s Doctors Without Borders for all y’all non-fancy speakers). Through the course of a week, you’ll get 24-hour blocks of non-stop action. Over the years the Games Done Quick geeks have raised $15 million dollars for these extremely good ass charities. That’s a lot of sweaty nerd dough.
But why would you want to watch someone else play video games? I ask myself that question all the time when I consider the baffling popularity of things like Twitch and Let’s Plays on YouTube. At the same time, I look forward to every Games Done Quick because these gamers are really, really good. These folks have spent uncountable hours of their lives playing through one or two specific games to learn it inside and out, break it, and exploit it to get to the end as quickly as possible. You’ll get to watch highly trained nerds plow through obscure titles like Pepsiman and I Am Bread alongside a litany of Castlevanias, Marios, Legends of Zeldas, and Star Warses. It’s a good time and it’s for a really great cause. Watch the games right now.
