What did you do last Sunday? Can you remember? Maybe you had a good old Sunday roast with an excellent pudding to finish. Maybe you had a lovely long lie-in and didn’t get out of bed until past midday. Maybe you sat on the sofa for most of your Sunday (like I did) playing video games.
Last Sunday, the Asics British 10k was running (no pun intended) in Central London. Ordinarily, we probably wouldn’t be paying attention to this but on this occasion, at an eye-opening 9:30am start, a crack team of twenty-six games journalists, marketing specialists and PR representatives got together to complete the run for gaming charity SpecialEffect. Think about bringing this up next time someone says gamers only sit around in darkened rooms, surrounded by empty crisp packets and soda bottles with a glaring monitor or TV for light and warmth.
SpecialEffect is a charity dedicated to helping all young people with disabilities enjoy computer games. Here at Ready Up, we’ve looked briefly at the potential of gaming for the blind for example but SpecialEffect work to bring games to young people with all disabilities. Some games might be too quick, too difficult, or controllers might not be disability-friendly. For SpecialEffect, everyone can play regardless of the severity of their disability, it’s just a matter of working out how. The charity helps children and their parents or carers find games that they can play and help them adapt those that they can’t. They create, develop and modify special technology and then loan it out to young people who need it. One of their most impressive examples is an eye-controlled computer system which helped a young person with cerebral palsy to play games and take part in creative activities, making music by looking at notes on a screen. Young people can try out the technology in SpecialEffect’s own onsite GamesRoom, but SpecialEffect also support hospitals, hospices and specialist schools, helping them to find the right equipment of their own. They have games and will travel, taking the technology to those who need it via roadshows.
Representatives from Microsoft, Ubisoft, NCSoft, Codemasters, Sega, Eurogamer, Audiomotion, Family Gamer and Spilt Milk clubbed together to support this worthy cause, proving that they can go the distance better than Mario at the Olympic Games or Sonic on a horse. The team cast aside controllers and keyboards to put their arms and legs to good use in other ways than running on the spot for Kinect Sports.
It apparently wasn’t enough just to run the race but they upped the difficulty and the hilarity factor by doing so in costume. Dan Maher, aka MrPointyHead, even did so as a scarily alluring and unshaved Lara Croft while a plant and a zombie from Popcap’s Plants Vs Zombies also found time to put their differences aside and shuffle towards the same goal. Horstachio from Viva Piñata no doubt strived to come first place, but it hasn’t been confirmed whether Sonic let everyone eat his dust, or whether Mario proved that all his sports training has paid off. But of course, it’s not really about the competing, it’s about the taking part and raising money for a good cause. Everyone managed to complete the course, proving that when gamers aren’t shooting each other in the back during games of Black Ops, they’re working together to do good in the world.
An estimated £11,000 was raised for SpecialEffect. Achievement unlocked! Well done to the runners, and everyone who donated!
SpecialEffect’s director, Mick Donegan, praised the team. “Once again, the Games Industry has done itself proud. An amazing achievement by all, raising much-needed funds which will make an immediate impact on the number of severely disabled people we can help. On behalf of them all, huge congratulations and many, many thanks.”
Kirsty Payne, SpecialEffect’s Vice President echoed the congratulations. “A huge thanks to everyone involved, the runners, organisers, supporters and sponsors, it was a brilliant day and a fantastic atmosphere, the SpecialEffect runner’s game character costumes really stood out in the crowd. Not only did we raise awareness for this brilliant video gaming charity, we raised a substantial amount of money and had a great day out! We’re already allocating SpecialEffect places for next year’s Olympic British 10K so just give us a shout if you’re interested in joining us.”
Special Effect encourage teams to fundraise for them at events such as the Three Peaks Challenge, European Marathons and the London Marathon. If you want to get involved, contact them through their website. The busy charity will also be present at the Develop Conference in Brighton on the 20th and 21st of July. Members of the team will be there to talk about current and future collaborations with developers to make accessible games.
Even though the race is over, you can still donate! Head over to the SpecialEffect 10K Just Giving page. To learn more about SpecialEffect, visit their website or Facebook page where you can also see some hilarious photos from the event. While you’re in a charitable mood, also check out GamesAid, which distributes funds to various charities on behalf of the UK video games industry.
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