Desert Bus is a game on Sega Genesis that was created in the 1995 as part of a game pack by Penn & Teller.

The objective of the game is to drive a bus from Tucson, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada in real time at a maximum speed of 45mph, a feat that would take the player 8 hours of continuous play to complete, as the game cannot be paused.

The bus contains no passengers, and there is no scenery or other cars on the road. The bus veers to the right slightly; as a result, it is impossible to tape down a button to go do something else and have the game end properly. If the bus veers off the road it will stall and be towed back to Tucson, also in real time. If the player makes it to Las Vegas, they will score exactly one point. The player then gets the option to make the return trip to Tucson—for another point (a decision they must make in a few seconds or the game ends). Players may continue to make trips and score points as long as their endurance holds out. Some players who have completed the trip have also noted that, although the scenery never changes, a bug splats on the windscreen over halfway through the first trip, and on the return trip the light does fade, with differences at dusk, and later a pitch black road where the player is guided only with headlights.

Last year, four guys created Desert Bus for Hope, a charity event to benefit Child’s Play. The more money you donate, the longer they have to play the game.

The second annual event is going on THIS weekend. If you’re a sick, twisted, sadistic person (like I am), go to desertbus.org to donate to this super amazing charity and bring a little bit more pain to these fantastic guys!

It’s quite obvious that I failed my NaBloPoMo task. Oddly enough, though, I’ve written about 20,000 words over about 4 days - one of those days I wrote 9,500+ words. If inspiration had hit me sooner, I’m pretty sure I could have written 50,000 words this month. But the words don’t come when I force them. Even if I had tried sooner, I probably wouldn’t have ended up with my new cool character and a fantastic story to go with it. All in all, I’m pleased with what little I’ve accomplished.

I find it strange that I can’t do any sort of daily routine, not even writing in a blog. Oh well, such is my life.

Today I spent my thanksgiving in the kitchen with my mom, watching VH1 classic marathon on Pink Floyd and trying very hard to forget that I have a Japanese placement test one week from today, in which I found out about only yesterday.* I discovered that there was a lot about that band that I had no idea about. Now I want to pull out Dark Side of the Moon or Animals and chill out. Did you know that Dark Side of the Moon has been on the billboard chart for 1633 weeks? That’s over 31 years … Geezes!

Reading the last post I wrote here makes me laugh. It almost seemed like I jinxed myself in regards to the placement test.

Don’t forget about Child’s Play! I had one super awesome random person donate some money, and now I love him for it! It’s so easy to get me to love you! Whether is $1 or $20 or $75, any amount will bring on the <3<3<3’s.

I’m going to get myself away from the TV now and try to fix this trainwreck of a piece that I started writing last night.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

*This gave me a nervous breakdown. It would have been nice to been given a little bit longer than one week to know about this!

I’m discovering that people aren’t really interested in donating to charity unless they get something back in return, or unless they can somehow make one person miserable in the name of charity. The people who ran Desert Bus last year comes to mind. They played the most boring game in the world for about 6 days, if I recall correctly. The more you donated, the longer they had to play. The four dudes who set this up raised over $22,000. :O!

The popular thing these days, at least in the realm of donations for Child’s Play, is setting up streaming video of a person or group of people playing a video game. I’m now working on my own idea for a live stream fundraising event. It involves video games and using my prowess of being female.

Before I make anything official, I need to work out the mechanics of how it’s all going to work. But definitely keep on the lookout for more updates.

I’m not exactly the most active person in my community. In fact, I tend to keep to myself. There are very very few causes in the world that gets my blood pumping and activates my need to do something that will make a difference. I don’t know if I have any volunteer hours under my belt at all. I know, it’s not good.

A few years ago, I became interested in a charity called Child’s Play. The charity was set up by the online comic about games and gamers known as Penny Arcade. Maybe some of you have heard of it. The charity was created as a direct result of people like Jack Thompson insisting that ALL gamers are murderers in the making. Our response? Over two million dollars raised since 2003.

The way Child’s Play works is the charity has a network of over 45 hospitals set up all over the world, and new hospitals are being added every year. The charity sets up Amazon wishlists for the hospital that includes games, toys, and books - all ranging between less than $5 to $400 (for consols like X-Box 360s and PS3s). Gamers can choose a hospital of their choice and pick one or more items to purchase for that particular hospital. Amazon will then ship the item(s) directly to that hospital. Easy as cake!

If you can’t decide which hospital to choose, you can donate money directly to Child’s Play’s paypal account, or you can send money to the address on the Child’s Play’s homepage.

All the toys, games, and consols stay with the hospital so that all kids have a chance to play during their hospital stay. Instead of being bored and constantly reminded of their illness, children can play on a DS or PSP in their bed; they can play multiplayer games with other sick kids on the X-BOX 360 you provided for them. They can read books, play with dolls, and forget about their troubles for at least a little while.

Best of all, YOU get the gratification that you’re doing something to make a difference in these children’s lives. They may not know you by name, but your contribution - whether it be $1 towards a Child’s Play fundraiser, the new DS system you picked out, or a $10 game - will create a little bit of happiness during their trying times.

On the right side of my page, you’ll find a little widget for donations. My personal goal is to raise $500 for Child’s Play. By clicking “ChipIn!” you will be redirected to a paypal page that will send money DIRECTLY to the Child’s Play paypal account. I know it says my email address, but I promise you that the money will go directly to Child’s Play.

Please help out any way you can. Even if it’s just $1, every little bit makes a difference.