Video Games and Charity Redux

My favorite online video game-based charity event kicks off its fifth edition today, so I’m in the mood to talk about that kind of thing for a little bit.

Mario Marathon has raised almost a quarter of a million dollars for Child’s Play Charity over the last four years.  Last year alone they raised $112,675.  It’s a fantastic event that I’ve always found extremely fun to watch and it’s all for a great cause.

I’ve been brainstorming an event inspired by Mario Marathon for a couple years now, an idea that’s turned into what I’m calling Retro Hockey Challenge.  A marathon of old-school hockey video games, played as a tournament.

I posted a full description of the idea last winter but recieved absolutely no feedback, so I put it on the back burner for awhile.  With Mario Marathon’s return, however, I’m inspired to take another look at it.

I think hockey is cool, hockey video games are cool, and charities that help sick kids are cool.  This is an idea that combines all of that.  But if it were just me, I’d play the games myself and donate to the charities myself.  I want to know what others think, and whether this could be an event that would draw some interest.

As I said in December…

So what I’m looking for from the community is feedback on this idea. Will it work at all? When do you think it would work best? Am I missing anything? Are you a blogger or gamer interested in playing?

Please provide any thoughts you can. Replying directly to this post (you can log in with a Twitter or Facebook account if you don’t want to create a DH.N account), tweeting to@detroithockey96 or @retrohockey, or posting to the DH.N Facebook page will all work.I look forward to hearing what the community has to say.