The Speed Gamers

[Arcadenik]

Dec 20, 2009 12:12:31 GMT -5 Nester the Lark said:

Phil said they were going to 100% Mario Paint.

That's cool but how do you even get 100% in Mario Paint?

[Nester the Lark]

Dec 20, 2009 16:11:53 GMT -5 Arcadenik said:

That's cool but how do you even get 100% in Mario Paint?

You draw "100%" on the screen and give yourself a gold star?

Anyway, the Pokemon marathon is now over, and it came right down to the wire. The Speed Gamers evolved the 493rd pokemon eight minutes past the 72-hour timer, but some (including the Speed Gamers, themselves) would argue that they started at least 15 minutes late (after the start of the timer) anyway. Either way, it's close enough for me.

More importantly, they shattered their initial donation target of $15,000 with just over $17,500 at the end of the marathon, and donations are still coming in. (As I type this, they're on the verge of $18,000) And they will continue to accept donations until December 24.

Their next marathon is scheduled for next March, which will mark their second anniversary. They will be playing thru all of the Metroid games.

[nocturnal YL]

speeddemosarchive.com/marathon/
Looks like they've got a copycat.

[Nester the Lark]

TheSpeedGamers' Metroid Marathon will be starting tomorrow, March 12, at 7 pm EST/4 pm PST, and it'll last for 72 hours. They'll be playing thru all of the Metroid games (except for Prime Pinball) in chronological order.

During that time, they'll be raising money for the Halton Autistic Family Support Group.

[Nester the Lark]

Well, unfortunately, the Metroid Marathon wasn't exactly a rousing success.

First of all, it was more like the Metroid Prime 2 marathon, since the original player for MP2 couldn't participate due to some personal emergencies. This left other members of The Speed Gamers to do a blind run that seemed to take up more than half the marathon.

In fact, the marathon went into serious overtime because if it. They finally beat MP2 about four-and-a-half hours after the marathon was originally scheduled to end. They had already finished Super Metroid, Metroid Prime 3, and most of Metroid II, but they went ahead and played Metroid Fusion anyway. In a twist, they pitted two players against each other to race thru the game. The winner finished a little under two hours later.

Extending the marathon time wasn't just for finishing the games, however. It was an opportunity to rack up more donations for HAFS. Unfortunately, this marks the first time in The Speed Gamers short two-year history that they have failed to meet their initial donation goal, falling more than $3,500 short of their $15,000 target. According to comments from the team, overall viewership was down, but the ratio of donations-to-viewers was actually pretty good. Still, it's disappointing.

Anyway, looking ahead to the next marathon, The Speed Gamers will be playing thru all of the Mother/Earthbound games. It will appropriately take place on Mother's Day weekend, starting May 7.

[Wildcat]

That's too bad. Hopefully they'll have more success next time.

[Nester the Lark]

TheSpeedGamers' Mother/Earthbound marathon will be starting tomorrow, May 7, at about 7 pm EDT/4 pm PDT. They will be playing thru all three of the Mother/Earthbound games over (appropriately) Mother's Day weekend.

ChuggaaConroy will be participating by playing thru Earthbound. He was previously part of TheSpeedGamers' Pokemon marathon, and as a request from a donor, they prank called him during the Metroid marathon:

(Warning: loud audio)


TheSpeedGamers will be attempting to raise $10,000 for Susan G. Komen for the Cure, an organization that supports women with breast cancer, as well as raises money for cancer research. If they manage to reach $20,000, a sponsor will add another $1,000 on top of that.

More details about the marathon here

[Nester the Lark]

The Mother/Earthbound marathon has come to an end. It was a fairly subdued marathon compared to some of their others, but it was only 48 hours. They did not extend the marathon time because they were able to meet their $10,000 target about 45 minutes ahead of schedule.

Also, as often happens, they had some problems with the games. Of the three games they had planned (Mother, Earthbound, and Mother 3), they only managed to finish the first game (GBA version with English patch). ChuggaaConroy made two separate attempts at Earthbound. The first time, something happened to his cartridge and the game froze. The second time, his laptop overheated (which is a shame, because he was having a phenomenal speed run). And somehow, their copy of Mother 3 suffered from some data corruption or something, so they couldn't finish it, either.

Anyway, their next marathon is a week-long/168-hour Mario marathon scheduled for June. (I can't remember the exact date.) During the Mario marathon, Steve Wiebe will be making another attempt at the Donkey Kong world record, and it will be streamed live.

[Johans Nidorino]

Too bad, I missed this... But I'll keep an eye on the Mario marathon.

[Fryguy64]

I think the problem is that they're doing them too often. When they started they were occasional events that brought in a lot of cash. Gamers would get behind them because it was a charity event they could enjoy as entertainment as well.

But they seem to be doing one every month now, which means it's less of an event, less people are watching, and so there will be fewer donations.

[Nester the Lark]

I don't think it's necessarily TheSpeedGamers or their schedule. They're college students, and they can only hold marathons when they have time (during breaks and holidays), and it seems to average about every 2-3 months. But they're not the only group that holds gaming marathons for charity, so it may seem like it's more often.

I think the novelty has worn off, tho. Maybe that's why they got Steve Wiebe. But they still have a dedicated fan base, and they often have 1,000 or more viewers on their live stream.

I would consider the Mother marathon a success, however, since they met their target. I only mentioned it was subdued since they didn't do as many outrageous stunts as they have in previous marathons, and the "party" atmosphere that usually forms at the end of the marathon didn't materialize this time. (Altho, they did have a clever way of ending it.)

[Nester the Lark]

TheSpeedGamers' Mario Marathon starts today at about 7 pm EDT/4 pm PDT, and will last until June 18th, so it's a full week of just about every Mario game they could get their hands on (including Hotel Mario ). You can check out their schedule for when all of the games will be played, so you know when to see your favorites.

Also, sometime during the marathon, Donkey Kong pro and star of The King of Kong, Steve Wiebe, will be making another attempt at the Donkey Kong world record, and it will be streamed live. It is not listed on the schedule because it will be streamed alongside the regular content. An exact date and time has not been revealed.

The charity they are playing for this time is ACT Today, which helps out families who have autistic children. Their initial goal is a lofty $50,000.

[Nester the Lark]

I wrote a post over at LVLs. on the results of the Mario marathon, which you can find here.

Something I didn't mention in the post is that Chuggaaconroy removed his mask during the marathon. Not that I particularly cared, but I guess Chuggaa was known for never showing his face, and during the Metroid marathon, he always wore a mask. But this time, I guess he decided that wearing a mask all week would be annoying, so for a certain number of donations, he took the mask off and showed his face for the first time. (Shortly thereafter, he was asked to put it back on. )

Also, Britt (founder of TheSpeedGamers) said that so far, this was his favorite marathon, and he put together a montage video to commemorate it:

[Nester the Lark]

I forgot to mention it here. TheSpeedGamers have been having a "Summer of Zelda." All this month, between July 1 and August 1, TheSpeedGamers are spending a few hours per day playing through various Zelda games. The stream starts at about 6 pm EDT/3 pm PDT, and it lasts for a few hours. They're playing everyday except Sundays.

You can see the schedule for what games they're playing, and when here. (They're even playing the CDi Zelda's.)

Instead of collecting donations for charity, they're asking viewers to vote for ACT Today in the Pepsi Refresh Project. If they come in either first or second place, Pepsi will grant $250,000 to ACT Today to help autistic children in military families. It doesn't cost anything to vote. You only need either a Facebook or Pepsi account. You can vote once per day.

In related news, throughout various marathons, TheSpeedGamers have raised over $100,000 dollars for ACT Today. Recently, Britt, founder of TheSpeedGamers, was actually offered a job at ACT Today, which he accepted.

[Johans Nidorino]

I'm enjoying the fanarts Anatotitan has been doing of memorable characters from various Zelda games.

Dodongo
Error
Bully and Friend
Koholint Owl
Saria
Odolwa
Moosh
King of Red Lions

EDIT: Oh, wow, I found a pattern. Next should be a character from the Four Swords series.