Mario Marathon kicks off 7th year for Child’s Play Charity

Those of you who’ve been around for a while may recall that Respawn Point is not the only group whose charity marathons I follow. The annual Mario Marathon has officially begun its 7th consecutive year behind the controller, tackling all of the main platforming games in the Mario franchise. As with every year, all proceeds go directly to Child’s Play Charity without the team ever touching it, and the cumulative donations unlock levels for the team to play for the duration of the marathon.

Mario Marathon has broadcast yearly since 2008 and raised over $415,000 leading up to this year’s event.

As if providing some escapism for sick children isn’t motivation enough, the team is also doing more contests more often this year to help bring in donations and spread the word. MM7 t-shirts are being raffled off every two hours to both donors and Twitter advertisers. To earn a raffle ticket, viewers can get one ticket per every $5 in donations, or a single ticket for tweeting a link to the marathon (no multiples). Other prizes will also be available, but what, when, and how are decided spur-of-the-moment. The only way to find out is to tune in to the show, and if you’re going to be there anyway, you may as well donate!

 

Obligatory Legal Crap

Mario, Luigi, Super Mario Bros, and all other games in the series (as well as their respective elements) are the property of Nintendo. Mario Marathon is not endorsed by Nintendo, but it’s not opposed by them either, which is why it’s gone on for seven years.

Child’s Play Charity is a non-profit organization that provides books, games, and other toys for children’s hospitals worldwide. I’m not completely sure what is and isn’t their property beyond their name and logo, so let’s leave it at that.

I am not directly affiliated with either Mario Marathon or Child’s Play Charity, but I am enough of a regular to the MM team that they routinely torture me with a ceramic pig.

Respawn Point Returns with Metal Gear Marathon

Well, it’s been awfully quiet around here for the last month. Between being sick for two weeks, sojourning to the Motor City Comic Con to meet John Barrowman, cleaning the basement, and getting a ton of hours at work, I’ve had a difficult time getting around to articles lately — and not even for lack of content, since I was dying to comment on Microsoft’s latest backpedaling or the fact that I found a complete and in-the-box Sega Master System at a yard sale for $20.

Luckily, charity is usually enough to motivate me to do just about anything, and our friends over at Respawn Point have given me just the push I need to get back into writing for you guys. As I type these words, the familiar faces of Zack Harrot, Jay Zeach, and Ash Blackledge are running the Metal Gear Marathon to benefit Special Effect.

…Well, as familiar as they can get with the camera so far away.

Sonic Marathon 4 Approaches Home Stretch

While many choose to reign in the new year with the ball drop in Times Square, the Respawn Point team and hundreds of viewers worldwide prefer a slightly different celebration. As I write this very article, the fourth annual Sonic Marathon is just a couple days away from completing its yearly week-long charity marathon.

Sonic Marathon 4 (or as it’s properly named, “Sonic Marathon 4: Episode 1”) is a non-stop barrage of games starring the famous blue hedgehog in an effort to raise money for charity. In addition to the continuous stream of games, the marathon offers various community events, such as donation challenges and daily raffles. At the end of the marathon, one lucky donor will win a grand prize on Saturday, January 4th at 3:oo PM GMT.

Mario Marathon 6: Short on time, big on donations

Everyone has something in their life that gives them a moment of instant bliss. For some it’s the sound of a baby laughing, while for others it could be the smell of fresh rain. For me, it’s the sight of grown men and women making fools of themselves over the internet.

Mario Marathon 6 just wrapped up this morning — which is a surprise to anyone that’s a long-time veteran of the event. In most cases, the Mariothon takes a week, but this year it was trimmed down to a weekend. While it is a bit sad that the shenanigans had to stop early, it’s also understandable: After all, these people have lives to tend to and responsibilities that get harder and harder to set aside each year. But does roughly half the time that mean it was half as entertaining?