Tag Archives: Charity

Train2Game News: SpecialEffect Item in Team Fortress 2

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Virtual ViewfinderSpecialEffect today announced that the first of their three premium in-game items for Team Fortress 2 has been released in the in-game store through Valve’s Steam Workshop platform.

The item, called The Virtual Viewfinder, produced as a result of their initiative with SEGA Europe Ltd., is available for purchase for £2.99 in the Mann Co. Store, where SEGA’s proceeds of each sale will go direct to the charity.

Mark Saville, Communications Officer at SpecialEffect, said “This is a huge day for us in terms of how the gaming community is able to support our work helping people with disabilities to play video games. It’s the first in-game donation stream that we’ve had, and we’re excited that gamers now have such a direct and engaging way of helping.”

James Schall, Director of Digital Distribution at SEGA Europe, said, “We’ve been blown away by the support from the community. The wonderful comments across the web supporting what we’ve done are incredibly humbling for the team and now gamers can directly support SpecialEffect and get their hands on some great items in one go.”

He added, “I’m a proud ambassador of SpecialEffect and a huge fan of the way they use technology to enrich the lives of those with disabilities. We enjoy a fruitful and collaborative relationship with Valve based on mutual respect; it’s great to be able to use this relationship to drive awareness and revenue for this fantastic charity.”

Players can purchase the item at:

http://store.teamfortress.com/itemdetails/170966833

Train2Game News: SpecialEffect’s first Crowd Funding Project

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SpecialEffect SpecialEffect, the charity that enables people with disabilities to play games through adapted technology, have today appealed to all gamers to support their first ever crowdfunding project, codenamed PLAYING WITH YOUR EYES.

SpecialEffect aims to raise £5950/€6955/$9190 in order to purchase one new specialist Eye Control unit. This equipment will help many people with severe disabilities to enjoy and play games, levelling the playing field and creating a better quality of life. If they raise double the amount, SpecialEffect will buy two of these amazing pieces of equipment. Eye Control technology can be particularly helpful for those suffering from locked-in syndrome, motor neurone disease, muscular dystrophy and cerebral palsy amongst many others conditions. Together with the technical and medical expertise of the SpecialEffect team, Eye Control technology can not only enable people to access and play games, but assist with rehabilitation, build self-esteem and help create a better quality of life through playing games.

But it’s not all one way. In return for the pledges made by supporters, apart from the amazing reward of knowing that your pledge will help many people with disabilities to enjoy games, SpecialEffect have designed a range of rewards. Whether it’s being included on the ‘Roll of Honour’, being featured in the ‘Video Credits’, or a place on the ‘Virtual Plaque’, there are unique rewards available for all supporters. At the top of the list is being invited to visit for a full day at the SpecialEffect National Accessible Games Centre’ where supporters get to meet the team and see the fantastic work they do.

And here’s what a difference this campaign can make – “The look on Henry’s face when he first used the eye-gaze to control something on screen was indescribable… for the first time he could play with something completely on his own. It was a landmark moment for us as a family.” Rob, Henry’s Dad.

CEO of SpecialEffect, Dr Mick Donegan commented – “We set up, create, lend and support the use of specialist games controllers from our library of equipment. Everyone we work with is different. Some of the people we work with find it difficult or impossible to control parts of their body other than their eyes. In these instances we use computers which are controlled just by moving your eyes.

“The demand for this work is growing all the time, so we are asking the gaming community, who have always been enormously supportive of our work, to help SpecialEffect through crowdfunding. The PLAYING WITH YOUR EYES project will help us meet this growing demand and enable us to purchase this very special piece of eye-controlled equipment in order to reach and help more and more people with disabilities to play games”

The crowdfunding project PLAYING WITH YOUR EYES launches on Gambitious at 10am on 13th September 2013 and will run for 30 days until Saturday 12th October 2013 and you can watch the video and pledge your support here –www.gambitious.com/projects/3576

To meet the team and see with your own eyes the amazing work that SpecialEffect do and to try out Eye Control game playing for yourself, please visit the SpecialEffect team at The EuroGamer Expo between 26th September to 29th September at Earl’s Court, London.

Train2Game News: Eurogamer after party

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Eurogamer after partyUK independent gaming news, reviews and previews site, StickTwiddlers, have announced the details for this year’s StickTwiddlers Eurogamer Expo After Party to raise funds for the charity SpecialEffect.

Sponsored by NCSOFT, ArenaNet and Carbine Studios, the StickTwiddlers Eurogamer Expo 2013 After Party is set to be a celebration of the past and current generation of gaming as we head ever closer to the release of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles, due for release later this year.

The event is taking place on Saturday 28th, September at The Pembroke where the gaming industry and public can enjoy an evening of drinks, prizes, tournaments and more with some of gaming’s most iconic characters. Music is being provided once again by the fantastic GamerDisco with other surprises to be announced on the night.

“We’re consistently blown away by the volume of requests we get around Eurogamer Expo time to throw another Eurogamer Expo after party,” says Ben Cordell, co-owner and editor of StickTwiddlers. “We’re hoping to make this year even better than the previous two as well as raising plenty of funds for our favourite charity, SpecialEffect. It’s truly going to be a night to remember for a fantastic cause.”

Entry to the event costs a mere £8 with proceeds going to SpecialEffect, a charity that helps those with disabilities enjoy gaming. Attendees will also be provided with 2 free drinks on entry as well as the opportunity to take part in the charity raffle and gaming tournaments, featuring fantastic prizes up for grabs.

Last year’s event brought Earl’s Court to a standstill as an army of zombies took to the streets before entering the party. Tickets sold out in a remarkable 6 hours and the event raised an astounding £2,100 for SpecialEffect. You can see a gallery of last year’s party on the StickTwiddlers website.

For more details on what to expect at this year’s StickTwiddlers Eurogamer Expo After Party and to purchase tickets, check out the FAQ on the StickTwiddlers website.

Train2Game News: SpecialEffect Football tournament

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SpecialEffect SpecialEffect the games charity who helps the disabled to play games again is holding a charity Football tournament.

At the Wembley Stadium Powerleague venue on 5 September, you can battle for the SpecialEffect Trophy in a Football Tournament.

You’ll only need to raise a squad of seven for this Champions League format competition, which has full event management from Powerleague, including referees! The entry fee is £250 per team, which includes a donation to the work that we’re doing to level the playing field for gamers with disabilities.

Kick-off is at 1pm, and there’s a licensed bar for essential rehydration afterwards.

SpecialEffect do amazing work to get people with life changing disablities to play video games again. Allowing them to enjoy themselves much the way we do when playing our beloved games.

Register either by submitting your match fee at www.justgiving.com/SpecialEffectWembley or paying by cheque/ bank transfer to SpecialEffect. Any questions, contact Nick Streeter (nick@specialeffect.org.uk) or call 01608 810055.

Train2Game News: Opportunity to work with SpecialEffect on once in a lifetime project

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Special Effect logoSpecialEffect have an exciting opportunity for a talented programmer from the Train2Game student pool.

SpecialEffect are working on a very exciting, helpful new project. The games charity is creating a fully accessible chess game for absolutely anyone to play, no matter what disability they may have.

The plan for the game is to be able to use any body part to play the game or even using the power of the mind thanks to technology such as the EPOC system. SpecialEffect specialise in creating hardware and software that is simple to use for people with all abilities.

The charity require a programmer to help finish off the work they have been doing on the project. This could be a once in a life time opportunity to work on an amazing project and really make a difference in the lives of so many people who may have trouble playing games in the fashion we are all so used to.

The charity are looking for a C++ programmer and the programmer who has developed the software so far will be available to give support.

This is an unpaid position but working on this project would be a brilliant addition to your CV as it will get some a lot of attention from the games industry media and possibly national media.

Dr Mick Donegan, Founder and CEO of SpecialEffect, said “Anyone who is potentially interested is welcome to get in touch and we’ll happily send the existing code for them to look at. We’ll also demo what we’ve got and talk them through what’s required to finish off the game.”

If you are interested in the job get in contact with at mick@specialeffect.org.uk

Train2Game News: SpecialEffect needs the help of Train2Game students with Steam initiative

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Team Fortress 2 SpecialEffectSpecialEffect is asking for the help of Train2Game students who use Valve’s Steam system! The charity who provide video gaming equipment to people with disabilities need your votes.

A few select artists from the Steam community have created SpecialEffect themed items for the game Team Fortress 2 and with your votes they can be in game this summer! The items that have been designer are: a viewfinder, cabinet and belt pack. 99% of the profits from these items will go to help disabled players enjoy games to the best of their abilities thanks to the work done by SpecialEffect.

This idea is the brainchild of James Schall, SEGA’s Director of Digital Distribution.

“Demand for SpecialEffect‘s help is rocketing,” said James. “And I’m excited about the potential of these generous artwork donations to kickstart a big-hearted response from the TF2 community to help meet that demand.”

“It’s a fantastic gesture,” said charity CEO Mick Donegan. “Gamers get what we’re trying to do, and to get that support from artists within the community is a real endorsement of our work.”

“We need £750k this year to give people a fighting chance through specialised games control equipment. We’re bringing this technology directly into the homes and hospitals of the people who need it most, and transforming the lives of people with the most severe disabilities through cutting-edge equipment like eye control and brain control.”

You can vote for the items to be in Team Fortress 2 by going to the link below:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=156361911

You can also find the items from within Steam itself by selecting Workshops from the Community menu. Hit the link in the grey text below the main ‘Create, Discover…’ heading, and on the next page type ‘special effect’ in the search box (note the space between the two words!). Then hit the Rate button.

If you would like to check out the pages of the artists who created the items for SpecialEffect you can view them in the links below:

Psyke

Svdl

*ﾟ✲*｡✧*☆Twilight Sparkle☆*✧｡*✲ﾟ*

void~

Train2Game News: Train2Game Students helping Help for Heroes

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Help for HeroesA few of our Train2Game Students have taken it upon themselves to help out Help For Heroes. They will be attempting to break the world record for a gaming marathon.

Christopher Edwards and his friends contacted me a while ago with their plan and they have since got in touch with Guinness. They have had their record accepted and they have the support of Help For Heroes.

They are planning on playing Battlefield 3 for a total of 150 hours, beating the current record of 135 hours. In total, there will be five people competing to beat the time, the game will be played online so other members of the public can join and play with them.

They will rent a server where they will place a banner and a friendly message for players to see before they enter the game, mentioning their pledge to Help for Heroes and the fact it is a Guinness World Records attempt.

The Guinness World Records rules state that the group are allowed a 10 minute break every hour which can be saved up to use when they choose. The location is not yet decided, however, where ever it is staged the attempt is going to be live streamed online and will include a link to make donations.

Chris said “I hope that you find my cause a worthy one and that myself and my friend’s can count on your support and sponsorship. We hope to make a lot of money for charity, if not we may just make it over the hundreds, however we believe any amount could be a great asset to Help for Heroes.”

If you wish to support Chris and his friends you can do so by visiting http://www.bmycharity.com/150hoursgaming4charity

You can also like and follow their progress at https://www.facebook.com/150HoursOfGaming4Charity

I wish Chris and his friends the best of luck!

Train2Game News: SpecialEffect helps young Arlo

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SpecialEffect Train2Game’s friends at SpecialEffect have helped a give a young boy named Arlo the chance to play in a world where he is not impaired by his illness and giving him a chance to dream.

When Arlo’s friends came round, they’d end up playing outside with his brother but Arlo was not able to. He’s now overcoming his disabilities to take on his mates – and he’s winning!

Arlo’s just one of the many people whose lives the charity are transforming. Enabling him to play computer games, SpecialEffect are giving him the precious gift of inclusion with his friends and for a boy of seven, that means everything.

You can join SpecialEffect in changing more lives like Arlo’s by running at the British 10k or simply donate a few pounds to the charity.

Here’s a short video that shows how they’re making it possible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qdWtmbeAWuM

Train2Game News: SpecialEffect 2013 Charity run

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specialeffect-runGaming charity SpecialEffect are gathering members of the UK games industry to enter the British 10K charity run, and inviting Train2Game students to join in.

The charity run will take place in London on 14 July so there is plenty of time to get in shape for the event if you are looking for a worthy goal to help shift those extra Christmas pounds!

SpecialEffect is facing growing demand for participants as this really event gets bigger and bigger, as such we would LOVE to beat the 75 runners it had in 2012 and get 100 participants taking over the streets of London! If you also wanted to make this event even more fun then do feel free to dress up as your favourite Video Game character to sprint through London in. You’ll be running with lots of representatives from the UK’s gaming industry and it’s a great chance to meet new people while taking part in a very positive event.

By committing to the event, all runners are asked for the registration price of £50 and to aim to raise £200 through sponsorship.

SpecialEffect is a very worthy cause to raise money for. Their goal is to help disabled people play video games through the development of specially made technology that make playing games easier for those who are less able or being treated for severe illnesses.

To find out more and to register for the event visit https://www.eventelephant.com/ee/events/pages/summary.htm?siteurl=specialeffect2013

You can enjoy the video of last years 10K run below

Train2Game News: SpecialEffect Case – Chloe & Ella

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This weeks SpecialEffect case is a very special one. One of the young girls in the video is the daughter of the founder of SpecialEffect. The two girls use Kinect to play together, you can see how much fun they are having.

SpecialEffect has almost reached their goal of 25,000 views so lets keep watching and sharing to help them out!