Tag Archives: GameBlast

Train2Game News GameBlastLIVE Stream

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SpecialEffectGameBlastLIVE, a Children in Need style 24 livestream, will be anchoring SpecialEffect’s GameBlast gaming marathon event this weekend.

Streamed from the London headquarters of industry trade body UKIE, the show will feature interviews with top gaming figures, playthroughs of new game content, gaming merchandise giveaways and regular updates from the hundreds of teams across the world taking part in the charity fundraiser.

The livestream starts at 10am on Saturday and can be seen at http://www.twitch.tv/gameblastlive

Highlights of the stream include:

  • The Oliver brothers from SkySaga, who will be reflecting on 20 years in the industry before a gameplay session.
  • Kate Russell will be battling through hyperspace with some top Elite antics.
  • PocketGamer will be on the sofa talking and showing the best of mobile entertainment.
  • Team17 will be live from their headquarters, scrambling their way out of The Escapists.
  • The team from Bossa will be slicing through I Am Bread, before things get messy with Surgeon Simulator.
  • Go8Bit will be creating mayhem in the studio with gameshow and forfeit challenges.

GameBlast, the UK’s largest charity gaming marathon, swings into action on Friday with the aim of raising over £100,000 for gamer’s charity SpecialEffect.

The challenge event, which will run from 20-22 February, has attracted over 250 individuals and gaming teams from across the world. They’ll be running their own gaming marathons at times over the weekend – some up to 24 hours in length – and asking for online sponsorship to hit their fundraising targets.

Big names in the gaming industry are involved, including retail giant GAME, online games developer Jagex and global video streamers Twitch. In total over 50 companies from the industry are involved in various ways, from hosting their own 24 hour staff marathons to contributing to the prize giveaways.

The aim is to raise money for the work of SpecialEffect, who help people with physical disabilities to benefit from the fun, friendship and inclusion of video games.

For more details about GameBlast, see http://www.specialeffect.org.uk/gameblast

Train2Game News Jagex to host SpecialEffect for Gameblast

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Jagex Games Studio, creators and custodians of the fantasy MMORPG, RuneScape and the upcoming online multiplayer action game, Block N Load, is to lead the way in SpecialEffect’s upcoming GameBlast15 games marathon weekend.

The event, which takes place between 20th and 22nd February, launches a 24-hour gamer challenge to raise money and help enable individuals with physical disabilities play games.

During the inaugural GameBlast in 2014, the RuneScape and Ace of Spades: Battle Builder communities raised more than £48,000 for SpecialEffect, and more than 90,000 viewers watched Jagex’s livestream of gameplay, interviews, and real-world challenges. In addition to holding another marathon livestream from Jagex’s Cambridge headquarters, RuneScape players will also benefit from a double XP weekend.

“SpecialEffect is a cause that’s very close to our hearts at Jagex. We had a lot of fun last year with our livestream for GameBlast14, so it’s fantastic to get stuck in once again and get even more involved in GameBlast15,” said Phil Mansell, vice president of RuneScape. “We’re really looking forward to welcoming Mick and the SpecialEffect team to Jagex, as well as holding our own 24-hour marathon and double XP weekend, next month.”

David Solari, vice president of Block N Load, added “The Ace of Spades: Battle Builder community were really supportive during GameBlast14, so we can’t wait to see how the burgeoning Block N Load player base performs this year. We’re currently in the beta phase of development, so the 24-hour GameBlast marathon will really put the game through its paces ahead of its launch!”

“We were simply stunned by the amazing generosity of the Jagex community during last year’s GameBlast, and honoured that they’re gearing up for another 24 hours of activity in February,” said Dr Mick Donegan, founder and director of SpecialEffect. “Having such a major force in the gaming industry backing our work helping people with disabilities is a great boost, and I’m personally really looking forward to being at Jagex HQ during the event to be part of their GameBlast heroics.”

Hosting SpecialEffect and taking part in GameBlast15 is the first of a number of fundraising drives for planned by the Jagex throughout 2015. During 2014, the studio and its passionate RuneScape community raised more than $300,000 for good causes, including Oxfam and SpecialEffect. RuneScape was also the first games partner of United for Wildlife, and helped to raise awareness of the plight facing the world’s rhinos with a series of in-game quizzes and limited edition virtual pets.

Train2Game News Play Games to help SpecialEffect

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SpecialEffectSpecialEffect are hosting another Gameblast in February of 2015. This is your chance to play games and help people in need!

The gaming marathon weekend will take place from February 20 – 22 and the idea is that you play games for an extended length of time, whether it be 48 hours or 24 hours is entirely up to you, and get your friends, family and whoever else to sponsor you to do so.

This gaming marathon is entirely down to your self to decide what you can do. Do as much or as little as you want to and try and raise as much money as you possibly can to help SpecialEffect to raise money that will go towards supporting disabled gamers back in to the game.

Last February gamers raised an incredible £70,000 in GameBlast14, and every penny and cent went towards levelling the playing field for gamers with disabilities. This time SpecialEffect are aiming for £100,000, so they’re going to need all the help you can give!

If you want to find out some helpful tips and sign up for this event you can go to http://www.specialeffect.org.uk/gameblast-about

Train2Game News Jagex support GameBlast 15

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SpecialEffectJagex Games Studio, makers of the multi-award winning fantasy MMORPG RuneScape and upcoming Transformers Universe, today announced its continuing corporate support of GameBlast, the annual charity games marathon weekend in aid of gamers’ charity SpecialEffect.

Jagex held its own 24-hour games marathon as part of the previous GameBlast weekend in February 2014, which was live-streamed online to 90,000 unique viewers over the course of the event. Both staff and selected members of the RuneScape community played RuneScape and Jagex’s Ace of Spades: Battle Builder throughout the 24 hour period, raising over £48,000 as a result.

Riaan Hodgson, chief operations officer at Jagex, was vocal about the company’s continued support of GameBlast: “It’s great to see our staff get behind such a worthy cause once again, especially one so suited to our core company principles. At Jagex, games are a way of life and if we can have fun while welcoming others into this medium, then that’s definitely a good use of our time and resources.”

GameBlast is the UK’s biggest charity gaming marathon event, and is next scheduled for the weekend of 20-22 February 2015. Hoping to improve on last year’s total of £70,000, SpecialEffect is targeting a figure of £100,000 and is calling upon other games companies to join in and help people with disabilities benefit from the fun, friendship and inclusion of video games. The charity is hoping that other studios recognise the huge internal and external corporate social responsibility benefits from taking part, as well as the ability to directly benefit gamers in the best way possible.

“Jagex’s support was a major part of the success of GameBlast14,” said Dr Mick Donegan, founder and director of SpecialEffect. “We’re incredibly grateful for the generosity of its staff and communities, and we’re delighted that they’ll be participating again in 2015. The money they raise will enable even more people, whatever their age or physical disability, to enjoy video games and leisure technology.”

Donegan continued: “We know we can achieve so much more if the rest of the UK games industry follows Jagex’s lead and pledges their support for GameBlast15. There’s a warm welcome awaiting any developers, publishers or gaming communities who want to get involved, whether that’s at a small scale stream or at industry partner level.”

More information about next year’s GameBlast can be found at http://www.specialeffect.org.uk/gameblast

Train2Game News: Student taking part in GameBlast

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Ritchie DemicolSpecialEffect’s GameBlast charity event launches tomorrow and Train2Game student, Ritchie Demicol is taking part.

Ritchie, who has been a Train2Game student since February last year, will be playing the infamously difficult Dark Souls for 24 hours straight. This will be no easy task with the games frustrating difficulty level.

When asked why Ritchie decided to take part in the event he said “I decided to take part because I know it’s going to a great cause who design games and hardware for young children and adults who struggle to play video games due to certain disabilities. It will be a great help to those who can’t use move their body and have to use their eyes to control the game”

Ritchie begins his 24 hour marathon tomorrow and if you would like to support him and SpecialEffect you can donate by visiting http://www.justgiving.com/Ritchie-Demicol

Good luck Ritchie, you are supporting a fantastic charity!

Train2Game News: Jagex supporting SpecialEffect GameBlast

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Jagex Games Studio, makers of the multi-award winning fantasy MMORPG, RuneScape, is to host a 24-hour long marathon in support of the games charity SpecialEffect’s inaugural GameBlast weekend.

The challenge, to be held at Jagex’s Cambridge headquarters, will take place from 1pm GMT on Friday 21st February and will see staff and selected members of the RuneScape community play RuneScape and Ace of Spades throughout the 24-hour period. The event will also be live-streamed throughout via the official RuneScape and Ace of Spades twitch.tv channels, which will also include interviews with the RuneScape development team.

In addition to holding the marathon, Jagex will be running in-game events within RuneScape. Following a recent player vote, there will be Double XP for players during the GameBlast weekend. The Well of Goodwill, which saw players raise tens of thousands of pounds for a number of charities at the end of 2013, will re-open for a short time only. Players will also be able to purchase a virtual GameBlast tunic for their avatars, with all proceeds donated to SpecialEffect. During the GameBlast weekend, 50 percent of all profits from sales of Ace of Spades will be donated to SpecialEffect.

“Jagex has long supported numerous charities close to our heart, and we are thrilled to be able to continue our strong relationship with SpecialEffect by taking part in the inaugural GameBlast,” said Neil McClarty, Brand Director for RuneScape. “Our community truly are fantastic, and their generosity during our most recent charity campaign saw hundreds of billions of gold pieces and Bonds converted into real-world cash for good causes, including SpecialEffect. The weekend is shaping up to be big with lots planned including live streams and players recently voted to celebrate with double XP available all weekend, this is one not miss.”

“SpecialEffect does fantastic work to level the playing field between abled and disabled gamers, and Jagex is excited to continue supporting the organisation’s efforts by participating in GameBlast,” said Rob Kinder, Brand Director for Ace of Spades. “Getting the Ace of Spades community together for a 24-hour marathon gaming session while raising money for charity at the same time is the perfect way to start the weekend, and we can’t wait for the event to kick off!”

“We’re absolutely delighted that Jagex are going to play a huge part in GameBlast. We’re already indebted to them for the wonderful support they gave us in 2013 through their Well of Goodwill, and to have their involvement in this weekend of gaming is fantastic,” said Dr Mick Donegan, Founder and Director of SpecialEffect. “There are thousands of people in the world that want to share our passion for video games, but their disabilities stop them playing any of the titles we love. The sponsorship that the Jagex players and staff raise through their marathon will help us to bring magic moments and opportunities for inclusion into many, many more lives.”