Tag Archives: Mark Saville

Train2Game News: SpecialEffect GameBlast weekend

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SpecialEffectGamer’s charity SpecialEffect have announced their GameBlast weekend, where people of all ages across the UK are invited to be involved with video game marathons to help people with disabilities benefit from the fun and inclusion of games.

The charity is calling for teams of friends, family members or work colleagues to sign up to undertake their own sponsored marathons, which can last up to 24 hours, anytime during the weekend of 21-23 February 2014.

“It’s an opportunity for people to do what they love best, and level the playing field for people with disabilities at the same time,” said Mark Saville, the charity’s Communications Officer.

“Playing for 24 hours is a pretty big challenge, but we’re asking people to attempt it to help the thousands of people who want to share their passion, but can’t join in because of a disability.

“People like Sam (http://bit.ly/19dEyIR), who could only watch his friends and family enjoy the Xbox because his cerebral palsy prevented him from using a controller. The sponsorship raised through the GameBlast marathons will change the lives of many more people like Sam through the gift of gaming fun and inclusivity.

“It’s going to be an incredible weekend. They’ll be incentives and giveaways, and every team who registers will be entered into a complimentary draw for gaming goodies. We’ll also be running our own marathon from Gameblast HQ, and keeping the world updated with progress from all the teams.”

Teams and individuals can sign up for the Gameblast weekend at http://www.specialeffect.org.uk/gameblast

Good luck to all those who decide to enter and let us know!

Train2Game News: SpecialEffect Windows Phone 8 app released

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SpecialEffect SpecialEffect, the UK charity that helps people with disabilities to play computer games, have released a free Windows Phone 8 app.

The charity are confident that the app, designed at no charge to the charity by Des Gayle of Altered Gene Studios (http://alteredgenestudios.com), will form a vital part of their communications strategy in spreading the word about how they raise the quality of life for gamers with disabilities.

Des is an ambassador of SpecialEffect and has taken part in many fundraising activities for them, including the British 10K run and several footballing events.

“With gaming getting bad press in some quarters it’s even more important that we can increase our communication channels about how gaming can be a force for good,” said the charity’s Communications Officer Mark Saville. “The app contains news, information and links to many wonderful video case studies that show how we’re bringing families together through video games. It’s targeting something that often gets overlooked – that people with disabilities have lives beyond simply ‘being disabled’ and want to enjoy themselves with everyone else.”

The app can be downloaded at
http://www.windowsphone.com/s?appid=e2802437-3a6c-49b2-91eb-fe5499575b9f

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: Help SpecialEffect get a charity bucket at Chelsea F.C

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SpecialEffect Train2Game’s friends at SpecialEffect have had an amazing opportunity put forward to them. They have the chance of getting a charity bucket at Chelsea F.C’s grounds.

SpecialEffect has been chosen in the Military Charity category for its work with injured military personnel and it would be great if you can donate a few seconds to click and fill in a few basic details to vote for SpecialEffect. The gaming charity is up against some really stiff competition and this sort of cash contribution is exactly what the charity needs.

Excellent causes like Help For Heroes are in the running to receive the opportunity and although equally as deserving, SpecialEffect needs the games industry’s support to make sure its niche area of life changing charity work receives this funding.

To give you an idea of the work SpecialEffect does, SpecialEffect has worked hard to help some of the more unfortunate members of the military such as Lloyd. Lloyd is a young war hero who lost both legs and some of the fingers on his right hand while serving in Afghanistan. One of his passions was playing computer games with his friends, but he found that his injuries had devastated his ability to use a controller.

SpecialEffect loaned him a range of one-handed games controllers to try, and after finding one that’s just right, he’s been back in the game and competing with his mates ever since!

Mark Saville, Communications, SpecialEffect: “We’re dealing with something that’s often overlooked but that’s essential for rehabilitation, the fact that injured service personnel want to enjoy themselves, and in doing so regain the sort of quality of life that we take for granted. Time and time again we’ve seen hardcore-gamer servicemen who are desperate to regain a sense of normality, and regaining the ability to play video games competitively again is one of the very few activities that can absolutely level the playing field. It can be a huge step to increasing self-esteem and inclusion.”

If you would like to help SpecialEffect to get their charity bucket at Chelsea F.C then please click here to cast your vote: Vote for SpecialEfffect