Over the years I've stayed up all night
playing games for many reasons: boredom, competition, drunkenness, but never in
the name of charity. This year Sick Kids Save Point will give me that chance. A
24 hour marathon of gaming is quite a challenge, one that I hear can be a bit
of a physical and mental drain. But the time frame doesn't worry me. Many's the
time I've had to forgo sleep in order to get an essay done, and my insomniac
tendencies mean I'm often up for a day or two at a time. I'm happy I'll finally
be able to put those nocturnal student habits to good use.
What to play during the thing is another
matter. I'm notoriously bad at deciding what to play, sometimes spending longer
making my mind up than on the game I end up picking. When you're looking to
play for 24 hours straight you've got nothing but options. Do I get stuck into
an adventure, a Zelda or Dark Souls? It's easy to lose yourself for to one of
those. Maybe I'll go for a creative one like Minecraft, a timesink if ever
there was one. Or do I mix it up, try something different every hour? Variety's
bound to be important to stave off boredom. I'm thinking of using it as an
opportunity to tackle my list of shame, which sadly includes modern classics
like Resi 4, Okami, Skyward Sword, and Metroid Prime. Plenty of quality to keep
me occupied there.
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| The Fantastic Okami |
But I think it's the social aspect of SKSP
that I'm most looking forward to. Previous years have been characterised by the
banter and communication between folk taking part, which adds a great deal to
the fun of the whole thing. There are also plenty of ways to keep your marathon
social. People will be playing in teams, streaming their gaming online, or just
tweeting about it throughout; keeping in touch with everyone else is and having
a laugh is the spirit of the event as a whole. And in the end it'll be a
fantastic way to meet like-minded folk and make a few new friends. So as well
as raising money for Edinburgh's Royal Hospital for Sick Children, enriching
the lives of kids who need it, I'm making new friends and having a laugh? Plus
I get to stay up all night playing games? Result!
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