I’ve always found it hard to imagine what life is like in other people’s shoes. Do the people that I consider normal do the same things that I do? Do they look at technology the same way? Do they see they see beyond the controller and wires of a gaming console and imagine what it can do? I’ll never understand those people, but there is a group of gamers who does. Each year they work hard for weeks lining up sponsors and play spaces and donations so that they can play games for hours and donate all the money to children’s charities. The initiative is called Extra Life and as of this moment hundreds of those people are streaming their game sessions online through Twitch.
As of this posting $3 million + has been raised in support of kids characters through Extra Life this season alone. Exta Life lets gamers and those who are friends of gamers give back in the best way they know how: playing games. In exchange for watching streams, those at home donate money to the cause. The charity donates everything that its members earn to the Children’s Miracle Network.
Here’s a list of all the Extra Life participants who are donating their time and effort to Extra Life today. We’re sharing this list in the hope that’ll inspire enConnected readers to learn more about the charity, donate if they can and spread the word if at all possible.
Xbox Playdates Canada is streaming the entire 24 hours. Instead of focusing on one game the team there is planning to switch out titles every once in a while. Already, I’ve watched as they vanquished a few creepers in Minecraft.
Maybe you’re the Dungeons and Dragons type? Cloud RDS is streaming their play all day.
Personal friends of mine, Dangerdoll and JaXboxChick are holding blowouts for Extra Life too. They’re both mixing it up with some electronic games and some board games thrown in. JaXboxChick has been taken requests for stunts for this last week or so. Donate and she’d do almost anything. I do remember her drawing the lightning scar of a certain literary character on her forehead for a donation fairly recent. Check out Jax’s The Mommy Gamers Extra Life crew here. Dangerdoll’s PMS Clan crew can be found here; but don’t forget to follow her on Twitter. She’s an all-around amazing person.
Whoever you donate to, I don’t necessarily care. These are all great people who are dedicated to the cause. You don’t even have to donate, just help us get word out about the charity and today’s event.
If you’re on an Xbox 360 head into the Twitch app to watch all the festivities from Extra Life teams around the globe. There you’ll be able to chat with the teams directly. On the Xbox One, you can snap the Twitch app to the side of your screen and play games with participants if you’re into that. Neither one of these apps require an Xbox Live Gold account, but you may need to sign up for a Twitch account to comment in their chat rooms.
I don’t know if Extra Life participants know anymore about regular people than I do, but they understand that these are more than just consoles and code. In the right hands they can be a force for good and an easy way to help those’ll appreciate it the most.
