Speed Demos Archive Awesome Games Done Quick (Cancer Prevention Foundation)

A large gap exists between the public's perception of video games and what the research actually shows. ~Henry Jenkins, MIT Professor 

I would add that the same perception gap exists where gamers are concerned.

Speed Demos Archive presents Awesome Games Done Quick 2012! 100+ live speedruns for the Prevent Cancer Foundation!

A collection of the world's best gamers livestream over 100 "speedruns" of popular games over a 6 day period (January 4-9 this year). The gaming runs 24/7 for the duration of marathon. Viewers watching the stream make donations to the Prevent Cancer Foundation.

Some of the speedruns this year will include:

• Final Fantasy VII
• Pokemon Red/Blue
• Halo Reach
• Demon's Souls
• Sonic 1, 2, S3&K & Sonic Adventure 2
• Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
• Super Mario RPG
  

See complete list and schedule here.



The event includes special events including prizes, donation battles,  co-op runs, and races. These are all things that are exciting for the gamers and viewers and helps with the fundraising. And it seems to work. In 2011, Speed Demos Archive “Awesome Games Done Quick” Marathon Fundraiser raised over $53K for the Foundation. 

For the next 6 days, world class gamers are donating their time, and average gamers are donating some serious cash to help prevent cancer. It's remarkable really, that most people have never heard anything about it.  This is the third annual Awesome Games. All gamers (and their mothers) know about it.

View speedruns livestream. 

**Update**  (January 11) Total raised $ Donation Total: $146,472.50! Not bad!

Note: The Awesome Games Done Quick event started this afternoon at 3:00PM ET. They have already raised (at 9:30PM ET) well over $10,000.

Something else I learned: Ok, so you want to know what speedrun is. So did I. A speedrun is a play through of a video game, in it's entirety, played with the intent of completing the game as quickly as possible.