About the Marathon
In the same way that Link made a difference in Hyrule, our goal is to make a difference in our world. Every year, we set up and play in a nonstop 72 hour gaming marathon. Our goal is to raise as much money as humanly possible for Child's Play, a charity that donates movies, games, books, and toys to children in hospitals all over the world. We have a live video feed and a chat on the home page.
UPDATE: We have decided to not only run an annual 72-hour marathon, but to also have "miniathons" a few times a year that last anywhere from 12 hours to 48 hours! Check in on our homepage for future miniathons.
Look through the site to see the games, players, and past videos from previous marathons.
Donate on the home page, follow us on Twitter, join the Facebook group, spread the word, and most importantly: make sure to tune in when only 72 hours remain.
Follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/72hoursremain
Join our Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=175929617733
About the Players
;)
Daniel F
Sir Majestic / Captain Snuggles
Daniel is the Founder/President/Programmer/Designer for Red Button Games in Kalamazoo, MI. He spends his days buried in code and making his next awesome game. Red Button Games has two games released on Xbox LIVE Indie Games, Olu, and All Your Creeps, and his next game, Mage Tower, has been pre-released. Before making games for a living, he worked as a Business Intelligence consultant for over 7 years. He also competed in the first PAX East Omegathon, winning the whole thing and a trip to Games Con in Germany with the help of his partner Caleb.
Daniel has been playing games since the SNES days, and been an avid gamer ever since. As later generations came his obsession expanded to encompass almost every game genre and major release. However, the Metroid series has always been close to his heart. The innovative game design for the time advanced into a polished gem that is Super Metroid, which has been copied time and time again. Other games that he enjoys include: Rez, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Katamari Damacy, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Super Meat Boy, and (at the moment) The Binding of Isaac.
Kelly is a recent graduate from Grand Valley State University with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Anthropology and Environmental Science. She is an Alpha Omicron Pi sorority Alumnae, and works at Family Video. Because apparotly you can't do anything with a Bachelor degree in Anthropology or Psychology nowadays, Kelly decided to enroll in baking and pastry arts, and will be attending school in the fall to become a professional cake decorator! YUM! Her home town is good ol’ Kalamazoo, MI. She thinks her paragraph is definitely inferior to Dan’s, but her love of video games can match any nerd. She loves to be crazy and is always easily entertained.
She has grown up with games all her life, owning 6 game systems, 5 portable systems, and hundreds of games. Her favorite console is the Nintendo 64, and her favorite series of all time is Zelda. Her goal in life is to meet Shigeru Miyamoto, her biggest hero. Besides Zelda, Kelly’s favorite games include the Mario series, Minecraft, Darksiders, Katamari Damacy, Shadow of the Colossus, Kingdom Hearts, Dungeon Defenders, Portal, Myst, 007, Ico, and Age of Empires II.
Keith is a graduate of Western Michigan University, majoring in international studies, with a minor in Japanese. He thinks his paragraph is inferior to Kelly's, and as a result of this apparent continual decline in paragraphal quality, wonders what Aaron's paragraph will be like.
As with all members of this illustrious group, he has played video games since his younger days, even remembering playing Double Dare on an old computer countless years ago. His first console was the Sega Genesis (eat it, Dan). He refuses to list a specific game or series as his favorite, because that's far too hard to do. However, some beloved classics include Valkyrie Profile, Majora's Mask (yes, more than Ocarina), Pokemon, the Sonic series (even 3D, although fully acknowledging that the series has gone far downhill since the Sonic Adventure games), and Dynamite Headdy. Long-running Nintendo classics such as Mario and Zelda are naturally implied as well. A favorite lately has been internet funtime megahit League of Legends.
Aaron B
Cylon
Aaron is also a graduate of Western Michigan University with a Bachelors degree in Computer Science. He also does some minor game development in his spare time. The previous sentence boosted this paragraph slightly above Keith's.
He spent the first several years of his life enjoying the family's Nintendo Entertainment System. From there, he graduated to the shiny new Super Nintendo Entertainment System as well as the PC. He continued down the dual path of PC and consoles experiencing countless classics through the N64 era. Since then, newer consoles have largely taken a back seat to the joys of the Personal Computer. Favorite console is easily the SNES, as made obvious by his game choice for the marathon. Favorite games include the Civilization series (and most 4x games), Zelda series, X-COM, and dozens more. He'd love it if you brought up your strategy game of choice for discussion during his marathon play time.
Chris K
Fencerdude
Chris is a graduate of the University of Michigan, double majoring in History and German. Chris was a four year member of the trumpet section of the Michigan Marching Band. For the time being, Chris is working his way up the corporate chain at Jimmy John's; however, he plans to someday obtain, through legal means or otherwise, a teaching certificate. He grew up near Kalamazoo, MI, and currently lives in Ann Arbor. Chris is also a direct benefactor of Child's Play, from his time in dealing with a leg-lengthening procedure and the complications stemming from it. Due to the superiority complex that rages rampant on U of M's campus, Chris's paragraph is naturally more intelligent, athletic, and simply better than any paragraph ever written. Ever.
Chris was an avid Nintendo fan until the Wii came out, at which point he switched his attention to online multiplayer FPSs. After spending several years in the bowels of the internet (read Counterstrike and Battlefield 2, with some Team Fortress 2 and Left for Dead sprinkles), Chris rediscovered consoles after purchasing an Xbox 360. In his childhood, Chris played the SNES and N64, while the Game Boy was reserved for long drives. Some of his favorite games from that time include the Golden Sun series, the N64 Zeldas, and Kirby Superstar. His favorite game from the Wii Wii is is Resident Evil 4, while the same position for the Gamecube is a tie between Tales of Symphonia and Skies of Arcadia: Legends. More recently, Chris has been playing the game called Work at Jimmy Johns 24/7.
;)
Momo Hime
Jenny is the owner and operator of her sewing business "So Sew Momo" and its subsidary "Clover Creations" that speicalizes in gaming-related crafts. Most the crafts in the current marathons are made by her. This paragraph is on par with Aaron's, better then Keith's, but fails to surpass Kelly's.
Jenny has been gaming all of her life. Her fathers favorite game is Pitfall and her mothers is Yo-Noid for the NES. Jenny's favorite system is the ill-fated Dreamcast. There is just a sad magic about it. Her favoirte games are tough games like Battle Toads, RPGS like Skies of Arcadia and the occasional dating sim (don't judge!). Her most beloved game is Grandia 2, though she can't really pinpoint why. Shes also a bit of a gaming history nerd, and spends free time researching the great hobby. She writes a colom each week for this site in the journal section. She also has a bit of a sweet tooth and loves anything sugary. Cupcakes are a favorite treat. When not sewing and gaming, Jenny also enjoys cooking, watching anime, reading, and kitty-cats. Muffins are okay, but mini muffins are awful. There is something evil about them, and they should be banished from the earth. Giant muffins are also okay. MMmm muffalicious.
Helping Hands:
Brenna H (Daniel's Fiance)
SPONSORS:
SoSew Momo
Support Marathons Everywhere!:
Thank you to the people in the listed Marathons for supporting us. We love all you guys!
(If your marathon isn't here and you think it should be, let us know!)