Video games has become one of the most profitable industries in the world since Nintendo revived the market back in 1983. Gaming channels make up more than 15% of all content on YouTube. I love video games. Without god-like skill, I am better than average but not competitive level at all but I was blown away recently.
I started watching Gaming YouTube videos about three years ago. It was around the time I found the Completionist while looking for a review on Kingdom Hearts. I never was too big on YouTube but now it’s a daily routine. I watch movie reviews, comedy, video games, with an occasional music video thrown in there. Last week, I dived deeper into gaming culture and came upon speed runs.
You saw that correctly. This guy beat the original Super Mario Bros in less than five minutes. This is a game it took me and my friends an entire day to see Bowser when I was young. Five minutes is how long it takes me to pop a bag of popcorn and come back to my room. There are runs where they don’t use warp pipes and still complete the game in less than 20 minutes. People is speedrun entire games quicker than an episode of the Simpsons without commercials. That is insane to me. Then, I came along this:
This is a speedrun of a Super Mario hack called Kaizo Mario at one of the biannual conferences called Awesome Games Done Quick and Summer Games Done Quick. Hundreds of gamers show up from around the world to speedrun their favorite games to raise money for charity. This is extremely precise gaming utilizing tricks, glitches, and frame-by-frame perfect maneuvering to beat the game at break neck speed.
Money is raised by bidding wars (for additional speedrunning feats or costumes), prize bundles, donations, ad revenue, and even the YouTube streaming/ad money goes 100% to the charities of the year. Games Done Quick has teamed up with several charities in its six-year history, including Doctors Without Borders and the Prevent Cancer Foundation. To date, Games Done Quick has raised over 10 million dollars for charity.
Donations don’t have to be large. Average donations range from $5 to $500. It’s all about raising money for a worthy cause and I thought this was an awesome show of the gaming community coming together doing things you rarely get to see.
That’s today’s Good News! If you want more information, please check out the Games Done Quick website for more information.
Do you have anything you’re at a super human skill level for? Any cool charities you’ve heard in the past? How mad are you at the guy that finished Super Mario in five minutes? Let me know in the comments below.
Bonus: I added a video of the Super Mario Bros Lost Levels run. The runner is really charismatic so if you have time, check it out:
I love GDQ! So happy someone is writing about it. I have watched so many world record, I love the tension and the drama. It is such an art form. Not only that but they do it for such a great cause. Keep writing! and I could talk all day about gaming 🙂
Thank you so much! GDQ is definitely a spectator sport for me but it’s so awesome. I love it when the runners are super interactive with the crowds and the silliness of it all. We definitely can talk about gaming in the future. My Nintendo Switch will be here Friday, so expect a post about it in the future.
Oh nice! I have heard interesting things about it, looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
I’ll probably post a hot take Monday if it’s here by then. You never know with Target & mail.