Mass Effect Marathon 2 – Time to Hold The Line!

When I need to get pumped up about what we are about to do for Child’s Play Charity, this is the Mass Effect video clip I go to.  We’re just about ready to undertake a three day journey into gaming marathon madness, and for this weekend, we will hold the line!  All right now onto business.

A lot of you out there have been following our exploits for awhile now so you may know a lot about who we are, what we are doing, and why we are doing it.  For those of you who are new, or have forgotten some of the finer details, here is an overview of what is happening this weekend during Mass Effect Marathon 2.  It also has some new information, stuff that has just happened so it’s a good thing to read all the way!

What are you doing again?

• We are going to be playing Mass Effect 1 & 2 consecutively for three days straight.  We will be broadcasting our playthrough live on UStream TV, which can be viewed on the main page of our website.  During that time we will be interacting with viewer via IRC chat, and will be encouraging everyone to donate to Child’s Play Charity which is a wonderful cause that provides video games, books, toys and money to children’s hospitals around the world!
• It’s a great cause but if you would like to see what the charity does in video format, check out the Penny Arcade TV episodes about Child’s Play Part 1, Child’s Play Part 2, Child’s Play 2010
• We have a bunch of Online Polls that you can vote in that will help us make all the major decisions in either game.  In addition, the more money you donate, helps determine how we play the game and who will live in and die during the Mass Effect 2 Suicide Mission.
• We also will sing, dance, and generally embarrass ourselves the more money we raise.  All of that information can be found on our Donation Levels page so check it out!

When does it all start?

• The stream will be turned on at about 9 PM ET.  For the next three hours, we will be showing fun videos that are Mass Effect related.  This will include our MEM2 Trailers, funny bits that we found on YouTube, fan-made songs, trailers and much more.
• This “Pre-Game Show” will be live from 9 PM ET until 12:01 AM ET.  At which point we’ll cut the feed over to our live cameras, give a quick introduction, and perform our opening dance.
• After the opening dance, we start playing!  At this point some of the Mass Effect 1 Polls will be closed.  These include Name, Hair Color, Alignment and Class.  So if you want to vote and help decide how we play with those choices, better get it in now!

I can win prizes?!

• Yes indeed you can!  Easiest way to win prizes is by donating.  For every $5 you donate, you get 1 Raffle entry.  Donate $50 you have 10 entries.  These raffle tickets are valid through the entire marathon and can allow you to win any of our wonderful Raffle Prizes.  Check out the link to see what we are offering and when it will be raffled off!
• If you are unable to donate, you can still win great prizes.  We offer TWO free raffle entries that anyone can receive.  Simply Like g33kWatch on Facebook, or use the following quote on Twitter:  I’m Commander Shepard and this is my favorite gaming marathon on the Citadel! @memarathon #MEM2 www.memarathon.com.
• We also have a host of Live Auctions which you must be in chat to bid on.  We will be bidding on these items live during the marathon and it’s a host of items that you can’t get anywhere else!  If you win one of these auctions, you must donate whatever the winning bid was to Child’s Play using our widget on the website.  If you are interested in an auction, but know you won’t be around for it, please email masseffect@g33kwatch.com or tell one of the Moderators and we can setup something so that someone will bid in your absence!
• We aren’t done yet!  We have a bunch of Silent Auctions that you can bid on throughout the marathon.  Simply enter your name, email address and your bid, and you are entered!  Please take note of what the current max bid is, and when the auction will end!  If you win one of these auctions, you must donate whatever the winning bid was to Child’s Play using our widget on the website.

Do you take requests?

• We absolutely take requests!  All you need to do is to mention something in Chat and ask us how much we would be willing to do that for.  We have danced and sung to Numa Numa, we have worn Pokemon Hats and sung the Theme Song, we have eaten gross food, and even had brothers punch each other, all in the pursuit of getting more donations.
• If you are looking for an idea on more stuff that you can force us to do, including Singing, Dancing, Feats of Strength, and Playing, check out the Challenges page.

Will you be talking to anyone famous?

• We sort of are!  Below are some of the people that we will have Skyping in and doing little interviews with us.  They include great people associated with the Mass Effect Community and the Child’s Play Gaming Marathon Community as well.  =)

Jamie Dillion | Project Manager at Child’s Play Charity will be calling in Friday at 5 PM ET.  Jamie is the latest addition to the Child’s Play Charity family and you may remember watching her go through the hiring process, last year on Penny Arcade TV!  If you don’t remember that, then I’m sorry that you don’t watch much on the Internets, but thankfully you can check out Episode 1 & Episode 2 where they feature her.

So what can you expect from when Jamie calls in?  She’s going to go over what Child’s Play is all about and why it’s a worthwhile cause.  Yes it’s fun that we are playing Mass Effect and covering ourselves in green slime for the weekend, but it all goes back to what a wonderful thing that Child’s Play does for children that are sick and stuck in the hospital, especially over the holidays.  We will have some generalized questions for Jamie to get you all up to speed, along with the studies that have been done that show that games and toys help kids recover more quickly, but please feel free to have your own questions at the ready!  You can ask them in chat and we’ll make sure she answers them.

Gavin Dunne | Musician at Escapist & Creator of Commander Shepard Song will be calling in Saturday at 12:30 PM ET.  Gavin, also known as Miracle of Sound, erupted into the Mass Effect Community by writing the amazing Commander Shepard Song.  You know the one don’t ya?  The super awesome 80′s new wave, synth pop sounding song that verbalized what we already knew: You’ll Never Be Better Than Commander Shepard!  In addition to that song, Gavin has recorded a ton of other great gaming related songs while working at The Escapist.  Whether it be Portal 2, Call of Duty, Dragon Age, Red Dead Redemption or whatever else, odds are that Gavin has written a song about that game.

So we’re going to talk with him a bit about his creative process, what equipment he uses, and what other things he’s doing that you can check out!

Rob Loughlin | Founder of Boss Battles Gaming Marathon will be calling in Saturday at 9:30 PM ET.  We hold a very special place in our heart for Rob and the rest of the fine folks at Boss Battles.  Last year, both Boss Battles and ourselves ran our very first Gaming Marathons for Child’s Play Charity and both events were wildly successfully thanks to a great community of viewers and donors like you.  This year, we both again answer the call to charity and both our events are shooting for even bigger goals than we could have ever imagined possible.

So we wanted to have Rob on so that we could find out what he has in store for the latest Boss Battles Marathon that is happening on December 16.  In addition though, we wanted to ask him about his gaming life as a whole.  What games did he grow up loving?  What did he do last year at PAX East and should people go?  How many tangents can we go off on during the course of this interview?  All this, and your questions will be answered.  We hope you enjoy the talk and we hope that you’ll help out another budding gaming marathon!

Brian, Chris & Sundeep | Some of the Team from Mario Marathon  will be calling in Sunday at 11 AM ET.  When we came up with this crazy idea for the Mass Effect Marathon, we said to ourselves that we wanted it to run and be as popular as Mario Marathon.  That was the ultimate goal and when we planned for all of those months, we took a lot of inspiration from the wonderful crew there.  Imagine our surprise, that when Mario Marathon played this past July, they asked us to be on during their event and ask us questions.  It was pretty surreal in a really geeky way.

This time around, we’re returning the favor by having Brian, Chris, Sundeep and maybe even a few others call in to Mass Effect Marathon 2.  We’re going to ask them about how Mario Marathon all began, or whether they ever thought they would be going this long or raised so much money for Child’s Play?  What do they have in store for Mario Marathon 5?  They say it every year, but will this be the last event?  Will someone from the team play Joey V in the new Mortal Kombat, first to 5 set?  Oh yeah and we’re also going to take your questions so don’t miss it!

Holly Conrad | Expert Crafter & Cosplayer of Crabcat Industries will be calling in Sunday at 3 PM ET.  Holly Conrad has become very well known in the Mass Effect Community.  Ever since she wowed audiences at San Diego Comic Con with her amazing Mass Effect themed costumes, people have been going nuts over her work.  We here at Mass Effect Marathon have been lucky enough to work with Holly and the rest of Crabcat over the last year in a bunch of different, cool ways.

Last year Holly made us a plushie, glow in the dark, Blasto the Hanar Spectre that was auctioned for $750!  Whoa!  Not to mention that she called in last year as well, and we had a blast meeting here at PAX East this past March.  This time around, Holly is auctioning off a sculpture bust to one lucky silent auction bidder, and is going to be calling in again.  We’ll be asking her about working on the Live Action Mass Effect 3 Husk costumes, the comic con documentary that she was recently in, and what she has planed for 2012.  Should be a fun time so we hope you tune in!

Well … that’s all we got.  It’s a lot and we hope that it’s helpful.  All we ask from you now is to help us spread the word, donate if possible, and enjoy watching us go crazy for three days straight.  Thanks for the all the support!