f.a.q.
Q: Who is this Nick guy?
A: Click here for more about Nick.
Q: How the heck can playing videogames raise money for charity?
A: It's simple. See that donate button on the left? You click on there to make a donation. As a reward for your donation, you get to watch a pair of immature and sleep-deprived fools spend an entire weekend playing games, socializing and playing the way Nick always loved. You don't have to watch us every second as we play of course, but feel free to check in when you can. If you don't like the look of our faces but want to support our cause anyway, go for it!
Q. How was last year's marathon?
A: Awesome! Read about it here.
Q: What exactly will we be watching?
A: You'll see a live feed from our home base. It'll be one video stream, in a picture-in-picture mode. You will see a direct feed of the console game, as well and a live webcam showing all of us playing (the less visually pleasant feed - we are nerds after all) - which we'll have in the corner. We'll be playing and broadcasting for as long as it takes to finish the video games on our games list.
Q: Why did you pick these charities?
A: The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, The Ronald McDonald House, and Child's Play are 3 wonderful charities and they all relate back to our cause in some way. Nick suffered from leukemia, he participated in a ribbon cutting ceremony as a child at the 100th Ronald McDonald House location in New Hyde Park, NY, and Nick always wanted to have video games on hand during his prolonged hospital stays. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services. The mission of LLS is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Since its founding in 1949, LLS has invested more than $600 million for research specifically targeting blood cancers. Ronald McDonald House Charities, a non-profit organization, creates, finds and supports programs that directly improve the health and well being of children. RMHC programs are grassroots-driven to offer help where children need it most — right in their own communities. RMHC makes an immediate, positive impact on children's lives through a global network of local Chapters in 52 countries, regions and three core programs: Ronald McDonald House, Ronald McDonald Family Room and Ronald McDonald Care Mobile. RMHC and its global network of local Chapters have awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in grants and program services to children's programs around the world. Child's Play is a game industry charity dedicated to improving the lives of children with toys and games in its network of over 40 hospitals worldwide. It is a wonderful charity that helps improve the lives and spirits of thousands of inpatient pediatric patients all over the planet.
Q: How much should I donate?
A: $1. $18.75. $300. Whatever you would like or can afford to give. That's entirely up to you. Just keep in mind that every little bit helps, and you don't have to be rich to make a difference. But... any donations over $100 will get a snazzy Nick's Marathon USB jump drive bracelet mailed to them at no extra charge! Oh, but since we're paying for the shirts and shipping out of our pockets (not from the donations fund), we'll have to limit it to residents of the continental USA. Sorry!
Q: How do I donate?
A: Click on the "Paypal Donate" button at the top-left of the page. That allows you to pay securely through PayPal.com, a completely secure way of sending your donation. You can pay with Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, directly from your bank, or from your paypal account.
Q: How much of our donations are going to charity?
A: 100% We're paying for web hosting ourselves and covering all expenses amongst ourselves. Every single penny you donate will go to the charities listed above.
Q: How did you pick the videogames you'd play?
A: We used Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principal. OK, that's not true. We picked games that feature co-op (or co-operative) modes. In other words, two players work together to beat the game, as opposed to battling against each other or taking turns. This can be viewed as an analogy of friendship and teamwork in life, but it's also just a fun way to play videogames.
Q: Why didn't you pick such-and-such other game that I like?
A: We picked games that we liked and know, but if you would really like to have a say on which games we play, tell us in the forums! See, we picked the first few games of the weekend, but we're asking people to submit choices in the forums and we'll consult the posts in the forums to see other people's suggestions.
Q: Will there be breaks for sleeping?
A: What's the fun in that? Well, seriously, there will probably be "shifts." The marathon will be continuous, 24 hours a day, until we finish - there will be different people playing though. Al and James will definitely be there the entire time, even if you have to watch us sleep on the couch while others plow through Streets of Rage 2...
Q: Where did you get this idea?
A: We aren't the first to do this and we totally want to give credit to the original people who thought of this. That would be Loading, Ready, Run with their Desert Bus of Hope marathon in November 2007.
Q: What equiptment will you be using?
A: We'll be using a webcam and a Dazzle Capture Card to broadcast both the webcam and the Wii feed. We will be using http://www.ustream.tv/ to broadcast the video.
Q: And who are you guys?
A: Alan Noah and James Brief. Alan knew Nick since childhood. James went to college with Alan and knew Nick through him. Alan is a television producer and worked on such pieces as "When Star Wars Ruled the World." James is a resident physician at a hospital in Brooklyn. Both live in New York City. Well, Alan lives on Long Island with his wife, his growing fetus and dog. But it still sorta counts.
Q: Anything else?
A: Yes! All donations of $100 or more will receive a complimentary Nick's Marathon USB jump drive bracelet! Just add your mailing address to your paypal donation. If you donated $100 and forgot to add the address, email us and I'm sure we can fix if (I'll ask you to confirm the paypal donation or something).