How Gamers Helped Aid Japan

On Friday the 11th of March this year, Japan was struck by a magnitude 9 earthquake and the after effects, needless to say, were extremely destructive. This date marked one of the greatest natural disasters in history. In an effort to support those affected by the devastation, a few game developers set up a way for you to donate through your favourite games.

Having a look back, I wondered how much those games raised to aid Japan because of gamers who wanted to help, and if there were any other games I missed out on - the results were impressive!

Team Fortress 2 players managed to raise $430,543.65 in the space of two weeks through buying unique hats that Valve put on sale for that time. There were three hats in total, all limited edition!

Extralives.org hosted a 37 hour Minecraft marathon that they put together very quickly in an effort to raise money as soon as possible. They managed to raise $9,099.33 through their stream and offering people slots on the server they were playing on.

Over 50,000 summoners participated in Riot games efforts, raising over $160,000 through the purchase of  the champion Akali and her nurse skin in League of Legends.

Play for Japan have raised money in a slightly different way, but are still very worth a mention.  As of the 28/4/2011 they've raised $116,941 by auctioning rare and unique gaming items, usually signed by game devs too. My favourite item sold has to be the Guitar played by Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka.



There have probably been even more cases of gamers or game developers raising money for the cause, if you find any, feel free to add them in comments. Remember, never let anyone tell you games never helped anyone!

Minecraft Marathon for Japan Aid

If the notion of donating through Team Fortress 2 isn't for you, then perhaps this might pique your interest!

Right now over at Extralives.org, a Minecraft marathon is in progress with the goal of raising donations for Internation Medical Corps, an organisation dedicated to saving lives and responding to tsunami affected countries.

There is apparently no set end time for the marathon, but the stream is said to be lasting around 36 hours.

If you want to play on the server where the marathon is taking place, which as I write, has nearly 400 viewers, all you have to do is donate $20 (£12) and you can play for three hours. You can donate more to play longer!

If you can't tune into the marathon but are still thinking of donating, the marathon is being recorded, so you won't miss out!

A repeated argument I see about this type of fund raising is that they should be helping physically instead of playing games - having started today and already made nearly $3,000.00 for the relief fund, I'd say they are proving it's well worth it.

Click here to watch the stream!

Donate to Japan through Team Fortress 2

The guys over at Valve are using their hat selling skills to donate to the Japan relief fund at the moment, so if you're a Team Fortress 2 player who is itching for a new hat, taking a look couldn't hurt.

The three new hats available in the Mann Co. Store are the "Humanitarian's Hachimaki" ($7.99), the "Benefactor's Kanmuri" ($19.99) and the most prestigious "Magnanimous Monarch" ($99.99). All proceeds going directly to the fund! The hats can be equipped on any class but aren't usable in crafting and cannot be traded. The hats won't be available after April 6, so if you're a collector, now is your chance!

While purchases from Valve's in-game store aren't tax deductible, donations here are. You can find the official post from Valve here.