Desert Bus for Hope Charity Videogame Marathon Starts Tonight

Folks from LoadingReadyRun are revving up the engines for their third annual Desert Bus for Hope charity event, a fundraiser in which all proceeds go to the Child’s Play organization, and they keep driving in Desert Bus for as long as donations come in. Last year, the event lasted five days, let’s make sure it’s longer this time!

The folks at LoadingReadyRun will be driving the Desert Bus for Hope starting November 20th at 6 pm PST. The crew will be driving the virtual Desert Bus for as long as donations come in. Last year, they drove for five days straight and raised $70,423. All proceeds go directly to Child’s Play, a charity that donates over a million dollars to children’s hospitals worldwide every year.

Desert Bus, is a videogame in which the entire point is to drive a bus from Tucson, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada in real time. The entire journey takes about eight hours to complete. When you reach Las Vegas, you have the opportunity to return to Tucson. You can repeat this sequence for as long as your endurance holds out. Because the bus veers slightly to the right, a player must be at the controls at all times to make sure it stays on track and isn’t towed back to Tucson (also in real time). It’s an incredibly boring game, but the stalwart members of LoadingReadyRun are ready to endure it for as long as necessary in order to raise money for Child’s Play!

The Escapist would like to show their support by having our community members become passengers on a virtual Desert Bus. Simply select a ticket to what you think will be the last stop on the Desert Bus 2009 tour – Tucson or Las Vegas – and if the Desert Bus for Hope journey ends at your selected location, you will receive a shiny, new badge! To select your destination, click here!

For more information on the Desert Bus for Hope fundraiser, or to make a donation, go here. Remember, they’ll be driving the virtual bus for as long as donations come in, so make sure to keep checking back on their progress! The entire event will be streaming live 24/7 at their site and you can view the stream here at The Escapist by clicking here.