Outside-In: Geek Charity

So....hey.

Yes, I'm a contributor here. Haven't seen me around yet, but that's because I've been fully absorbed in Batman: Arkham Asylum (something on the evolution of licensed video games is forthcoming, I promise). But right out of the gate, I figured I'd speak to something that's an odd part of geek culture - the charitable impulse.

Face it, charity isn't the first thing that comes to mind when you think geek. We're best known for our extravagant spending on ourselves, after all - $600 video game machines, $1000 first issues, hordes of baseball cards or a credit card maxed out on "Special Edition" Blu-Ray discs. In fact, one could even go so far as to say that greed is what defines a geek, a certain kind of hording impulse that causes us to squander our personal time and resources on our own obsessions.

And yet...look at the bizarrely social nature of the geek. If you cut out the internet (which isn't socialization - it's group play with no consequences), you get groups of disparate people that come together to enjoy a hobby. We're oddly merit-based most of the time - except on the internet, race, gender, disability, appearance are usually (if grudgingly, in some cases) trumped by skill and knowledge. I can't tell you the number of times I've been flat out GIVEN things by my fellow geeks who just want me to enjoy what they enjoy.

So is it any wonder that a bunch of so-called "Geek Charities" have been springing up? Look at the recent Mario Marathon for charity. Or Extra Life (support it! It's for a good cause). Or the grand-daddy of them all, Child's Play. It taps our geeky impulse to do what we want, when we want...but also to share that feeling of accomplishment and turn it in to something that makes others feel good.

Ignore the internet. Don't listen to your X-Box Live headset. Being a geek is about giving through what you love.

Extra Life

I'm proud to say that The Geek Project will be participating in Extra Life. Now for those of you who don't know about Extra Life it's a fundraiser started by Sarcastic Gamer to raise money for pediatric cancer. The fundraiser is a 24-hour gaming marathon from October 17 to October 18. And if you want to help you can do one of four things, or a combination of the four. You can donate to us by going to our donation page or by clicking on the Extra Life ad on our site. You could sponsor us during the event, this means you would have to give us at least a dollar an hour for every hour we play. That would be a total of $24. You could also start your own team and get to work raising money for Extra Life. Or you could just give your money to one of the many other teams that are participating in the event. Whatever you do you'll be helping in the fight against pediatric cancer.