Author Archives: Stephonee

Vote Now for the Games YOU Want to Make Us Play in UPickVG 5!

UPickVG 5, the fifth annual-ish charity game-a-thon where you, the viewer, get to pick the games we have to play – why, it’s just around the corner! And now, it’s time for one of the really fun parts of the game picking: the voter poll!

We use your votes in this poll to determine how much demand there is for each game you guys have requested (and therefore, how likely it is that a certain game will raise money for charity). So if you’re really keen on seeing a certain game (or several certain games) in the game-a-thon, let us know by coming back to vote every day through May 15th!

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Last Chance to Request Games for UPickVG 5!

UPickVG 5 is coming, June 3rd-5th! And just like all of our mega charity game-a-thons, YOU get to pick the games we’ll be playing! But you’ve only got a limited time left to let us know what games you want…

Starting Sunday May 1st, we’ll take the games you’ve requested on the Request Games page and make a super-giant-awesome voter poll out of them all! So you want to get your requests in to us before May 1st, to make sure they make it into the poll. Once the poll is opened, the Request Games page will be closed for business, and at that point, you’ll only be able to add new games via a write-in campaign on the poll (and trust us, getting your game suggestions in before the deadline is a heck’ova lot easier than doing a write-in campaign in the poll).

So request the games you want to see now, and get your voting fingers ready for May 1st!

#WorldWaterDay Game-a-thon 2016 – Games & Players

It’s almost time for our very first World Water Day Game-a-thon! We opened up the floor for you to suggest the games you want to see us play, that fall within a World Water Day theme. And boy, did you deliver! After much deliberating behind closed doors, here are the games (and the justifications for how they fit the theme) that won out:

Game	Justification
Aqua Aqua	“A puzzle game where you create landscapes to manage water.” -Tracy/Grant
Aquanaut’s Holiday	“It’s, uh, underwater. So you’ll think about water, and discuss water, and donate for water?” – Grant
Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag	“On a boat!” -Jimmy
Banjo-Kazooie	“Entire section of Mad Monster Mansion takes place in a toilet.” -Chip
Beautiful Katamari	“There is a level where you have to roll up objects relating to water/the ocean.” – Stephonee
Beyond Oasis	“Aside from having ‘oasis’ right in the name? Part of the game revolves around the character trying to gain the ability to summon a water spirit.” – Stephonee
Bioshock	“Scary, takes place underwater, also gross.” -Horse Parties
Dead Rising 2: Off The Record	“Because you save in the bathroom and also something something PP stephonee said someone should request it ok.” -Chloe
Dishonored	“Whaling and sanitation issues! Lots of rats!” -Horse Parties
Ecco The Dolphin	“I mean, dolphins fighting pollution.” -Horse Parties, Canageek, Jason from The Cave
Fallout: New Vegas	“Survival Mode where you must drink water.” -Tracy
Final Fantasy X	“You play sportball underwater and there is a watery badguy.” -Grant
Harvest Moon 64	“Your plants need water to survive!” -Stephonee
Jaws Unleashed	BONUS GAME -Chip
Last of Us	“Survival game, fungi can clear water & soil.” -Horse Parties
Man vs. Wild	“It’s important to stay hydrated.” -Bear Grylls, repeatedly, during this game (also Jinx)
Metal Gear Solid 3	“Survival game! Snake hangs out in some seriously gross water.” – Grant
Myst	“Go to the shipwreck world first.” -Canageek
Ōkami	“Because some of the levels are all about purifying poisonous “evil” waters.” -Allyson
Oregon Trail	“Dysentary!” -Horse Parties
Phantasy Star IV	“Takes place on a planet that is increasingly devoid of water and ecological sustainability.” -Chip
Pokemon Sapphire	“Team Aqua wants to raise the water level worldwide.” -Grant, Bloodyfufu
Risen 2: Dark Waters	“It’s pirate themed so there’s water involved. You go from island to island and I think I remember you actually see yourself on the boat.” -umchristine
Silent Hill Downpour	“Downpour. Downpours are full of water.” – Grant
Silent Service	“Takes place in water?” -Canageek
Super Mario Sunshine	“Many of the missions revolve around cleaning grime with a water pump.” -Debbstep
Tampon Run	“Menstruation and sanitation concerns.” -Stephonee and Jen
The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct	“Pretty sure you had to collect water bottles for health or something.” – Grant
Tokyo Jungle	“Herbivores need clean water and plant life to survive.” -Chip
Viscera Cleanup Detail	“Clean up other peoples’ messes.” – nancymarie
Zombies Ate My Neighbors	“You need water (as ammo) to survive!” – Grant

Don’t see a game you suggested? We did limit the World Water Day games to only the best justifications for how the games fit the theme. BUT, you can always re-suggest a game for our June event, UPickVG 5 – no justification of theme needed!

And just who is it that will be playing these games as you donate for them?

World Water Day Player Shift Schedule

Monday March 21st
8pm – Midnight	Stephonee
Tuesday March 22nd
Midnight – 4am	Colin
4am – 8am	Chloe
8am – Noon	Chip
Noon – 4pm	DebbStep
4pm – 8pm	Horse Parties
8pm – Midnight	Stephonee

All times above are Eastern Time (UTC/GMT -4 hours). The marathon will be starting at Midnight (morning side) on World Water Day in GMT, and continuing until Midnight (evening side) on World Water Day in EDT, which is what makes it a 28-hour long World Water Day! 😀

So go ahead, donate now to get these players playing the World Water Day games of your choice! Yep, we said “donate now” … because donations are now open! Remember that each dollar you donate to our charity: water campaign gives points to the game of your choice. Every hour, we’ll spin the Wheel of Destiny to see which of the top-ranked games (in terms of those points!) we play for the next hour. When the Wheel lands on a game, it loses all of its current points and goes back to the bottom of the list. (So if you want to see it again, you’ll have to donate again!)

Stack that Wheel up with the games of your choice! Any donations made before 7:50pm ET March 21st (the first Wheel spin) will count for that first Wheel spin, and the points will carry over into the following hours (other than the game that is landed on, of course).

World Water Day Gameathon: March 21-22

The U-Pick Video Marathon Group for Charity is proud to announce our next gameathon for charity: water! For this year’s World Water Day (March 22nd), we’ll be streaming the games you want to see, to raise money and awareness for clean water projects in the developing world.

This UPickVG gameathon has a twist: We’ll be playing the games you suggest, that give us an opportunity to talk about the water crisis. What does that mean, exactly? It means that with your game suggestion, we ask that you leave a note about how the game relates to clean water or the water crisis. Then, we’ll pick the best justifications (not necessarily the best games), and those are the games that will be available for you to choose to make us play during our 28-hour World Water Day marathon!

To help get you thinking about games/justifications, here are the suggestions our volunteers have come up with:

Game	Justification
Aqua Aqua	It’s a puzzle game, name means “Water Water”
Oregon Trail	Dysentery
Last of Us	It’s a game about survival, and fungi that can clean water
Bioshock	Takes place underwater, and is gross and scary
Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag	Takes place on a boat!
SOMA	Is also underwater and scary
Wetrix	Create landscapes to manage water
Super Mario Sunshine	Many of the missions revolve around cleaning grime with a water pump
Fallout: New Vegas	Survival Mode where you must drink water
Banjo-Kazooie	Lack of sanitation is a big concern relating to the water crisis. And this game has an entire section that takes place in a toilet.
Tampon Run	Lack of clean water makes feminine hygiene extremely difficult for women in the developing world. This game about tampons gives us a chance to talk about that.
Silent Hill 2	More opportunities to bring up toilets and sanitation, as James reaches into toilets

Now please note: not all of the above volunteer suggestions are good. We’re confident you can do much better. (Especially with the “justifications” part.)

You can request as many games as you want, so long as each game request is paired with a justification for why that game works in the World Water Day theme. So help us out, and ensure you get to see the games you want, by leaving a comment right now!

Update: Game requests are now closed. Thank you x100000 to everyone who suggested something for World Water Day! <3 Keep an eye on this blog for updates on how and when YOU can donate to see these games played.

Fallout 4 Prizes for #GivingTuesday

[Update]: Congratulations to our winners: JoeBlowYouAway and Keab42! Many thanks to all who entered, and watch this site for announcements of future giveaways!

In the spirit of “Giving Tuesday,” (the charitable answer to the shopping “holidays” Black Friday and Cyber Monday), we’re giving away a bunch of Fallout 4 prizes to reward our donors and fans for being such great supporters of our fundraiser!

We’re giving away all this Fallout 4 stuff, and more, for #GivingTuesday!

Fallout 4 Mega Prize Pack

How would you like to have a Vault 111 bag stuffed with all sorts of Fallout 4 goodies?

: All the Fallout 4 merch this bag can hold!

: All these prizes you see here…

: Plus two mini posters!

The prize pack includes:

Vault 111 Messenger Bag
Dogmeat plush (with doggles and bandanna)
Large Brotherhood of Steel flag
Fallout 4 coaster set (3 coasters)
Metal heavy-duty Nuka-Cola bottle opener
Fallout 4 patch
2 mini posters (Nuka-Cola and Fallout 4 garage)

How can you get your hands on this? It’s so easy! We’re giving this away as a “thank-you” to someone who donates $5 or more to our Project Purity: Fallout for Clean Water fundraiser between now and 11:59pm ET on Tuesday, December 1st 2015.

Entering to win is easy:
– Make any donation of $5 or more to our Fallout fundraiser for clean water. (100% of your donation goes to charity: water to provide clean water access to people in the developing world.)
– When making your donation, be sure to include your contact info. You can use your Twitch username, Twitter handle (include the @), or even your email address* so that we can contact you if you win!

*You can keep this info hidden by putting it in the “Full Name” section of the donation form, and then checking the box to make your donation anonymous. That way, the Full Name info will only be shown to us and charity: water. Please note that anything you put in the “Comment” section will be shown publicly no matter what.

Vault 111 Hoodie (size 3XL)

Hoodie up for grabs! (Gengar not included)

If 3XL happens to be your size (or the size of someone you know who loves Fallout), then you will definitely not want to pass up this opportunity!

This hoodie will be given away to someone who is following our account on the livestreaming website Twitch. Following us on Twitch has additional benefits (other than possibly winning a hoodie): you can set it up so that you get an alert via email or on your smart phone whenever we go live!

To enter to win the size 3XL Vault 111 hoodie:
– Make sure you are following us on Twitch! When you are logged into your Twitch account and view our profile page, you should see a green heart icon. If you’re not following us yet, it will appear as a purple “<3 Follow” button. Click dat button!
– Send a message to us via Twitch’s direct messaging system letting us know that you want the hoodie!

That’s it! Just follow us on Twitch and message us there to let us know you want it, before 11:59pm ET on Tuesday, December 1st 2015.

Moar Goodies?

Yup, we have a few more things to give away on #GivingTuesday! Just some nice little “thank-you” gifts that we are happy to send out to some of our viewers. How can you be the lucky recipient of some of these? You’ll have to tune in to our live broadcast on Tuesday, December 1st to find out! (Another good reason to go follow us on Twitch!)

Prizes generously provided by SuperChloe and Nick Grugin.

Donation Certificates for Your Gifting Needs

Would you like to make a donation to a UPickVG charity: water fundraiser in someone else’s name as a gift? It makes the perfect gift for a hard-to-shop for loved one, especially someone who loves video games! To give you something to wrap up or slip into a card, we’ve made these handy-dandy donation gift certificates for you to use!

Just make a donation to our fundraiser, then print one of these out to give a gift that literally keeps on giving:

$30 Suggested Donation Certificate

Why $30? Because that’s the amount that it takes to give one person in the developing world clean water access for life. This certificate comes with the $30 amount filled-in for you, so you just have to write in your name and the recipient’s name:

Printable PDF | PNG Image

Donation Certificate for Any Amount

Got an amount other than $30 in mind? This version of the printable donation gift certificate leaves the upper right corner blank, so you can fill the amount in with whatever makes sense for your gift budget. Just don’t forget to fill the amount in when you put the names on the certificate!

Printable PDF | PNG Image

Happy gifting!

Announcing Project Purity: A Fallout 3 Marathon for Clean Water

UPickVG is proud to announce our next video game-a-thon for charity: Project Purity! It’s an ongoing Fallout 3 marathon, starting September 26th 2015, to raise money for clean water projects in the developing world.

Without spoiling too much for anyone who hasn’t played, Fallout 3 has a heavy focus on a quest for providing clean, safe drinking water to everyone in the region – just like what charity: water does. That’s why UPickVG’s cofounder Stephonee has decided to spend her 29th birthday playing Fallout 3 and raising money for charity: water – to bring clean water to people in the Capital Wasteland, and in the real world.

In-Game Results

When making your donation, you’ll have the option of leaving a comment with your donation. You can use this opportunity to specify an in-game action or goal you want to see achieved in the marathon, such as:

Good Karma vs. Bad Karma – do you want Stephonee to be a good guy, or a bad guy?
A DLC pack – such as “Operation: Anchorage” or “Mothership Zeta”
A specific questline – like “The Superhuman Gambit”
In-game radio stations – Galaxy News Radio, Enclave Radio, etc. (or, no radio!)
Something silly – eg. “Collect every box of soap you find and keep them in your house”

Pretty much anything you can think of to do in the game can be named, and if your choice has the most money in its category, Stephonee will have to do it!

As an example, let’s say you donate while the marathon is livestreaming. Before you donate, “Good Karma” is at $210, and “Bad Karma” is at $190. So Stephonee is making Good Karma choices in the game, but if you were to then donate $25 to “Bad Karma,” she’d have to start making the bad choices right away, and continue until the scale tips back to “Good Karma”… if it ever does!

You may also split one donation up among multiple requests. Just make it clear in your donation comment what you want, and how to split up the points. For example, you could make a $40 donation, and comment: “$10 to Enclave radio, $15 to collecting teddy bears, and $15 to Mothership Zeta!”

Real World Results

100% of the money raised will be used to build clean water projects for people in need somewhere in the developing world. (Read more about charity: water’s 100% model here.) When the project is complete, charity: water will send all donors an email with GPS coordinates and photos of the community that was helped. You can see the photos from projects funded by past UPickVG marathons, such as the Nshishi community of Rwanda, or the Kra Va community in Cambodia.

: Nshishi Community Water Tap, Rwanda

: Kra Va Community BioSand Filter in Cambodia

2x Multiplier!

For a limited time, a group of generous supporters are matching donations on charity: water! That means, if you donate before the match runs out, your donation will have double the impact: in the real world, and in the Capital Wasteland. That’s right: we’ll count your donation for double points to whatever you name in your comment (Good Karma, quest line, etc.) as long as you donate within the match period. Donate now to take advantage of this awesome opportunity… before the match runs out!

Tune In & Share

Don’t forget to join us for the livestream and chat, starting Saturday September 26th at 10am (Eastern)! Stephonee will go for as long as she can (without the aid of caffeine, because she’s allergic), as long as the donations keep rolling in! Add the event to your calendar so you don’t forget:

Add to Calendar
09/26/2015 10:00 AM
09/27/2015 03:00 AM
America/New_York
Project Purity: Fallout 3 for Clean Water
Marathon of Fallout 3 to raise money for clean water! Tune in and make a donation to have a real impact in the game, and in the real world: http://www.upickvg.com/watch-now
Please note: Fallout 3 has been rated M for Mature 17+ by the ESRB, for “Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs.” As such, parental discretion is advised for this broadcast.
http://www.upickvg.com/watch-now
UPickVG Charity Game-a-thons
https://www.facebook.com/events/1647009828899083/
false
MM/DD/YYYY

Because charity: water will be taking donations for the Project Purity campaign through December 31st, this could be just the start of several Project Purity marathons! So make sure you tune in, because you are not going to want to miss the beginning.

Tuning in and donating are the biggest ways you can help out with Project Purity… but there’s another way! Share this blog post using the sharing buttons below, to let all of your friends and family (and the wider internets) know what we’re doing. Did you know that studies have shown that just one Facebook share can bring in $18 in donations, or more? You can make an impact with just a click – so get on it, Wastelander!

Please note: Fallout 3 has been rated M for Mature 17+ by the ESRB, for “Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs.” As such, parental discretion is advised for this broadcast.

Sponsor Spotlight: Refraction

$Refraction Point$

We’re really lucky this year, to have Refraction as a sponsor. They’re a unique coworking space in Reston, Virginia – and they’ve opened their doors to us for UPickVG IV, and allowed us to broadcast straight from their event space! When you tune in to see UPickVG IV, you’re seeing the awesome space provided to us by Refraction.

Refraction is a coworking community that brings together software companies, other tech-enabled businesses, non-profits, and art under the same roof. Refraction’s guiding belief is that empathy is the currency of innovation. Said another way: when you’re better able to understand the community around your organization, you are better able to serve your customers and better able to gain and retain top talent. We foster an empathetic, innovative and collaborative work environment by bringing together these groups and hosting events geared toward their growth.

The space at Refractions consists of coworking desks, offices, meeting rooms, and an event/maker space. And they have many exciting free and paid events that are open to the public through Meetup, including speakers on topics such as the Nutrition of Thriving, plus community events like Halo tournaments and monthly Happy Hours. And of course, now they can add “Livestreamed Game-a-thons for Charity” to that list of events!

$Refraction even has our live feed going on the projector in their entrance-way - while we're broadcasting from inside Refraction! It's Refraction-Inception!$

Refraction even has our live feed going on the projector in their entrance-way – while we’re broadcasting from inside Refraction! It’s Refraction-Inception!

Oh, and also? Their conference rooms are named after video games. So you can have a meeting in Tetris, Halo, or Portal. How awesome is that?

So if you’re in the market for a sweet space to work from in Reston, Virginia, check out Refraction. The folks who use the space are so happy with it, there are hardly ever openings – but you’ll want to get yourself on the waitlist, just in case a spot does open up! And even if you’re not in the market for some coworking space, let Refraction know how much you appreciate their donation of space for UPickVG!

Video Game Charity Marathons – A Chat on the Culture Clash Podcast

This week, our own Stephonee went on the Culture Clash podcast to talk about video games, streaming, and of course, video game charity marathons like UPickVG and Desert Bus for Hope! Give it a listen:

Culture Clash Episode 7 ft. Stephonee of UPickVG

Highlights:

1:23 – Stephonee introduces herself and gives the “elevator pitch” for UPickVG
23:35 – Relevant news: YouTube introduces 60 FPS streaming to attract gaming streams
32:36 – Discussing the details of UPickVG and charity streams in general
46:10 – Stephonee shares the history of how she got into video game charity streaming, including the mysterious charity stream she did before founding UPickVG!
1:16:32 – What YouTube could do if they’re really interested in attracting video game streams to their service

You can catch more of the Culture Clash podcast on the Survivor_TV Twitch channel, where the show is recorded live every Saturday at 20:00 UTC.

Uganda and the Water Crisis

The first thing you notice about the Namayingo District of Uganda is its beauty. Lush with green, tall grass, fields of maize and vibrant rolling hills. It’s how you’d imagine Hawaii in the 1950’s— a less-modern kind of paradise.

And it feels like a wonderful place to grow up. …

The Namayingo District is tucked away in the corner of the country. It’s as far south as you can go before running into the largest body of water in Africa, Lake Victoria. And if you didn’t know any better, the lake would only add to the charm.

Tiny purple flowers float with brilliant green lily pads clinging to the shore. Long, wooden fishing boats glide across the tropical lake water. Shadowy Kenyan mountains line the horizon.

But the people in the Namayingo District do know better.

— Tyler Riewer, content strategist, charity: water / for Medium, July 2014

Diseases from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Children are especially vulnerable, as their bodies aren’t strong enough to fight diarrhea, dysentery and other illnesses.

90% of the 30,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and unhygienic living conditions are in children under five years old. The World Health Organization reports that over 3.6% of the global disease burden can be prevented simply by improving water supply, sanitation, and hygiene.

Water Changes Everything. from charity: water on Vimeo.

In Africa alone, people spend 40 billion hours every year walking for water. Women and children usually bear the burden of water collection, walking miles to the nearest source, which is unprotected and likely contaminated.

Time spent walking and resulting diseases keep them from school, work and taking care of their families. Along their long walk, they’re subjected to a greater risk of harassment and sexual assault. With safe water nearby, women are free to pursue new opportunities and improve their families’ lives.

Uganda

37,600,000 national population
24.5% live below poverty line
29% of rural lack access to water
66% of rural lack sanitation

Uganda is rebounding after two decades of civil war, when more than 1.6 million people were internally displaced (80% of which were women and children). Many remain far from home while violence continues to grip the northern regions.

But clean water projects can improve health, shorten the time spent walking for water, and even help define and rebuild communities returning to or looking for a home after years of displacement.

charity: water’s work in Uganda

Started working in 2006
159,593 people served
260 projects funded
$2,620,724 invested

The U-Pick Video Game Marathon for Charity is proud to be fundraising for clean water projects in Uganda for UPickVG IV – our fourth video game marathon for charity: water. With every donation, our donors are encouraged to name a video game that they’d like to see us play in a 48-hour-straight livestreamed marathon on June 12th, 2015.

Donations to UPickVG IV go directly to charity: water, who in turn will use 100% of the donations for clean water projects in Uganda. The suggested donation amount is $30 – enough to provide one person in rural Uganda with access to a clean water source, and change their life.

Sources and more information:

charity: water – Clean Water Projects in Uganda

Medium – It Happened on the Walk for Water (Warning – may be disturbing to some readers, due to content relating to rape and violence.)

charity: water – Why Water?