My Heroes =]

What do the words “extra lives” mean to you?


Most gamers would think of a green 1-up mushroom or a similar life-giving icon. Even if you’re not a gamer, the meaning of the words “extra” and “lives” implies something very positive.

I’m sure that Tim Troppoli had this in mind when he decided to name his organization Extra Lives. 

“WTF* is Extra Lives?” I asked myself as I clicked on a link that was advertising a The Legend of Zelda marathon.

Around new years, a group of gamers began broadcasting themselves playing through various Zelda titles. The marathon was to last 80 hours.

Like most people, I found this endeavor amusing, but, ultimately, it seemed like a ridiculous waste of time; it was something I would never do.

There was one redeeming factor, though. These guys were accepting donations for a charity called Free the Children. The initial goal was $2,000.00 and, at this point, they were just over $500.00.

The fact that they’d raised $500.00 by playing video games was impressive enough, but I doubted that they would be able to reach their goal. However, even during this initial state of skepticism, I noticed that the chat room of the site was buzzing with people encouraging, reminiscing, making jokes, and giving advice to the players; they were also donating. I knew I’d stumbled unto something worth following up on.

When I checked the site later that night, I was shocked to see that they had almost reached their goal. The chat room was pushing for the goal to be increased, and  I couldn’t comprehend what the hell was going on.

Why were so many people so eager to give their money to this website that was essentially just broadcasting a group of friends playing video games?

The best answer I can come up with is that the combination of nostalgia brought on by the game, the sense of community that was fostered in the chat room, and the benevolence of the goal over-powered the hearts of the viewers and turned them into frenzied philanthropists.

I watched in awe as goal after goal was met, and finally they passed the $12,000.00 mark, enough for Free The Children to build and furnish a school in a developing nation.

It’s been over a month now, and I’m still dumb struck with admiration. Extralives.org is an amazing organization. They not only inspired this blog post, they inspired my whole blog and my passion for analyzing the gamer community. Did I mention that these guys are in high school? 

I can’t wait for the opportunity to start my own game marathon for a charitable cause, and I can’t wait to see what the gamer community will do next.


Extra Lives

Free the children

WTF= what the fudge (I try not to curse)