Editor's note: Something that paints gamers in a positive light AND helps sick children? I can't say enough good things about the Child's Play charity. For the last two years I've asked for people to donate to this great cause in lieu of giving me Christmas gifts. It's a great feeling to know you're helping to brighten a sick child's day, even if just for a moment. Visit the Child's Play website to see how you can do a good deed and feel awesome. – Aaron
Child's Play, the charity created by Penny Arcade's Gabe and Tycho in order to provide games and toys to hospitalized children, hosts a yearly dinner banquet and auction in Seattle. Ihad a great time with some old colleagues at the dinner auction in 2009, so I absolutely had to attend this year's festivities! The night supported a great cause and featured many auctions for wonderful prizes, one of which was actually won by a certain Mr. David Ngo.
My ride down to the convention center took slightly longer than planned, which made me several minutes late to the silent auction. After I was directed to the proper area for the Child's Play event, I headed over to registration to verify my attendance.
After I checked my coat, I took a moment to wander around and see if I recognized any familiar faces. I didn't bump into any old colleagues this time around, but I did catch a glimpse of Wil Wheaton chatting with Major Nelson! I grabbed a few tasty hors d'oeuvres and went around the room in order to check out the silent auction.
When I took this photo, these Horde t-shirts had received no bids. I guess the attendees were ashamed to reveal that they played as ugly monsters and weren't members of the GLORIOUS Alliance!
Just like last year, Blizzard donated several autographed World of Warcraft expansion packs to Child's Play. I know quite a few people who would probably be interested in these, but I'm glad that I kicked the habit when I had the chance.
I also can think of a few people who would probably love to get their hands on this Mass Effect prize pack. Cody?
I mean no disrespect to the folks at BioWare, but I'd say that this unsigned copy of Sonic Chronicles was probably the most lackluster auction of the night. I wonder how high the bidding went on this bad boy…
Quite a few bubs were interested in this autographed X2: X-Men United poster. They made the pen go *SNIKT* as they wrote down their bids.
One of the rare Halo 3: ODST Xbox 360 Elite consoles was up for sale. From what I overheard, it was one of the crowd's most-wanted items.
Pop Cap contributed two prize packs to the silent auction. Here's one of them, which had a nice selection of amusing plush critters.
A whole bunch of my coworkers would probably drool all over this autographed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Xbox 360 console. I'd only want the 250 GB hard drive, and unfortunately, nobody donated any of those to the auction!
Here's a nifty 8-bit Resident Evil 4 portrait. I would have been more inclined to bid on this piece of art if it was Barry Burton shooting Leon Kennedy in the head.
Those lovable Panderans were available as both a painting and an action figure! Just like all the other WoW-related items, this set was quite popular with the audience.
The Scribblenauts gang represented in painted form. I'm surprised that there are no words on the image!
Here's some artwork from Dragon Age: Origins. I honestly can't recall seeing any scene like this in the actual game.
No auction is complete without some framed Halo artwork. I can feel your HALO HALO HALO!
I still think that the Mushroom Men video games had great official artwork. I wish I felt the same way about the actual games, which weren't my cup of tea.
Lowly minions could toil for a chance to take home a statuette of Lord Recluse from City of Villains. I'm sure he'd do a fine job of teaching amateur villains his wicked ways.
Board games?! I came here to see video games! Just kidding, Hasbro, I'm sure your donation was appreciated by someone.
A copy of the rare Uncharted 2 Fortune Hunter Edition was up for bid. The box was even opened so bidders could touch the replica dagger with their own hands.
Nintendo's auction was quite tame. At least the money goes toward helping the unfortunate instead of boosting a retail giant's sales.
If you won this lot, the famous Frag Dolls would come to see *YOU*! They'd also defeat you at the Xbox 360 FPS game of your choice.
Awwwwwwwwwww, baby Murlocs. I'm sure some diehard WoW fanatic took these plushies home.
Several Guild Wars 2 printed art pieces were bundled together as a set. A GW2 hardcover artbook was also part of the package.
Even more stuff for the Halo fans! Here we have an autographed Halo: Reach poster.
That's not all! Bungie also contributed a signed Halo 3: ODST poster to the charity.
According to the item description, only 30 of these Pepsi guitars exist. This one happens to be signed by the Harmonix staff.
I'm sure someone out there is interested in this Starcraft 2 autographed poster. Not me, I'd rather see one showcasing my main man Diablo!
Egad, more Starcraft merchandise! Diablo series action figures were actually available for bidding, but were mysteriously absent from their respective table. It's a conspiracy, I tell ya!
Ehhhhhhhh… at least it isn't more Starcraft! I've always been more of a fan of fantasy than science fiction.
Well, unless that fantasy involves Monty Python. It may go against the nerd creed, but I still don't see what's so appealing about the series…
Here's an assortment of home furnishings from GeekChic. Perfect for the tabletop gamer who's looking to redecorate!
The DM said I found a chest. Using my rogue experience levels, I passed a skill check and opened it! Inside was a bunch of Dungeons & Dragons-related loot.
This auction was for a bottle wine. These alcoholic beverages are made by a company called 8-Bit Vintners, located in Washington state. Their target audience is, of course, gamers!
As the night went on, the silent auction was beginning to come to a close. I joined the growing group of people who were taking a look at some of the items that were going up for sale at the live auction.
I do enjoy video game arts and crafts, and did take a bit of a shine towards this Super Mario Bros. quilt. It even came with a pillow that was shaped like a coin, which you can see on the left.
Ah, classic 8-bit imagery is the perfect decoration for any gamer's room. Even though this piece of art is from one of the least popular Legend of Zelda games, it garnered quite a bit of buzz from the attendees.
Fans of the upcoming Capcom game Dark Void could win this statue and signed poster. As an added bonus, the winner would also get a tour of Airtight Games in Redmond, WA.
Bungie continues to show their generosity by donating this lot to the live auction. It's a big box of Bungie goodness, including quite a few of their classic games.
Valve also presented Child's Play with a rather sizeable box of swag. It also included a lifetime Steam key that would let the buyer have every current and future title developed by Valve.
I guess Solid Snake is getting soft as he ages. Then again, people of all ages love to sport those darn Scribblenauts hats!
Volunteers soon arrived to take away all the items from the auction floor. That meant it was dinner time! I walked over to the decorated banquet room and found my table.
The folks at my table were a nice bunch. There seemed to be a bit of a theme going on since two of them were named Dave. Part of our group went on to win the Dark Void prize pack after pooling their funds with a few friends.
Our servers gradually brought us each portion of our meal. I went for the beef tenderloin. I have to say that the grub was much better than what I dined on last year, especially the salad!
As we ate, the live auction kicked off with a bang! Gabe and Tycho took to the stage as auctioneers. The first item up for grabs was the Mario quilt, which sold for a whopping $4,000!
That was soon followed up by the Zelda 2 painting. Somewhere, a gamer has this potrait on his wall and $2,000 drained from his bank account.
The Solid Snake statue didn't go for as much as I expected. The highest bid was $2,100. If I remember correctly, the winner managed to beat one of Penny Arcade's staff members, who was dying to get his hands on the statue.
That may look like an ordinary 360 to you, but it's actually so much more! Two Xbox 360 consoles were auctioned off, one with every single piece of Rock Band DLC and another with all of the Xbox Live Arcade games. They respectively netted $1,700 and $1,900.
One of the more interesting auctions was this mystery box. I wish I could tell you what the high bid was, but I wasn't paying attention since I was eating.
The fellow in the kilt won and rushed to the stage to unwrap his prize. Inside was a 52" Sony Bravia TV. Eh… I was kind of hoping to see something slightly more exciting.
Several auctions came and went, including an appearance in the Penny Arcade comic that sold for $6,100! After saying adios to the rest of my table, I walked out of the dining area to see if I'd won one of the silent auctions. Turns out, I did!
I ended up being victorious in my attempt at winning the Uncharted 2 Fortune Hunter Edition. It was quite a steal compared to the going rate on eBay for one of these treasures! I don't know if I'm actually going to play the game since I've never really cared for the series, but it does make an interesting footnote in my collecting history.
That concludes another memorable event! You can bet that I'll be back for more next December. Hopefully I'll see some of y'all there next time!