Desert Bus for Hope 6 Begins Its Journey for Child's Play Charity

[Shawn Zipay]

The sixth annual Desert Bus for Hope charity drive has kicked off! With just three hours under its belt, the annual event hopes to once again raise a ton of cash for the Child's Play Charity.

Desert Bus for Hope is, for those who don't yet know, a bunch of people playing just one game: Desert Bus. Desert Bus is a game created for Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors, a game that was never released. However, Desert Bus emerged from the ashes and tasks the player with driving a virtual bus for eight real-world hours from Tucson, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada. There is nothing more than a big stretch of desert between point A and point B.

You can't leave the bus unattended, however, as it will veer off to the side, meaning that players will have to stay vigilant for the entire trip. These guys in Desert Bus for Hope keep playing so long as the donations keep pouring in. Right now, they've already hit almost $15,000 in donations, which equates to 102 hours of gameplay ahead of them. They have a number of events, interviews, chats, auctions, and giveaways planned for the viewers throughout the week.

From its humble start in 2007, the group has raised over $825,000 total for the Child's Play Charity. So go ahead, donate to prolong their gaming hours, and ensure that your money goes towards a good cause.

[K-16]

I love how they have a page on their website (Live) that allows you to see both the driver and bus cams (two Twitch streams), all Twitter feeds, news blog, and both the silent and live auctions at the same time on a single page (format is customizable too). It's great for following everything Desert Bus related without missing a single second's worth of information. I wished E3/PAX coverage was like this...