Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
The Almighty Buck Christmas Cheer Entertainment Games

Child's Play Breaks a Million Bucks 81

Posted by CmdrTaco from the that's-a-lotta-game-boys dept.
Utoxin noted that Child's Play has raised the bar for their annual games for hospitals charity. They say "Not only did we break the million dollar mark, but we decimated it with our new total of $1,135,000! This significant achievement made this holiday season a happier, brighter one in our fifty partner hospitals. To everyone who has contributed to this amazing milestone, thank you! The hospital wish lists are still online, and some have seen new items added. While we try to get lots of new games and more to the children in time for the holidays, the hospitals have a need for equipment year-round. Likewise, we will continue to accept donations through Amazon, PayPal and the mail until next year's fundraiser kicks off."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Child's Play Breaks a Million Bucks More

Child's Play Breaks a Million Bucks

Comments Filter:

  • What Are They Talking About? (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    It did better than that! It grossed $44 million world wide [imdb.com]!
  • It's like... donations made a quantum leap! What a sea change!

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by kalidasa ( 577403 )
      "Decimated" means "killed every tenth," in other words, "lined everyone up and killed every tenth person in line." I suppose you could argue that $1M equals 90% of the actual total received, but I wouldn't use that particular metaphor myself.

      • Re:decimated? (Score:4, Informative)

        by VirusEqualsVeryYes ( 981719 ) on Monday December 31, 2007 @11:26AM (#21865868)

        "Decimated" means "killed every tenth," in other words, "lined everyone up and killed every tenth person in line."
        That's the ancient, root definition, referring to the killing of every one man in ten of a mutinous Roman legion. The current English definition has been generalized to the destruction of some percentage of something.

        But it's still inappropriately used in the summary. Commence the "!decimated" tagging...

        • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

          by ubrgeek ( 679399 )
          You're absolutely correct. And now that you've also managed to raise $1,135,000 for charity, we're more than willing to use your definition of the word ...Oh, wait ...

        • Re: (Score:1, Offtopic)

          by mi ( 197448 )

          referring to the killing of every one man in ten of a mutinous Roman legion.

          The current English definition has been generalized to the destruction of some percentage of something.

          It is a foolish generalization, and decent-educated people ought to reject it. It is "generalized" by ignorant people (like the guy in the article), who don't even realize, that the dec-prefix in this word is the same as in, for example, decade.

          And if you are going to argue, we should accept it because of "common (mis)use", th

          • Doctor Who got it right (Score:2, Interesting)

            by Anonymous Coward
            What's amusing is that when The Master orders the population be decimated, he then further explains that he wants one tenth of the population killed.
          • Since when does a word only take a single definition?

            I'd say it's similar to how "virus" is generalized to include "trojans" and "worms"... or how "hacker" is used for "cracker" in main-stream speech. I don't think it's really misuse to use them more generally, and I don't think people who distinguish the terms are just being pedantic jerks.

            When you use the more specific version, you are now into jargon territory. It helps you be more precise, but you have to realize that you've stepped outside general spee
            • You don't have to point out the other usage every single time it's used in another way.

              But then how will the grammar nazis compensate for never touching a woman?

              • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

                by veganboyjosh ( 896761 )
                But then how will the grammar nazis compensate for never touching a woman?

                "But then how will the grammar nazis compensate for never having touched a woman?"

                Fixed that for ya...oh wait...
            • The reason "decimated" is the wrong word in this article is because there is a perfectly good, perfectly correct word to use. This word is "obliterated," and it means completely destroyed.
              • ... and when people use "hacker" in the popular sense, there is a perfectly good, perfectly correct alternative in "cracker."

                I believe you missed my point.
          • Common use is the only way in which words are formed. Even a coinage depends on its common usage in order to flourish. Therefore, what you are suggesting to do(to reject common usage) is to stagnate our language, make it a breeding ground for foul things. Better to stir it a little, and at least enjoy it for the little while it lasts. The dictionary-makers define misused, as of a word, as a word said to be misused. If there is no intent to create a word or new meaning(since the old meaning is ancient, the n

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Wavicle ( 181176 )
            It is a foolish generalization, and decent-educated people ought to reject it.

            Yes, quite right.

            Now, why don't you take all this energy you have and go around shouting about how the word "gay" is misused to mean "homosexual."

          • It is a foolish generalization, and decent-educated people ought to reject it. It is "generalized" by ignorant people (like the guy in the article), who don't even realize, that the dec-prefix in this word is the same as in, for example, decade.

            And the same prefix as DECent, DECadent, DECaffeinated (ooops, the prefix is actualy de-), DECant, DECal, right? Er... except none of those use the dec- prefix, most (but not all) having de- prefix for negation -- which is actually not that far-fetched a misinterpretation of the etymology of 'decimate'. So get off your high horse.

        • The current English definition has been generalized to the destruction of some percentage of something.

          Where that percentage is definitely not generalised, but is specifically 10 percent - i.e. decimate = reduce by one-tenth.

          You're right though, it is an inappropriate use of the word

          • Well, if you consider the goal at $1M, they accomplished that goal and added $1 extra for every $10 of the goal. That's kinda like killing every tenth dollar in line. I admit, it's a stretch, but seems like an somewhat appropriate (though unintentional) usage to me. :-)

  • Wonderful (Score:3, Insightful)

    by pedantic bore ( 740196 ) on Monday December 31, 2007 @11:17AM (#21865746)

    Bravo! This kind of grass-roots charity warms my heart.

    If this sort of thing sounds good to you, check out Rotary International [rotary.org] because they do this sort of thing, on a global basis, year round. There are plenty of other similar organizations; shop around to find one that works for you.

  • Never makes mainstream news though.. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 31, 2007 @11:19AM (#21865772)
    ..because games are "murder simulators".

    I wished this kind of stuff made the news instead of the numerous violent video gamer portraits that are painted by TV and Paper news.
    • Color me the eternal optimist, but I would hope charities like this would at least help to reduce the witch hunt mentality a tiny bit from the mainstream media. The extreme anti-game types are pretty much set in their ways, but I think there are a lot of others who can be swayed not to write videogames off as big, bad killing simulators. The mainstream coverage of the Wii alone in 2007 put gaming in a more positive light this past year. As for Child's Play, I do believe they got a little bit of national

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ivan256 ( 17499 )
      Presidential candidate Duncan Hunter [opensecrets.org] has raised a million bucks too, and you've probably never heard of him from the mainstream news...

  • Good Use of Power (Score:5, Insightful)

    by RobBebop ( 947356 ) on Monday December 31, 2007 @11:24AM (#21865834) Homepage Journal

    I saw this on Penny Arcade the other day, and it is good to see that Tycho and Gabe have used the power of running a top ranked webpage for a greater social benefit.

    Kudos the them, and to everybody who enjoys successful and a love for charity.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by vodevil ( 856500 )
      This is one of the few charities that I believe in supporting. This year, instead of giving gifts to my brothers and sisters, I made a donation to Child's Play. Next year, I think they can do even better.

  • Contributors (Score:5, Insightful)

    by techpawn ( 969834 ) on Monday December 31, 2007 @11:37AM (#21866008) Journal
    Does this count the donation that they made in Jack Thomson's name when he welshed on donating a large sum for making a violent video game to his specifications... Or was that last year?

  • I hope they can fix them (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 31, 2007 @11:40AM (#21866054)
    A million dollars is going to take a lot of money to replace. Hopefully they'll be more careful next year.

  • You people are sick (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 31, 2007 @11:46AM (#21866110)

    Congratulations on putting murder simulators into the hands of our kids. I vow to put a stop to this! I won't rest until the people responsible are made to pay for their crimes.

    Regards,
    Jack Thompson

    P.S. Gabe and Tycho just threatened me.

    • I know the AC here was posting in jest, but stuff like this has to annoy the hell out of the "gamers are bad!" crowd. Nothing like taking someone's neat little worldview and, to use an inappropriate metaphor given the subject, shooting it in both kneecaps; I can hear the cries of "this doesn't count!" from here. I kind of wonder if the low coverage this sort of thing gets is because people simply don't know about it, or because it would add uncomfortable nuance to the coverage of the whole video game issue.
      • I'm sure that people like Thompson who are blindly opposed to videogames would go straight for Hitler and say something like, "Hitler made the trains run on time but that doesn't make his regime a good thing."
  • Hurrah, can't believe a 19 year old movie has continued to have such good theater attendance to break the record gross for an 80s horror movie. Congrats!

    • Re: (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      This from the person who used the name Peter Cooper.
  • Proving, every year, that people who play GTA do more than just kill real people.
  • And for a second I thought Chucky was back.
  • I have a game that donates to charity, more precisely to Heifer International (www.heifer.org). In fact, as I have tired of programming the thing, the donation aspect is one of the main motivators for actually working on it.

    It is a clone of risk called Grand Strategy (www.denizengames.com).

    Our motto is: Good can come from global domination.
     

Slashdot Top Deals

Two can Live as Cheaply as One for Half as Long. -- Howard Kandel

Close