Emerging from the dim cavern of the Electronics Boutique into the fully lit mall, I blinked several times and tried to adjust. A single, determined bat still clung to my sleeve. I shook him off, as gently as he allowed, and tried to remember why I shopped for games in a place covered in lichen.

You can now get free replacement straps from Nintendo, but whether this is them admitting that they have done wrong or them taking out idiot insurance I think is an open question. In any event, there is a window of opportunity here for the savvy extortionist - one that could potentially incorporate an innovative orifice.

I used to be obsessed with the Pirates Constructible Strategy Game from Wizkids - if you have seen people putting together little pirate ships they punched out of what looked like credit cards, that's probably what they were playing.  Imagine my surprise when Sony Online Entertainment - a company we have been savage to, behaving much as wild animals would - not only announced that they were bringing the game online, but that all proceeds from the launch would go to Child's Play.

The launch day, coincidentally, is today.

We're grabbing the client as we speak - there's even a free demo.  I must admit to being quite humbled by their generosity.

(CW)TB

There is some kind of apology on the blog now, which... Whatever. I don't know if they want a gold star or what.

We were just made aware of three really interesting auctions, and since people can create auctions that support Child's Play without notifying us (via MissionFish), this was the first I'd heard of them. As a result, these things haven't gotten much publicity, which could potentially mean big savings.

Well tonight is the big night. Our Child’s Play charity dinner and auction kicks off this evening at 6:30. Kiko will be taking pictures all night so those of you who couldn’t make it can still get a peak at the fun.

Everybody heard, right? A Firefly MMO? I should probably establish firmly that there is no pre-pre-alpha of the game available, to put pistol-packing browncoats at ease. We were just goofing around in the strip, without even the trace particles of truth we ordinarily rely upon.

So it’s Friday and I have another Child’s Play update for you. We’ve added up all the toys and cash donations again and you guys are not going to believe where we are now. Remember that just last Friday the total was $260,000. Well as of today the new total is $495,000 in toys and cash! I’m not joking, you guys donated more than $230,000 in one fucking week! The crazy thing is it’s only the 8th of December. This is our fourth year running Child’s Play and you guys amaze me every single year.

We talked with the GameSHOUT croo about Child's Play yesterday, a process that required we install Ventrilo. I understand that Ventrilo use among the young has reached troubling levels, but as devotees of Battlefield Commander (and then Sidewinder GameVoice) who migrated to TeamSpeak, we never dabbled in your Roger Wilcos et. al.

This is pretty awesome. If you’re looking for another way to give to Child’s Play this year you should check out this link. Some independent Mac developers are teaming up and donating all the proceeds from sales of their software on Dec. 7th to Child’s Play. You can see all the details as well as a list of software on their site.

Don't forget, East Side friends: Fünde Razor is tonight, at Brooklyn's Barcade. I wanted to mention it again for several reasons. One, it is awesome. Two, it is an opportunity to mention the Events Page at the Child's Play site. There are quite a few sanctioned activities, maybe one in your hometowns!!!  Also, I wanted to draw attention to the unbelievably cool guitars they are raffling off this evening. They're Guitar Hero compatible guitars, made by a genius and built into real instruments. I wonder what it would take to buy one outright.

Tomorrow is the last day to purchase tickets for the Child’s Play charity dinner and auction. Someone who would like to remain nameless has actually purchased a block of tickets and asked us to give them away in some sort of contest. If you’d like to try and win a pair of tickets all you need to do is write and draw your own three panel comic strip. We’ve decided to make it a little bit harder than that though. You’re comic will need to incorporate a few things in order to qualify for judging. It needs to have:

Last Friday, I wondered aloud whether the voice issues with Rainbow Six would be resolved before I quit playing the game altogether. Well, it didn't take long - I'm done.

Just a reminder that the last day to purchase tickets for the Child’s Play charity dinner and auction is Thursday. New items for the auction are coming in every day. I wanted to let you all know that we’ll have items in all different price ranges. I know last year we talked about items going for ten and twenty thousand dollars. Trust me when I tell you that you can come with significantly less than that and walk out with something cool. Even if you don’t want to bid on anything it’s a really fun event to watch. Either way, Thursday is the last day to get your tickets.

To the great delight of a vocal percentage of the readership, Div has returned. Briefly. Now he can return to attic storage, there to languish in oak, resting in close proximity to my Spelling Bee medals and a black baseball mitt (unused).