The Desert Bus for Hope. Donate for the kids. Or the lulz.

[ChrisGrenard]

Hopefully this is still running by the time you read this.

Every year Penny Arcade holds their annual charity drive, known as Child's Play, which raises money to buy toys for Children's Hospitals all over the place. Last year I believe they hit a million dollars. So this year, a Canadian comedy team has decided to help out. By playing the worst game known to mankind. Desert Bus.

For the uninitiated, Desert Bus is a game where you drive a bus from Tuscon to Las Vegas. And back. In real time. At 45 mph. And the bus constantly pulls slightly to the right, so you have to correct it constantly. That's it. And if you get there, you just have to drive back to Tuscon. And then back to Vegas. And back to Tuscon. And back to Vegas. And so on, for all eternity.

So, said comedy team has been playing now for three days straight with a 4 man crew taking shifts. And they'll keep playing as long as people donate enough to make them keep going. So far they've raised over 21,000 dollars, which is nothing to scoff at for sure. I threw in my 20 bucks, partially because I had intended to donate anyway and partially because I like seeing people suffer. And really, wouldn't you like to see these lousy canucks suffer more? So get on over there and toss them five bucks. Make their lives just a little bit worse.

[AWS260]

Arise! Desert Bus for Hope is back for its seventh year. Which is kind of amazing.

Also amazing: Chris's post from 2007 notes that they've raised an impressive $21k. This year, they've already raised $390k.

[ChrisGrenard]

Arise! Desert Bus for Hope is back for its seventh year. Which is kind of amazing.

Also amazing: Chris's post from 2007 notes that they've raised an impressive $21k. This year, they've already raised $390k.

Also amazing, 7 years ago I was willing to use the word, "lulz."

Holy shit, sometime between then and now I became an adult. Well, of sorts.

[Max Peck]

Desert Bus for Hope 9 is nearly upon us! Woohoo!!!
The crazy starts on 14 Nov 2015 at 1000 PST.

Be there or be square (and miss out on the chance to acquire this guy -- For The Chillunz!!!)

[Max Peck]

Oh, hey, what's that stuff happening on twitch, this very weekend...

[Max Peck]

Penn Jillette is making his DB9 appearance (by having DB9 as a guest on his Sunday School podcast) even as I type...

[Max Peck]

Hey, y'all in need of a little warm-and-fuzzy? Desert Bus For Hope 10 is nigh, starting at 1000 PST on 12 Nov 2016.

[Max Peck]

Just a bump to point out that they're live and streaming on twitch, and will probably keep the nerd-a-thon going for the next week or so.

[Max Peck]

Another year, another record.

[Max Peck]

Oh, hey, it's already time for Desert Bus 2017!

[naednek]

Wait is Max Peck Chris Grenard?

[Max Peck]

Another crazily successful Desert Bus run, raising a little over $650,000.



This was probably my favourite moment this year -- dancing to Gangnam Style at half-speed, with a little extra spice added by the engineering team:

[Max Peck]

Just when I thought we must have reached peak Desert Bus, those wacky kids set a new record.

[naednek]

Max... Are you the original Chris Grenard?

If so, MIND BLOWN

[Max Peck]

Max... Are you the original Chris Grenard?

If so, MIND BLOWN

No, I'm just squatting in his thread. I didn't start watching Desert Bus until 2012 or thereabouts (a co-worker who was a big LoadingReadyRun fan told me about it), but it has became an annual must-see feel-good event for me for the last few years.

[naednek]

ah ok. No worries about squatting, just clean up after yourself

[Max Peck]

It's that time of year again: the tech test for Desert Bus for Hope 2019 is live on Twitch, and the marathon itself starts tomorrow.

[Max Peck]

The question: What is the point of playing the world's worst video game for 162 consecutive hours?

The answer: $864,415 raised for Child's Play.

[Max Peck]

Even 2020 can't stop the Desert Bus For Hope.

[Max Peck]

They went 164 hours this year, with the amount raised coming to $986,718 at the end of the run. Since there will probably be some late money coming in from merch sales, it is possible that the final total might hit $1M.

[Max Peck]

It's that time of year again. Desert Bus 2021 is live!

[Max Peck]

This year's run lasted 167 hours, setting a new record for donations raised.



Youtube highlights

[Max Peck]

Desert Bus for Hope 2022 is up and running.

[Max Peck]

And they're done for another year.

[Daehawk]

If I read that right they made $1.1 million for the year? Nice Grats to them! Hope it helps.

[Max Peck]

That's correct (someone triggered a UWU mem effect on the overlay, if you're wondering about the spelling). The final tally will be a little higher than that. At the end of the run the total includes all the direct donations made by viewers and a lot of the money raised by merchandise sales, but it will take some time for the final merch sales to get tallied up.

All the money raised goes to the Child's Play charity, if you're curious about how it is put to use.

They also have a ton of videos from this year uploaded to Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/user/DesertBusForHope/playlists

[Daehawk]

Child's Play. Is that the charity started by Penny Arcade?

[Max Peck]

Yes. Jerry Holkins has participated in Desert Bus a few times, including travelling up to attend in person once or twice back before COVID.

[Max Peck]

Desert Bus is live again starting today.

[Daehawk]

Ok its been too long and Ive gone though many medications. What is this again? I see people sitting in a room talking or playing a game and a simulated bus in the lower right. Is there some real bus or something or what? Im confused.

[Blackhawk]

Ok its been too long and Ive gone though many medications. What is this again? I see people sitting in a room talking or playing a game and a simulated bus in the lower right. Is there some real bus or something or what? Im confused.

Did you try looking at the first post? It's often a source of multitudinous knowledge regarding the topic it thereby commenced.

[Max Peck]

Ok its been too long and Ive gone though many medications. What is this again? I see people sitting in a room talking or playing a game and a simulated bus in the lower right. Is there some real bus or something or what? Im confused.

In their own words:

Desert Bus for Hope is the world’s longest running and most successful internet charity fundraiser. Started by internet comedy powerhouse LoadingReadyRun in 2007, we’ve raised more than $9 million dollars for the Child’s Play Charity , an organization that donates toys, games and money to Children’s hospitals all over the world.

The more money we raise for Child’s Play, the longer the team must play Desert Bus, an unreleased Sega CD mini-game that is widely considered to be the worst game ever made.

Although watching us suffer through Desert Bus is amusing in its own way, we also entertain our viewers by taking requests. We are more than willing to sing, dance, take challenges to eat gross things, and act very silly in order to raise money for Child’s Play.

We also auction off and give away hundreds of incredible prizes to Desert Bus viewers. If you want a chance to win incredibly rare prizes, or one-of-a-kind handmade items, you’re in the right place!

To find out more about Desert Bus for Hope, and make an account, visit the official website.

[Max Peck]

Peak Desert Bus 2023: The current driver was born in the year that Desert Bus For Hope started.

[Max Peck]

Another year, another million dollars and change raised for the charity.

[Punisher]

Please confirm or correct.
Was this the game that came bundled with Penn and Tellers book?
If so, was this game designed specifically for their book?

[Blackhawk]

Please confirm or correct.
Was this the game that came bundled with Penn and Tellers book?
If so, was this game designed specifically for their book?

I believe it was a Sega CD game that was never actually released.

[Max Peck]

Please confirm or correct.
Was this the game that came bundled with Penn and Tellers book?
If so, was this game designed specifically for their book?

Desert Bus was a mini-game that was going to be part of their Smoke and Mirrors Sega CD game, but it was never released.

Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors is an unreleased video game starring the magician duo Penn & Teller that was planned for release initially on the Sega CD in April 1995. The game is a collection of several minigames and an adventure platform game. All the minigames, with one exception, were made for the sole purpose of enabling the player to fool their friends by different means, designating the games "scam minigames" and virtual tricks. Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors is similar to the video Penn & Teller's Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends, which has the same purpose, and uses properties of the video medium itself for the tricks.

Smoke and Mirrors was developed by Imagineering and was scheduled to be published by Absolute Entertainment. The game was reviewed in several publications, but Absolute Entertainment went out of business before the game could be released. The creators were unable to find other companies interested in the game, and it was never released. It received attention when a copy circulated on the Internet in 2005 and has since gained a cult following, especially for the Desert Bus Minigame.

Of course, there are ways to experience Desert Bus for yourself (if you're enough of a masochist to do that). For example: