Bungie Studios (of Halo fame) Pitches In: Fight the Flood

[aresef]

http://www.bungiestore.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=322

$15+ from each sale will go to the Red Cross, and any royalties Bungie gets off any sale in their store this month will also be donated. Additionally, Bungie will be coordinating auctions with Halo.bungie.org of various memorabilia pieces.

[Autumn Colors]

1. a side note with regard to Halo-2

There's an internet web series (comedy) based on the Halo-2 game (with Bungie's blessing) called - ironically enough - "Red vs. Blue".

This series' website has a really great forum with 250,000+ members. Most are in their teens and early 20s and forum topics include everything from video games to movies/music to politics. From surfing the political forums there, I can tell you the majority who post in that section lean heavily conservative. There are also a lot of military people who post ... many who are currently in (and post regularly from) Afghanistan and Iraq.

Many of our forum members from the hurricane region have been MIA this week. One, a rather well-known and extremely popular member of the forum, is in a small town that was badly hit. Somehow he found a building (I won't identify it any more than that because he fears for his safety) with electricity and has been holed up and actually getting online from there.

Our community is selling the Bungie shirt as well (with 100% of their own profits being donated) and there are fundraising drives going on. Since much of the forum community is under 18, many are donating items and time to their local efforts to help since they don't have credit cards and income.

I don't play video games, but I had befriended a kid on another political forum who does and he dragged me over there because he wanted me to watch this series. I stumbled upon the forums and stayed. I feel that I've become sort of a pseudo-cyber-parent over there. Many of the kids are from conservative families. I've written things in my online journals over there and linked to relevant articles and things. In that way, and by my actions and reputation on the forum, I've tried to at least show them that "liberals" aren't "the bogeyman".

There's outrage over there as well and it isn't coming just from our small group of liberals either. There's still that small percentage who are the site's version of the freepers who won't change, but many of these kids are now opening their eyes for the first time, too. At least in that one little cyber-community, red and blue are now united (most of us anyway).

http://www.redvsblue.com

[aresef]

2. RvB is great stuff.