We announced our plan for GameBlast24 in September.
Pete and I have taken part in this annual streaming marathon since the first event in 2014. Every February, we join hundreds of gamers all over the UK for extended gaming sessions on Twitch with the aim of raising funds and awareness for the awesome SpecialEffect.
The charity transforms the lives of people with physical challenges through the innovative use of technology. At the core of their mission is their work to optimise inclusion, enjoyment and quality of life by helping individuals to control video games to the best of their abilities. This not only brings families and friends together but has a profoundly positive impact on confidence too.
Next year, our Pixels to Pavements format will see us taking part in two types of long-distance event for SpecialEffect. I’ll be lacing up my running shoes to hit the streets for the London Marathon on Sunday, 21 April 2024 and you can find out more in this update. Before that however, Pete will be joining me for a 24-hour streaming session from 08:00 on Saturday, 24 February 2024 for GameBlast24.
It’s never too early to start planning the stream and we usually begin thinking about the games we’re going to play around this time of year. We’ve switched up the format in recent times so it’s been a while since we last went live for a 24-hour period – three years according to my last post about GameBlast. Back when we did this duration annually, we used to split up the session into eight three-hour sections during which we’d play a different genre of video game.
This always felt like a good format because it meant that no game outstayed its welcome and there was something to suit everyone on the schedule. It therefore makes sense to return to it again for the next event. The question is now though: what are the genres going to be this time around and when can you expect to see them on Twitch? The following schedule may end up changing over the next three months but here’s what we’re going with at the moment:
| Day | Time | Genre |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 24 February 2024 | 08:00 GMT | Platformer |
| 11:00 GMT | Retro | |
| 14:00 GMT | FMV | |
| 17:00 GMT | Adventure | |
| 20:00 GMT | Action | |
| 23:00 GMT | Horror | |
| Sunday, 25 February 2024 | 02:00 GMT | Something different |
| 05:00 GMT | RPG | |
| 08:00 GMT | Stream ends |
This leads us on to the next question: which games are going to be selected for each of these genres? This is where we’d like to ask for your help. If there’s a particular release you’d like to see or a certain title which would be great for streaming, please get in touch or let us know in the comments below. Seeing as I recently wrote about the use of AI in video games, I thought it would be rather apt to ask ChatGPT for its suggestions to give us all a bit of inspiration:
- Platformer: Celeste
- Retro: DOOM
- FMV: The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker
- Adventure: Thimbleweed Park
- Action: Dying Light
- Horror: Layers of Fear
- Something different: an escape-room-in-a-box
- RPG: Final Fantasy XIV
You’ve got until Monday, 20 December 2023 to let us know your suggestions before our next GameBlast24 update. In this, we’ll be combining all the suggestions received into a series of polls so everybody has the chance to vote on the games they’d like to see make the cut. There’ll also be some news about a potential 12-hour stream on New Year’s Eve to get us in the right frame of mind for the marathons, so keep your eyes peeled for details soon!
If GameBlast sounds like something you’d like to take part in yourself, keep an eye on the official website for registration. There’s also plenty of useful information on the SpecialEffect website including details about other events you can get involved in. It’s time to help everybody get back in the game.
