The Virtual Coffeeshop

To the Editor: First of all, thank you for doing everything you have done with The Escapist. It’s wonderful and refreshing to have a serious, insightful look at the games industry and gamer culture.

This week’s issue, “For Great Justice!” contained an article, “Child’s Play: The Tai Chi Approach,” that had a timely and personal connection for me. Just a week or so before this issue came out I started a personal project with the intention of doing my part to support Child’s Play. Since I programmed small games for fun, and I knew several friends and acquaintances who did the same at my high school, I decided to attempt to open a site offering these games as donation-ware, with all donations forwarded (no administration fees, of course) to Child’s Play. The site, to be named TJGames.org (TJ being shorthand for Thomas Jefferson High School), is currently under construction, but I’ve been amazed already at how willing my fellow gamers are to contribute work to the site. Already several have agreed to contribute games, and the graphics for the site and the site itself are being developed free of charge by students who have much greater expertise in these areas than I.

The end result may not be all that much compared to more professional small games, but we aspire to create some genuinely fun products. Hopefully, this will be enough to raise awareness for Child’s Play and perhaps to send some money their way.

-Teddy McNeill

P.S. The target date for the opening of TJGames.org is early March.

To the Editor: I’ve seen many a website and I must say that your website design is far and away the best I’ve ever seen. Have you won any awards or something? If I was a huge company and had a sweet award, I’d give it to you. It’s so simple and clean and makes so much sense. wft I wish every site looked like yours.

Your new subscriber,

-Jesse

To the Editor: In “The Buzz is Gone” you mention that Noctis takes place in the Milky Way; it actually takes place in an entirely different procedurally-generated galaxy.

-Brandon

From The Lounge [Re: “Comrades in Cheap” by Pat Miller] Thanks for the great article. It’s by far the best written item on CAG in existence.

Keep up the good work!

-CheapyD

From The Lounge [Re: “Child’s Play: The Tai Chi Approach” by Shannon Drake] I am glad to see this getting some more press. When they started the charity a few years ago I was like “Wow that is pretty cool, hope it goes well.” Once the totals were tallied, I literally sat in awe staring at the pictures for several minutes.

“We” the gamers did this?

Then the next year, there were some Amazon issues but still it grew exponentially. The part that really blew me away was the dinner/auction, the game companies really turned out and supported the entire thing. Once again I was in awe.

Penny Arcade (Gabe and Tycho) have proven not only to be funny on a Demi-God level, they are actually human, and honestly care about the well being of the world in general.

I hope to make it a family tradition with my daughters, (Toddler and Newborn at the moment) “Shopping for Child’s Play gifts” will hopefully mean Christmas is coming to them as they get older.

Oh, and might I add, this overall issue of The Escapist contains some of the best articles I have read in it, since the article about Second Life.

-Cinomed