We kicked off our Extra-Life 2014 Marathon, with our last-minute attempt at a team – the Vidiots  (feel free to donate) – about eight hours ago. I had planned on making regular updates, but I’m having too damn much fun, so shoot me.

The entire event – thanks almost entirely to the $115 our team has contributed – has raised nearly four million dollars so far and shows no sign of slowing. The strength and determination of sick kids is amazing, and this money will go to ensure that there are even more sick kids around to inspire us all!

The line-up so far as been pretty eclectic:

• Plans to begin with “PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royal” were scuttled by a corrupt game file. The game was deleted and re-downloaded.
• While that was being done, the group decided to move to the PS4 and start with some manic “Towerfall: Ascension” action. This is, hands down, one of the best four-on-a-couch games ever made.
• Staying in the same vein, we moved to some “Super Smash Bros. Brawl” on the Wii.
• The group went even older-school next with some analog “Monopoly“, which was abandoned long before it was completed.
• People wandered off to do their own things for a while and there was some Team Fortress, a little PS3 Flow, PS4 Escape Plan and a whole mess of semi-private PC and 3DS gaming.
• As dinner time approached a good idea turned ugly as we attempted to get four Dual Shock 4 controllers connected to a laptop via HDMI to play the hilariously fun “Lethal League“. The entire exercise was, um, “problematic” and athough it did work, basically, for a short time it was abandoned pretty quickly.
• Now – because why not? – they’ve decided to play “Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon because I DON’T KNOW!” on the Wii U.

(I’ve been informed that I may have missed the point of the fund-raiser. I don’t think so.)