Another day, another $2000 care package on its way to Afghanistan for the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. For those of you that may not remember, this care package was going to Corey and his AC-130 Spectre gunship crew, providing a little “death and destruction” support to special operations forces from 30,000 feet. If those boys don’t deserve a little video game care package support, I don’t know who does.
Anyway, here’s the final tally of games and gear going down range. Seemed a little strange not sending an actual console in the care package, but we tried to cram in as much good stuff as humanely possible to make up for it. All titles are Xbox 360 titles unless marked, listed out by the organization that donated them:
Purchased/Donated:
2 x External Hard Drives for Xbox 360
Battlefield 3
Ninja Gaiden 2
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3
Sleeping Dogs
Mass Effect 3
Ace Combat 5 (signed by voice actor Steve Blum!)
Marvel Super Hero Square: Comic Combat
Assassin’s Creed 2 (PS3)
Uncharted 2 (PS3)
Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Stories (PSP)
Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings (PSP)
Burnout Legends (PSP)
Far Cry (PC)
Unreal Tournament (PC)
Battlefield 2 (PC)
Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion (PC)
Infamous (PS3)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3)
Dark Age of Camelot 5 Year Collectors Edition (PC)
1 x copy of Game Informer
1 x Victoria Secret (ahem)
Capcom:
Dragon’s Dogma
THQ
Darksiders (PC)
Darksiders (PS3)
1 x Metro Last Light shirt
2 x Darksiders 2 sweatshirts
PDP (Performance Designed Products)
4 x Rockcandy Wired 360 Controllers
343 Industries
1 x Halo 4 shirt
Activision:
Blur
Electronic Arts
Need for Speed the Run (PS3)
Shadows of the Damned (PS3)
Battlefield 3: Limited Edition (PS3)
Skate 3 (PS3)
Alice: Madness Returns (PS3)
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (PS3)
Epic Games
Gears of War 3 (Signed by Epic Staff wow, schweet)
Ranger Coffee (@RangerCoffee)
3 x Ranger Coffee packs
GamerGrub
20 x PB&J Gamer Grub
Rockstar Games
Max Payne 3
Max Payne 3 (PS3)
LA Noire (PS3)
Bethesda Games:
Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim (PS3)
Valve
The Orange Box
Left 4 Dead
Portal 2
2 x Evil Controller Wired Controllers
1 x SteelSeries Xbox 360 Gaming Headset
5 x CounterStrike GO Shirts
2x Team Fortress 2 shirts
CounterStrike GO sticker
Plantronics
1 x Gamescom PC Stereo Gaming Headset
Volition:
1 x Red Faction Armageddon shirt
Ubisoft:
1 x Ezio Auditore Assassin’s Creed 2 6” Statuette
Kalypso:
Tropico 3
Tropico 4
Tropico 4 (PC)
Phil Ward (@raidingforces)
“Those Who Dare” WW2 Fiction Novel, sent by the author
Total Care Package Value (Based on Amazon Pricing, Before Shipping Costs): $1826.49
So, we’re kicking things into high gear with our announcement of the “8-Bit Salute to Veterans”, our nationwide party to celebrate (and raise a whole lot of money for) the Veterans of the Armed Forces over Veteran’s Day weekend, providing support to all the Veterans out there kicking ass in the global war on terror. Here’s the current status and how you can help us out!
Gamers Nationwide to Collect Consoles, Video Games for U.S. Troops
Events Across the U.S. Will Raise Funds to Distribute on Veterans Day
LOS ANGELES – Sept. 11, 2012 – Parties organized by gamers across America this fall will raise funds to send video games and consoles to U.S. troops deployed to Afghanistan. The events, part of Operation Supply Drop’s national Veteran’s Day “8-Bit Salute to Veterans,” will be held in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and New York City on Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012. Gamers everywhere are invited to participate.
Captain Stephen “Shanghai Six” Machuga, a former Army Airborne Ranger, founded Operation Supply Drop in Nov. 2010, after serving for eight years with the US Army, including 13 months in Iraq. An avid video game player himself, Machuga realized that many soldiers who are gamers don’t have access to their favorite form of entertainment, one of the few types of leisure activity permitted in high threat areas of deployment.
“When soldiers aren’t outside the wire on patrol, they’re playing video games,” explains Machuga. “Our packages are an immeasurable morale booster for the soldiers; troops are accustomed to getting care packages from strangers full of baby wipes and socks. Our care packages are designed to blow their socks off.”
Since the charity’s establishment, Operation Supply Drop has raised more than $60,000 in games and gear each with an average value of $2,000 to units deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan.
With the help of a variety of allied gaming organizations, Operation Supply Drop’s “8-Bit Salute to Veterans” will be one of the country’s largest efforts undertaken in support of Veteran’s Day. Join one of these groups on Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012.
Chicago
Game Pazzo
2011 63rd St.
Downers Grove, Ill. 60516 (West Suburb of Chicago)
Live music, many game stations throughout the area, game challenges with prizes, raffles as well as a full bar and kitchen. Raffle ticket purchases and donations via ChipIn will go towards Operation Supply Drop. Organizer: Konas Korner and Off Duty Gamers. 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Contact Info:
Mark ‘ODG6Actual’ Christianson
odg6actual@offdutygamers.com
or
Shawn “Kona” Warbiany
Kona@konaakorner.com
Dallas
The Den & Rumor Lounge
2710 McKinney Ave.
Dallas, Texas 75204
Red Carpet entrance with photo ops, 20 different game stations on 55” TVs, three DJs, geek-speed dating, nerf weapon battles, an online-only QuakeLive tournament and a full bar. Play games with special guests, the Charisma+2 models, Mike McFarland (director and voice-over actor for Dragonball Z, One piece and Full Metal Alchemist), Alexander Rossi (Formula 1 racer) and executives from id Software, Gearbox Software, Robot Entertainment, Terminal Reality, GameStop and a dozen soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Lockbox will accept monetary contributions and a box for donated games and hardware on site. Organizer: Charisma +2 . 1 to 9 p.m.
Contact Info:
Yvonna Lynn
yvonna@CharismaPlus2.com
Los Angeles
Los Angeles Film School
6363 Sunset Boulevard
Hollywood, Calif. 90028
In association with the Los Angeles Film School, and Hollywood production company Shifted2U Productions, Operation Supply Drop will be holding a single elimination Medal of Honor: Warfighter tournament in the Game Lab of the Los Angeles Film School to celebrate student and alumni veterans. The event augments the school’s 3rd Annual Salute, a yearly Veterans Day event held at the campus in Hollywood.
Veteran students and alum from the school will shoot it out for a chance to win a variety of prizes as well as to play side by side with veteran Celebrity Battle Buddies Scott Levy and Michael Broderick (voice and motion-cap actors “Stump” in addition to “Tick” from Medal of Honor: Warfighter), Tyler Grey (military technical advisor for EA Games) as well as Derrick Dockery of the Dallas Cowboys in celebration of Veteran’s Day. Additional celebrity battle buddies for this event will be announced shortly. Organizer: Shifted2U
Contact Info:
Tony “Money” Hulse
tonymoney@iamshifted.com
New York
Union Hall
702 Union St.
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11215
Multiple game stations, live Music, party photos, raffles and with proceeds of the door going towards Operation Supple Drop. This event will be MCed by MC Death Bear, feature a Hip hop music performance by Modern Shark recording artists Junk Science which will be followed by a chip-tune dance party headlined by Dj Cutman. Organizer: Sick Damage
Contact Info:
Rob Ritacco
rob.ritacco@gmail.com
or
Christian Taranto
mcdeathbear@gmail.com
Microsoft Stores in Bridgewater, N.J.; The Fashion Centre, Pentagon City, Arlington, Va. and Tysons Corner Center, McLean, Va. are partnering with Operation Supply Drop to collect current generation games and consoles for troops from Labor Day through Veteran’s Day.
Contact Info:
LaSone Barber, Pentagon City – LASBAR@microsoft.com
Andrea Beck, Tysons Corner -andreabe@microsoft.com
Nicole Owens, Bridgewater –nicow@microsoft.com
If you would like to make a contribution to Operation Supply Drop, but cannot attend one of the events, there are still several ways to get involved:
- Make a monetary contribution via Paypal to donations@operationsupplydrop.org.
- Contribute new games or consoles to:
Operation Supply Drop (OSD)
9301 Alvyn Lake Cir.
Bristow, VA 20136
- Anyone interested in creating an event of their own in a different city on Nov. 10, 2012, can contact Stephen Machuga at shanghaisix@fronttowardsgamer.com.
Media contact
Robert Brown
The Bohle Company
robert@bohle.com
310-785-0515 Ext. 231
