{"74131":{"#nid":"74131","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Annual Zelda Marathon Returns, Hoping to Raise $10K for Charity","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAmid medical school applications, on-campus jobs,\ninternships and the general academic rigor of Georgia Tech, four students for\nthe fourth straight year have created a way to put their leisure time and\ngaming chops to good use.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ERyan Adams, Joey Dolensky, Ryan Hoffman and Peter Sohl, all\nfourth-year students, will embark on a multi-day virtual journey on Saturday,\nplaying video games from the Zelda series to raise money for charity through their 4\/48 Zelda\nMarathon.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe marathon began in 2008 with a simple idea: play four\nZelda games in 48 hours, stream it online and ask people to watch and give\ndonations for charity. The marathon finished in just over 44 hours, raised $400\nand a tradition was born.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThis year, the manpower grows from four to six players.\nThey\u2019ve doubled the number of games that will be played, bringing it to eight\nand including this year\u2019s new addition to the Zelda suite, \u201cSkyward Sword.\u201d Donation\nrewards have been added to incentivize giving even more than in the past \u2014 but\nsome things haven\u2019t changed.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe still love Zelda,\u201d said Adams, a biology major who\nredesigned the marathon\u2019s website, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/zelda448.com\u0022\u003Ezelda448.com\u003C\/a\u003E,\nfor the second year in a row. During last year\u2019s marathon, which raised $2,500,\nthe site received 1,000 unique hits per day and about 3,000 views on its live\nstream; the total number of hours visitors spent logged on amounted to about\nhalf a year, or more than 4,000 hours. Like last year, proceeds will benefit\nChild\u2019s Play, an organization that distributes toys, games and other donations\nto children in hospitals worldwide. Sohl\u2019s basement in Acworth remains the venue;\nspending a week in this underground locale is part of what Adams looks forward\nto most about the marathon each year.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI\u2019m not sure we\u2019re wrapping our minds around how long it\ncould really take,\u201d said Sohl, a business administration and science,\ntechnology, and culture major. Last year\u2019s marathon lasted 64 hours, with six\ngames being played, but raising as much money as last year could take up to\ntwice as long because of new donation incentives. Many require the 4\/48 players\nto complete additional aspects of games, extending the time of the marathon and\ndelirium of its participants.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe fun for the viewers is watching us become more and more\nsleep-deprived,\u201d Sohl said. Adams recalled the end of last year\u2019s marathon\nwhen, after 64 hours of play, the group circled up and sang \u201cLean on Me\u201d to its\nonline fans. This year\u2019s fundraising goal is $10,000, and crossing each gift\nlevel along the way unlocks donor giveaways.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s a really cool community dynamic. People want to\ninvolve themselves in the marathon any way they can,\u201d Adams said, speaking of\nboth online and local support. About two-dozen friends visit Sohl\u2019s basement\nover the course of the marathon\u2019s duration, and some online viewers play along\nfrom home by starting games simultaneously with the marathoners. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe 4\/48 Zelda Marathon begins Saturday, Dec. 17, at 10 a.m.\nWatch or make donations at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/zelda448.com\u0022\u003Ezelda448.com\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMarathon will stream online for several days to raise money for Child\u0027s Play.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Marathon will stream online for several days to raise money for Child\u0027s Play."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2011-12-15 09:35:17","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:10:50","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-12-15T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2011-12-15T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"74161":{"id":"74161","type":"image","title":"4\/48 Zelda Marathon 2011","body":null,"created":"1449178046","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:27:26","changed":"1475894686","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:46","alt":"4\/48 Zelda Marathon 2011","file":{"fid":"193776","name":"zeldaposter2011.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/zeldaposter2011_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/zeldaposter2011_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1156594,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/zeldaposter2011_0.jpg?itok=xjJeHyis"}},"63169":{"id":"63169","type":"image","title":"Zelda Marathon","body":null,"created":"1449176668","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:04:28","changed":"1475894554","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:34","alt":"Zelda Marathon","file":{"fid":"191764","name":"11P1000-P29-068.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/11P1000-P29-068_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/11P1000-P29-068_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3026232,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/11P1000-P29-068_0.jpg?itok=Lru8ZMlw"}}},"media_ids":["74161","63169"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/childsplaycharity.org\/","title":"Child\u0027s Play"},{"url":"http:\/\/zelda448.com\/","title":"4\/48 Zelda Marathon"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"15411","name":"child\u0027s play charity"},{"id":"2356","name":"gaming"},{"id":"11457","name":"zelda"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kristen.shaw@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EKristen Shaw\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003ECommunications and Marketing\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}