Desert Bus for Hoperaised more than $1.1 million for charity as part of yet another live stream centered on what its organizers describe as “the most tedious game ever.” The 16th edition of the Canadian fundraiser was also its longest one to date, as it ran for nearly a full week until this past Saturday. Over that period, the organizers came close to tying their record donation pool from last year, when they raised $1.2 million.
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As was the case with the past iterations of Desert Bus for Hope, this year’s event once again revolved around numerous gamers braving the challenges of the eponymous Desert Bus mini-game fromPenn & Teller’s Smoke and Mirrors. This never-released exclusive for theSega CD retro consolewas scrapped in the mid-90s but survived through the review copies sent to journalists, later becoming infamous in large part due to how terrible the Desert Bus segment was. The Desert Bus for Hope 2022 participants were once again playing this mini-game live on stream for as long as the donations kept flowing in, with the broadcast ultimately running for 166 hours, just two hours shy of seven days, raising $1,134,580.73 in the process.
The consistent success of Desert Bus for Hope isn’t the only way in whichPenn & Teller’s Smoke and Mirrorshas embedded itself in the gaming zeitgeist over the years. Namely, the iconic magician duo was previously featured inBorderlands 3as “Pain and Terror,” whereas it has already been confirmed thatthe upcomingBorderlandsmoviewill also feature a cameo from Penn Jillette.
This latest example of the global gaming community’s philanthropic endeavors comes just days afteraMinecraftcharity stream hit its funding targetbefore it even started. It will be exciting what future fundraisers will be able to achieve.
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