Category Archives: Alex Sievewright

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SKSP 5 in the bag

As this is written our last gamer of 2014, Chris Pilkington, is finishing off his FIFA challenge which saw him play a game as every English league club in the game over his 24 hour marathon. The session saw, among other things, Scotland youngster Jordan Rhodes’ score a 40 yard scorcher against Burnley. For that alone we salute you!

Finished Sick KidsMeanwhile last year Scott Murdoch ran an actual marathon while playing games. This year he assembled an almighty crew to recreate the Sick Kids Hospital itself in Minecraft. Marvel at their handiwork, then marvel again as I tell you it was done in SURVIVAL mode… Scott tells me they still had time to kill the dragon after completing the hospital. HURRAH!

Alex Sievwright also did Minecraft creations, but some of those were a little ruder. His commentary as always was hilarious.

Added to that, Rockstar heroes and SKSP veterans Steev and Mags played over the odds again, and our very own field operative Ross tackled his list of shame in a difficult solo run. Many, many more of you took part, loads for the first time, and we thank you.

At the last count the total had shot over £8,000 which means Sick Kids Save Point has raised over £70,000 for the Sick Kids Friends Foundation. This money raised will make a real difference to the work of the Sick Kids Friends Foundation and is a true testament to all your hard work and dedication.

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Tweet Tweet! Sick Kids Save Point Sprouts A Competition

Sick Kids Save Point week is here! First up Alex Sievwright who because of work commitments will be starting his 24 hour gaming marathon on Wednesday. Alex has challenged himself to only play games based on movies, which will be a tough one. From Alex’s marathon to Joseph Blythe, who will be kicking off on Friday morning, you can follow events unfold via the #sksp hashtag on twitter.

Tilt & Sprout: go check out their webcomic & vid

Talking of twitter, to celebrate the hour we have 30 copies of the ace tilting iphone game Tilt & Sprout to give away, thanks to local developers Twiddly. Just head on to twitter, follow @TiltAndSprout and retweet the relevant tweet to enter. It’ll be a @SKsavepoint tweet, so make sure to be following us too! Competition closes when Alex kicks off his marathon on wednesday!

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Personal Challenges

Many gamers who are challenging themselves to 24 hours of gaming this year have taken part in Sick Kids Save Point before. They’ll tell you that a gaming marathon is no walk in the park, but some are setting themselves extra challenges…

Perhaps they have been inspired by last year’s top player Neil Gow, who decided to play a list of the very worst games out there. Neil endured the tedium of Desert Bus, the broken controls of superman 64 and the terrifying banality of Coronation Street the game during his marathon, and raised around two thousand pounds for the Sick Kids Friends Foundation.

Try not to rage quit on the Sandcrawler Alex!

Our resident designer Ross Aitken thinks 24 hours isn’t a proper marathon, so he plays 26.2 hours of gaming.  Pedant.

This year Alex Sievewright is limiting himself to only games based on movies. This is a challenge, since most movie spin offs are terribly dull! How will he stay awake? We suggest Super Star Wars on the SNES, and PS1 title Spiderman. If you want to suggest a game for Alex, why not sponsor him here?

Another gamer taking suggestions is SKSP regular Richard Adams, or Oxygen Addict, who is undertaking a developing marathon. Using the program Gamemaker from Yoyo games, Richard will be making as many simple games as he can in 24 hours. He’s doing this on the 30th & 31st of September so anything he makes will be playable for everyone during our marathon on the 12th-14th October! Sponsor him here, and check out his site where he’ll be posting the results.

Robert Eastell is going to be playing an ‘Alphabet of gaming’, at least half an hour of a game starting with each letter of the alphabet.

We’ll all feel like this after our marathons…

Scott Murdoch is going to attempt to survive for 24 hours in Day Z. Surely impossible Scott? He’s even offered to donate £5 every time he dies, which sounds to us like a challenge to come and get him…

We understand that gamers addicted to MMORPGs have no problem playing games for 24 hours. In fact we’re told that they often do it. No problem then for Gaz Jones and his guild in Star Wars: The Old Republic, who will be defeating the republic AND saving kids.

If you like any of these ideas, please throw a couple of quid sponsorship their way. Not only will it go towards helping sick children and their families, but it will also help these brave gamers enter the SKSP prize draw, open to anyone who raises over £100 in sponsorship.

If you’d like to take part in Sick Kids Save Point yourself click here to set up a Just Giving page of your own, and read our safety guidelines 

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SKSP Multimedia highlights

As we gear up for the third Sick Kids Save Point in October, you may have noticed our new column in the Edinburgh Evening News. In this we hope to provide some new release tips and highlight what our local games developers are up to, as well as raise awareness for our charity gaming marathon, of course!

If there is anything you’d like to ask or make us aware of, feel free to contact us via our Facebook page or on twitter.

Meanwhile, a search on Youtube produces some interesting videos from last year. Here’s a selection:

our safety infomercial
Alex gets IN the game
Develion sets himself the Coronation Street challenge
Spirits high at this point…
brilliant commentary from Xander
Skyscanner are 4 hours in…

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On Your Marks…

As we all try to get some well needed sleep before this dry-eyed thumb crampy weekend, I’m delighted to say that we have SMASHED our target already.  Currently we have raised over 12,000 pounds for the Sick Kids Friends Foundation.  This means that collectively we can do our marathons knowing that we genuinely have made a difference, as well as redressing the bad image that gaming has.

First to kick off in the morning is actor and writer Alex Sievewright who has set himself an 8am start.  Good luck Alex!  You can follow his progress on twitter, where he is known as @wibbleflopp.  Please show him support for being our pacemaker by sponsoring him a couple of quid.  Here is his Just Giving page.

Also to look out for this weekend are the Ultimate Minecraft team, who (as the name suggests) are playing nothing but minecraft for their whole marathon!  They’ll be streaming their efforts here.  Also if you’re at a loose end in Edinburgh this weekend pop in to Twitch Gaming, the local Interactive Video Gaming Centre in Nicolson street, who’ll be taking part from 11am on Saturday.

Good Luck to all our participants, and keep up the good work.  If you’re not taking part, sponsor us by texting SKSP 77 + £(amount) to 70070