12:00 pm - HOUR FOUR - Things are going well in Uncharted 2.  I am trying to be Mr. Sneaky man on the Monestary level.  This game really does deserve a lot of the praise its been getting.  There is one aspect of the game where you need to suspend your disbelief a bit and that is Nathan Drake’s ability to climb anything.  The guy must have been bitten by a radioactive spider because he can jump 50 feet and catch onto ledges with his finger tips and he can grab ice with his bare hands and feel no cold.  He would probably win the olympic medal for Rock climbing if that were an actual sport.  The story has been fantastic so far, and the action set pieces kick major ass.  I’ll see if I can finish the story mode this afternoon because I have a feeling people will be wanting to play multiplayer later, which is in fact surprisingly good.

 

 1:00 pm - HOUR FIVE - Continuing slowly through Uncharted 2.  Lunch included a ceasar salad, my second extra large Tim Horton double double, and a few jelly bellies.  Now thats gamer fuel.  I just completed some epic gun battle and am now pinned down by snipers.  We need to get across this bridge and of course can’t do it unless we deal with the snipers.  Hold on, let me see if video game convention holds true. <checks game>.  Yep.  Just as I thought.  Some dumb ass guard has left a sniper rifle unattended and full of ammo and now I need to use it to deal with the aforementioned snipers.  I love video games.  Whenever you need something, it just usually happens to appear.  I wish life were life that!  We need a cure for cancer?  Oh, hey look what I found around the corner here hidden in this crate I just broke open!  The cure for Cancer.  That’s what we’re playing for today.  19 hours to go.

 

 2:00 pm - HOUR SIX - Time to mix it up a bit.  To get through this 24 hour period I’ll need to keep moving.  What better way than to play a bit of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter games?  Events I’ll be competing in include Ice hockey, bob sledding, Ski jumping , alpine skiing, and of course…curling.  After that I’ll move onto a racing game but that will be decided at 3.  Hmmmm, maybe Forza at 3 pm? 

 

 3:00 pm - HOUR SEVEN - That was a success.  All limbered up, I’m now ready to sit back and race some cars.  Game of choice will be Forza Motorsport.  The game is so good though I may never be able to stop playing it.  As far as how I’m feeling?  I’m thinking maybe I should spend every saturday like this.  It would allow me to catch up on the plethora of games that remain in my apartment unplayed but I’m thinking it may be hard to find people to sponsor me each weekend.  I’ll just play my heart out for the next 17 hours and see how it goes.  Friends and Pizza are coming over later which is a good combination (provided freinds bring beer).  I’ve also been keeping tabs of people’s progress on Twitter.  Vrroom Vroom for now.

4:00 pm - HOUR EIGHT - One third of the way done!  I’m still hooked on Forza.  Looking for some cheap designs right now for my Vauxhall VX220.  If I had more time I would paint a car for extra life.  I guess painting counts but I’d rather be racing.  Looking out my apartment window I can see the sun is heading back down into its resting place for the night.  Rest.  Thats one thing I WON’T be doing tonight.  Nope, the game must go on.  I think its time for my first Red Bull though.  It gives me wings apparently. 

 5:00 pm - HOUR NINE - My buddy Dave just confirmed an 8 pm arrival time and asked if I needed Beer?  Ummm, yes pls.  No gaming marathon would be complete without liquid.  I mean athletes don’t run distance races without taking whatever is in those cups the people on the sidelines are always giving out.  In fact, how do we know that those cups don’t actually contain beer as well?  Maybe it helps them run longer?  Certainly helps me.  I did just have the realization that tommorow at 8 a.m. when the 24 hours is up is the precise moment I’ll be stepping onto the ice for sunday morning ice hockey.  Should be fun.  I’ll probably barf.  But I love hockey just as much as gaming so I can’t really compromise.  The show must go on.  Oh, I’ve spent the last 40 minutes playing Williams Pinball Hall of Fame.  It is incredibly fun but the achievements are tough.  I would recommend it for anyone even remotely interested in pinball though.

 

 6:00 pm - HOUR TEN - Dinner time.  Except I’m not eating a large dinner.  Not yet anyway.  Had a bowl of yogurt with some frozen mangos.  Energy food.  Now as for games the past hour I went to the Xbox LIVE arcade well.  I dabbled in the South Park Tower Defense game for 20 minutes or so.  Last weekend my friend Joel and I stayed up both nights playing that game until 4 am.  The stategies we developed will go down in history as perhaps the most brilliant and well thought out tactics in regards to tactics used to save a small town in Colarado.  Currently playing Axel & Pixel.  It’s a very strange game about a french hippy and his dog.  You win the game by pointing and clicking until you figure out the puzzle.  Simple, quirky, and fun. 

 

 7:00 pm - HOUR ELEVEN - Not much to update this hour.  Axel and Pixel, despite being Hippies, are keeping me entertained.  I think I’ll play Brutal Legend for a half hour or so before Dave gets here and the multiplayer begins.  Did I mention we’ll be playing Chu Chu Rocket on theSega Dreamcast!!!   One of the best games ever made.  Bing it if you don’t believe me.  I also anticipate some form of music game and hopefully if all goes well — we get a noise complaint.  Because no Gaming night is ever officially complete without a noise complaint.  We can’t sleep people, we are gaming to save lives.  Sorry. 

8:00 pm - HOUR TWELVE - Dave is over and multiplayer has started.  First up, I’m showing him the glory known as South Park Tower Defense! Oh, also, we are HALF WAY through the 24 hours.  Beer is here to celebrate and pizza on the way.

9:00 pm - HOUR THIRTEEN - South Park Tower Defense!! We can’t stop playing.  See dream team below.  Cartman, Kenny, Pip, Craig.

10:00 pm - HOUR FOURTEEN - More South Park.  I’ll be updating more on the back half of the Marathon once my guests decide to leave or fall asleep.  Also, its CHU CHU ROCKET time. 

11:00 pm - HOUR FIFTEEN - I can now confirm that CHU CHU ROCKETis indeed one of the finest games ever made.  From the amazing cat animations to the lifelike recreation of a mouse traversing a maze, this dreamcast classic really has it all.  Ok, so maybe thats not all true but it sure is fun.  Also gamed this hour was Ghost Squad, a “light shooter” game where you have to save a bearded guy named Steve McCoy, and rescue the president from Air Force one.  Finally, solving puzzles in World of Goo.  This game never gets old.  Or tired.  Or thirsty.  Nope, it just keeps going and going….

12:00 am - HOUR SIXTEEN - More World of GOO!!!  Stuck on one puzzle for the last hour.  It could be my slowly dwindling mental capacity after gaming for 16 hours in a row. 

1:00 am - HOUR SEVENTEEN - Doc Adams From Sarcastic Gamer just announced  that we’ve raised in total $137,000 dollars so far.  That number is going to rise too since contributions are still rolling in.  I’m going to switch my Etra life blogging into night time mode now.  Basically, I’ll post what I’m playing without a lot of stupid commentary.  Writing stupid commentary takes energy you see, and I need to preserve it for the home stretch. +1 Red Bull.  Sugar free.

2:00 am - HOUR EIGHTEEN - Uncharted 2! 

3:00 am - HOUR NINETEEN - Yep, Uncharted 2. I think at this point I jus can’t move from the couch so now I’m determined to finish.

4:00 am - 8:00 am- THE FINAL PUSH  -  These last 4 hours were tough but I was able to focus and make it through.  Overall it was a lot harder than I thought to be up for 24 hours straight and focus on gaming.  Thanks again for everyone who supported me!  I can’t wait until next year.  Time for sleep now …. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.