Charity gaming marathon Desert Bus for Hope finished over the weekend, and this year the fundraiser brought in $676,883 in donations, taking the lifetime total of money raised since 2007 to $3.11 million.
Desert Bus for Hope was founded by comedy outfit LoadingReadyRun, and is the world’s longest running internet-based fundraiser.
The event takes its name from the Desert Bus mini-game that featured in the never-released 1995 Sega CD title, Penn & Teller’s Smoke and Mirrors, a playable version of which was re-discovered in 2005 by former Gamasutra editor Frank Cifaldi.
The game challenges players to drive a virtual bus along along an eight hour strip of road between Tuscon, Arizona, and Las Vegas, and according to the Desert Bus team is widely regarded to be the “worst game ever made.”
To raise money for Child’s Play the team agrees to play Desert Bus for as long as people are willing to donate, with this year’s drive lasting a whopping 159 hours.