I am also not a student at SDSU, and like Ms. Ibis, I too read the Collegian. I would like to say that it pains me to think that people would claim to know what gamers are like.

I previously wrote a letter to the editor about Roxy’s article on Halo and dating. I thought that it was a poorly written article that was basically her bemoaning the fact that her boyfriend played video games.

The article I am responding to also is a viewpoint, but I think Sara, you should know a few things before you assume that we sit in our basements and, as you put it, “twiddle away on a controller.”

Everyone knows about the devastation Hurricane Katrina did, but does everyone know what gamers did to try and help the best they could? Bungie Studios, the creators of Halo, did two things and asked gamers to help them with it. The first was the “Fight the Flood” campaign. Bungie created shirts to purchase. All the money would go to the Red Cross. They also pledged their entire online store revenue for the month of October to the Red Cross. Gamers responded by purchasing $175,280.15, a drop in the bucket,but a caring gesture.

Then there was the “Blow Me Away” charity auction. Sixteen items were auctioned off with the money going towards Katrina relief, yet again, our community responded. Those items grossed $13,257.47. It would seem to me that gamers do more than sit in front of televisions and computers.

There is also “Child’s Play,” a charity which I have donated to for the last two years. It was set up by a group of gamers who are frustrated with the fact that we are stereotyped into lazy bums. “Child’s Play” is used by childrens’ hospitals with wish lists of things they would like to help children feel more relaxed. They give the lists to the creators of the charity who publish them, and let gamers do the rest.

I know that there are radicals in the gaming community who feel attacked when we receive criticism for playing video games. But please, do not think that every person who plays video games is a whining, self-absorbed child. We are real people, too.

Find “Child’s Play” http://www.childsplaycharity.org

“Fight the Flood”

http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?story=fightfloodfinale

“Blow Me Away”

http://nikon.bungie.org/bma/

Karl Almjeld

Sophomore

History Education