Penny Arcade's Child's Play, a five-year-old fundraising outfit that started out dedicated only to the Seattle Children's Hospital, has now evolved into a full-time charity drive.

Child's Play is now extending its reach throughout North America and five countries. Major online retailer Amazon is also giving Child's Play a boost-up by letting participating hospitals create wishlists of items to give to children.

Read more about Child's Play at the full article link below!

Getting to pre-order your copy of Hellgate: London might be trickier for some of you. Not all regions will be having the same kind of bonuses as others would. For one, the Collector's Edition for the game will not be available for the whole of Europe. Those who want to score the bag of goodies included in the Collector's Edition (e.g. the soundtrack, extra artwork, a graphic novel, etc.) are advised to import their copy of the game from the US.

Meanwhile, pre-orders for the regular edition are well underway. Pre-ordering your copy gives you access to some in-game goodies: Dye Kits, Founders Offer, etc. Different countries will have different video game retailers participating in the pre-order campaign. Here's a full list of regions and their participating retailer(s):

• Germany - Gamestop
• Switzerland - World of Games
• Poland - Gram.pl and Ultima
• Finland - Tilt
• Sweden - GAME, EB Games/Gamestop
• Norway - GAME, EB Games/Gamestop
• Denmark - GAME, EB Games/Gamestop

Unfortunately for the UK, no retailers will be participating in the promotion. Yes, you can still pre-order the game (via HMV, Play, Amazon, or Game) but you won't be able to get the Dye Kit offer.

Move over Second Life, there's a new 3D virtual web space in town which is trying to make a name for itself in the online community. SceneCaster is a company that has a created a 3D scene creation application that integrates itself with many other web-based apps and online accounts.

While it isn't a virtual world in the way that Second Life is, SceneCaster will allow users to customize a virtual space for themselves and allow them an easy way to share media files as well as build an online community through its user-friendly interface.

It's definitely easier to access and link your virtual space with SceneCaster's new application since each scene created there is already embedded into a web page.  Also, SceneCaster has tied itself to several big names in the online networks and e-commerce scene.

The application will be integrated with Google's 3D Warehouse, which allows the user access to many 3D images to help customize their web space. SceneCaster has also enabled the incorporation e-commerce sites like eBay and Amazon, as well as other networks like Facebook and Flickr.

All in all, while not as fluid as its long-time virtual world counterpart, Second Life can expect some tough competition in the game of 3D virtual communities with what SceneCaster has in store for everyone.

Still cash-conscious about buying a copy of Blizzard's World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade expansion pack?

Following closely behind GoGamer's previously announced US$ 29.99 deal, online store Amazon.com announced their very own The Burning Crusade discount promo, which cuts the game down to just US$ 25.00. That's 15 greenbacks off the expansion disc's original price.

Now, in case you haven't got the original game either, Amazon is also reportedly offering the original World of Warcraft game alongside The Burning Crusade for a total cost of just US$ 44.99. Just make sure to check out the read link below for full sales details.

We're all aware that Blizzard, together with various corporate partners, has been giving away free trial accounts for World of Warcraft (WoW). Now, if you're one of those who still doesn't have a copy, heads up because today is your lucky day.

Over at online retail store Amazon.com, the MMORPG's for sale for just US$ 19.99. In case you want to get the expansion The Burning Crusade as well, do take note that it can be purchased for just US$ 24.99. The expansion's original price before this deal was around US$ 39.99.

The two titles' price total is US$ 54.98. But quite interestingly, it will only cost you US$ 29.98 if you buy 'em both. The Burning Crusade has been released for more than three months now and is credited for U.S. PC game sales surge by National Purchase Diary (NPD).

The Read link below should take you to Amazon.com's online product page.

If you're one of us who just can't have enough of the internet, maybe it's about time for you to earn through it as well. Webworker Daily names 10 ways to make money online; we reversed the numbers to emphasize the last one, our personal favorite.

 

10. Sell your personal expertise in an online marketplace.
9. Sell photos on stock photography sites.
8. Blog for pay.
7. Start your own blog network.
6. Provide service and support for open source software.
5. Be an online personal coach.
4. Virtually assist other web workers.
3. Build services atop Amazon Web Services.

The last two ways are quite gamer worthy; although some would question if number 2 means selling your soul:

2. Write reviews for pays and perks. Every gamer wants to have a say of their favorite game, or gaming system, isn't it?

And finally, our favorite:

1. Become a virtual gold farmer.

Did you know that half a million young Chinese men actually do this for a living? There's probably even more all throughout the world. It's thrilling (and chilling) to know that there's money, regular income to be had selling accounts, selling virtual gold and other stuff acquired in online games like WoW for real money, and that people out there are actually feeding their families this way.

Then again, if you played for work, how will you play for fun, then? Go to work? Umm, maybe you gamers should be the ones to try to figure this out...

With the release of the much-awaited WoW expansion coming up this month, and even with all the trailers, screenies and what-nots we've already seen, it seems that everyone still can't have enough of The Burning Crusade. And what else can they not get enough of? The Collector's Edition of the game, of course.

Containing the game discs on both CD and DVD, a DVD of behind-the-scenes footage, a hardcover artbook, an exclusive in-game pet, WoW TCG starter packs and exclusive cards, a Map of Outland mousepad and a soundtrack CD, people are just clamoring to get their hands on one of these. We just didn't know how much.

So, upon checking Amazon and eBay, we were surprised to see that copies of the Collector's Edition of WoW: The Burning Crusade were going for prices of up to US$ 150, or even up to a shocking US$ 400. Both price tags are still way more than its original retail price of only US$ 79.99.

Well, I guess everyone just wants their WoW...

I had a few days off from work lately, thanks to the holidays, and I was really looking forward to some quiet time alone, catching up on reading and just simply relaxing. But my roomie has been talking non-stop about this MMO that she has been playing called Tantra.

Yeah well, I've heard of the game, I may have written some articles about it. But what really intrigued me about it was that my roomie isn't into gaming and videogaming definitely doesn't rank high in her "fave things to do" list. And now here she is, talking about it to anybody who seems interested. Just like the effect of Wii Sports to that grannie, I guess. Since I had lots of free time, I decided to try the MMO and see for myself what's with this game and why it lures in newbies like her. I have nothing to lose anyway, because playing's free; however, buying items would cost some real money and I have no intentions of buying anything.

For me to have an unbiased take on the game, I viewed it the same way I did when I saw Mission Impossible 3, months ago. For two hours, I had to make myself believe that Tom Cruise is not a nutcase and he doesn't jump on couches in national television. With Tantra, I had to always,always think that this is not World of Warcraft, or EVE Online, or Guild Wars. This is Tantra and it would be really unfair if I compare it to the above mentioned MMOs.

The full article awaits after the jump

Amidst the bad PR we gamers usually get, Child's Play trudges on to get the world to think otherwise. This year, it has raised around US$ 963,000 for sick children in hospitals around the world.

Child's Play is a Seattle-based charitable organization founded in 2003 by gamers Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins, aka Gabe and Tycho of Penny Arcade. The organization donates games, DVDs, books, and other toys to sick kids around the globe, including hospitals in Canada, Britain, Egypt, and Australia. Gamers, or people who simply wish to help, can see the wish lists at Amazon.com or donate cash through PayPal.

This helps a lot of sick kids go through uncomfortable treatments and gives them some sort of relief that they would be able to play while in therapy. And some people think gamers are mindless zombies with cash to burn. Think about it, hitting the one million mark would be a great milestone for all of us.

"For the Horde!!!" A new novel following the World of Warcraft franchise and storyline was just released a couple of days ago. Although I myself haven't really seen this particular title on the shelves of my neighborhood bookstore, it's apparently already available in Amazon.

Written by Christie Golden, "Rise of the Horde" concerns some early roots of the orc horde and how they lived peacefully on the land of Draenor in the long forgotten past. The novel will even reveal more about the orcs' relations with the Draenei race and the evil schemes of the Burning Legion.

With that synopsis alone, it seems that the book serves as an anticipatory material for the coming of Burning Crusade. With the Draenei opening up to playability levels, it'd be interesting to read more about their past - especially how they connect to the orc race.

Any takers? It's listed at US$ 7.99. Not bad for something to tide over the wait for BC.