The first 15 people to donate at least $50 get to name Link in one of our playthroughs! You can send in your donations starting now and we will announce via twitter, our website and forums once all 15 slots are filled. The max amount of letters that we want you to use is 6, and if you want a better shot at getting your name in the original NES title, use only 4 characters.

Simply put the name you want in the “comments” part of your donation. If for some reason you are not able to leave a comment, you can email us at comments@thespeedgamers.com and let us know what name you would like to use. The game your name will be assigned to will be randomly drawn. However, if you would prefer a specific game, leave a note in your comment or email and if no one else has claimed the game, we will automatically use that name.

As you can see on the front page of TheSpeedGamers.com, local and diana have spiced things up a bit with our donation widget. The donation widget is located on the right hand side about a third down our web page.

This marathon is in support of the Rocking H Ranch’s Charities: Paws for Reflection Ranch, Tara Sawyer Foundation, and Trent’s Retreat Nonprofit Foundation.

Remember you can claim your name starting now!

Wew! What a marathon. Thank you everybody who watched and participated, this truly was a great marathon. We raised $11,465 for Halton Autistic Family Support group (HAFS) during the marathon.

So many great moments and memes spawned from this fun filled weekend and also the introduction of Psychotaku Tyler T and Heath. They were all great additions to the team and I look forward to having them from here on out. Also a great job to the new op team, you guys performed great.

Our next marathon is the Mother/Earthbound Marathon, May 7-9 for Susan G Komen, we cannot wait!

Be sure to watch the vlog that will be released later tonight for a video Wrap.

You don’t hear much talk of Bungie’s titles before they made the Halo series. But before Halo, Bungie had another first person science fiction shooter called Marathon in 1994 that was a Mac exclusive.

It looks like the old franchise might be making a return in some form though. Bungie recently trademarked Marathon.

If anything ever sees the light of day from the Marathon franchise, it can be pretty much anything at this point – a straight port, a remake, or a new entry.

(Via: Destructoid)

Details regarding the 72 hour Metroid Marathon that starts on March 12th at 6 pm cst:
We, TheSpeedGamers, are based in the DFW Texas area and play video games to raise money for different causes. We have been a group for nearly two years now and have raised approximately $125,000 for various causes.
Our events typically last 72 hours continuously in which we broadcast ourselves over the internet playing video game franchise’s to their completion while also providing video commentary. There is a chat room that accompanies the video game feed so that the viewers can interact with the players and other viewers. Everything can be viewed on TheSpeedGamers.com.

During the Metroid marathon we will be raising money for Halton Autistic Family Support Group .
Donations will be gathered using a chip in widget; debit, credit cards and paypal can be used to donate.

Game list and order:

• Metroid (NES VC) Oscar
• Metroid Zero Mission (GBA) Daniel
• Metroid Prime 1: Tim
• Metroid Prime Hunters (DS): Phil
• Metroid Prime 2(Blind Run): Britt, Heath, Rob
• Metroid Prime 3 : Baltes
• Metroid 2 (GB): Tim
• Super Metroid: Cameron
• Metroid Fusion (GBA): Daniel

Additional info:
Our goal will be $15,000. The chipin widget will go up Tuesday March. 9th. So far as prizes we have several Metroid Metal Cd’s to give away to viewers. More prizes will be announced as we get closer to the marathon.

THANKS! to Capcom for donating the prizes, making those awesome promo videos, and lending their support. It’s heartwarming to see a company whose work we admire help out such a great cause.

THANKS! to Mana Potions for donating the wonderful prizes and for letting us know that a blood-inspired energy drink is not only possible, but delicious.

THANKS! to The Speed Gamers themselves for giving us such an entertaining and fun marathon, for donating their time and money, and for battling the evil Umbrella Corporation.

And a HUGE HUGE THANKS! to you, the community. Whether you donated, promoted, or just stopped by to enjoy the fun, you really made this marathon special. I hope you all return in December!

Please accept this adorable Resident Evil Hunter, Tyrant, and Licker as a token of my gratitude. You all ROCK!

I’ve loved Capcom ever since I was a kid. In fact, Mega Man 2 is one of the first games I ever played! Their games have inspired my art for most of my life, so it’s a real thrill to see them help out with TSG’s marathon. You’re helping out a great group and a great cause, Capcom! Thanks a billion!

Aiyoh, I’m exhausted. I thought this marathon would be a breeze compared to our week long Final Fantasy marathon but I’m still beat.

What a great summer we had with you guys. I’m proud of our community that continues to grow and do amazing things for society.  I guess us gamers aren’t so bad after all, huh?

Our Halloween marathon starts Octobers 30th and lasts 48 hours. We will be playing the Resident Evil series and currently you can vote on the cause we are gaming for in the forums.

I received an email from The Megas offering three great prizes for the marathon. Three bundles with a CD and a Mega’s shirt of the winner’s choice. If you haven’t already, check out The Mega’s debut album Get Equipped, a tribute to the MM2 soundtrack .

Thanks to Jason Start for sending them the tip about us.

Here’s TheSpeedGamers on the local news. Sorry it took so long for me to upload it.
[flv]http://videos.thespeedgamers.com/press/tsg-on-nbc-ff-marathon_640x480.flv[/flv]

Check out this awesome trailer ggs.cythe from the TSG community made!