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AGDQ 2016 speedrunning marathon earns over $1.2 million for charity

Danny Cowan
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Annual gaming-themed speedrunning marathon Awesome Games Done Quick has wrapped up its 2016 event with over $1.2 million in viewer donations, marking the third year in a row that the event has earned over $1 million for charity.

Proceeds earned during the livestreamed marathon benefit the Prevent Cancer Foundation, an organization promoting cancer awareness, early detection, and prevention.

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The Awesome Games Done Quick marathon, jointly produced in a collaboration between the Speed Demos Archive and Speed Runs Live online communities, gathers many of the world’s top speedrunners for a week-long exhibition of superior gaming skill. Participants are unpaid volunteers, and many travel to Games Done Quick events at their own expense.

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During the course of the event, featured speedrunners attempt record-breaking gaming feats while employing little-known glitches in order to achieve faster completion times. In addition to showcasing speedruns of classic games, the event also features multiplayer races between notable speedrunners as well as a variety of unconventional gameplay challenges promoted as donation incentives.

Throughout Awesome Games Done Quick, viewers may donate to the Prevent Cancer Foundation for a chance to win dozens of unique and one-of-a-kind prizes donated by fans, artists, and gaming publishers. Awesome Games Done Quick 2016 earned a total of $1,208,022 in donations between January 3rd and January 10th.

Games featured at Awesome Games Done Quick 2016 include classics like Metroid Prime, Mega Man X, and Super Mario World, along with newer fare like Splatoon, The Talos Principle, and Rayman Legends. This year’s event also hosted a new world record speedrun for the indie PC game Velocity 2X.

Other notable feats seen at AGDQ 2016 include a Super Metroid speedrun conducted by two players using one controller and a Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out race in which both players successfully completed the game while blindfolded, using only audio cues to defeat a notoriously difficult series of opponents.

The next Games Done Quick event, Summer Games Done Quick 2016, will be held between July 3rd and July 9th in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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Danny Cowan
Danny Cowan
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