RE5 Blood Drive Draws Hundreds

[Keane Ng]

RE5 Blood Drive Draws Hundreds

Whether they were lured by the promise of one-of-a-kind swag or really felt like donating precious plasma, hundreds of generous Resident Evil fans showed up to Capcom's RE5 blood drive [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/89905-Capcom-Hosting-Resident-Evil-5-Blood-Drive] event in Los Angeles last week.

Gamers get called a lot of things - losers, loners, sociopaths - but we are very rarely called good samaritans. Well, Resident Evil fans showed the world just how good-hearted (and full-blooded) gamers can be when they showed up in the hundreds last Friday to donate blood at a drive sponsored by Capcom as a promotion for Resident Evil 5.

"Hundreds of gaming fans, volunteers and good Samaritans gathered in Hollywood today to join Capcom and the American Red Cross for a blood drive, ushering in the launch of Resident Evil 5," Capcom PR man Steven Khoo said last Friday.

Of course, it wasn't like they were there completely out of the goodness of their hearts: Capcom gave away some exclusive goodies like RE5-themed "I gave blood!" pins, copies of the game, and one of those swanky limited edition red RE5 Xbox 360s. Still, I'd like to think at least most of the people were there to donate just because they felt like it, though I know I've done crazier things for free pins.

And though the event was far removed from the glitz, glamour and spectacle of a launch party, some fans still felt like it was an opportune time to show up in costume. One fellow came decked out in full Chris Redfield gear, with a tactical vest, fake pistol and everything. Bringing a toy gun to a blood drive? Really? Only people who play videogames, I'm telling you.


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[Jumplion]

Woo! Go RE fans!

 

[PirateKing]

The sad thing is all of that blood is just going toward more Umbrella Corporation experiments.

Seriously though, that's cool of them.

 

[Sir Ollie]

Thats great if they did something like that over here i would go

Not like i need a excuse to give blood mind you

 

[Higurashi]

Utterly awesome. I am, naturally, not surprised in the least. I can only hope some people may change their opinion about gamers when they see things like this. ^_^
And yeah, cosplayers were bound to come. Really wish I could have been there.

 

[Skeleon]

So... in addition to the usual stuff, did they check all their donors for bitemarks? I sure hope so...

Seriously, though, that's a great idea!
Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "what a bloody game".

 

[Skizle]

the chance of getting a copy of the game or a red xbox? that is some one of a kind swag!

 

[IrrelevantTangent]

The sad thing is all of that blood is just going toward more Umbrella Corporation experiments.

Seriously though, that's cool of them.

Or Tricell Corporation experiments. God only knows what they're doing with all that blood...

 

[MarsProbe]

Thats great if they did something like that over here i would go

Not like i need a excuse to give blood mind you

I'm sure the forward thinking British media would still find some way to turn it around into something negative. That may be a tad cynical, but afetr having just seen another "video game connected to school shooting" story, I guess it can't be helped. From a supposedly quality newspaper too.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

I'm with ya MarsProbe, didn't hear a word of this, until I read it here, because, and I don't want to sound all 'conspiracy theory' on you all, I think the traditional media feel gaming is a threat, distracting people from consuming newspapers and news channels, and so they're going to keep trying to push people away from it however they can.

If we can keep doing things like this however, maybe the word might leak out.

Maybe we need some kinda charity thing where PC gamers can offer an hour a week to help an old person with their computer, a bit of free tech support or teach them to use e-mail to stay in touch with family.

Until one of us gets so mad at trying to teach them that we flip out and stab them, then its 'crazed gamer emulates GTA with knife spree'.