The Entertainment Consumer Association (ECA) and the AbleGamers Foundation have teamed up to open a special chapter of the organization dedicated to consumers called the AbleGamers Game Accessibility Chapter. The AbleGamers Foundation runs AbleGamers.com, which provides news and reviews on the accessibility of mainstream video game titles, and covers assistive technology. The ECA is the non-profit membership-driven organization that represents consumers of various forms of entertainment in the US and Canada.

Blizzard is turning a bad situation into a good one by donating the money made from a money duping bug in the real money auction to a children's charity. Diablo III production director John Hight announced via the game's official forums this weekend the charitable contribution to the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. He said that those who made money of the exploit would have their ill-gotten gains donated as well as its transaction fee that it charges in the real-money auction for the game. The company did not disclose just how much money was made off of the glitch:

S.O.S. Gamers has launched a crowd-funding campaign for Get Schooled, an initiative that supplies underprivileged schools and community centers in the New York City area with access to educational technology including computers, calculators, and recreational items such as video game consoles and games.

Accessibility advisor AccessAble Games is looking to raise $40,000 via Start Some Good for a Spanish and English language game called My Carnival that helps children with cystic fibrosis maximize their pulmonary functions.

For the second year in a row, World of Tanks maker Wargaming.net will celebrate "National Military Appreciation Month" by donating revenue from select in-app purchases to three charities: AMVETS, Homes For Our Troops, and Military Families Fund. The donations will come from the sale of special bundles available to players throughout the month of May, with 10 percent of the proceeds from those sales divided up among the charities.

Develop offers an interesting feature on Global Gaming Initiative founder Elizabeth Sarquis, who details why she started the mobile game development studio. GGI will release a new mobile game in May called Sidekick Cycle for $0.99. Sidekick Cycle downhill biking game challenges players to cycle through hazardous levels to deliver bikes to children in need.

The latest Indie Gala bundle offers a bunch of nifty games depending on what you're willing to pay - but the money will go towards "help rebuild Vancouver's game industry" by supporting a political candidate. Vancouver has been hit with a lot of layoffs at many of the region's biggest studios.

TopWare Interactive is working with Groupees to offer the Groupees / TopWare Interactive Bundle to help raise money for the World Wide Fund for Nature in Germany. For every bundle sold, 10 percent of the profits will go to the organization's ongoing efforts to protect endangered species in the region.

The AbleGamers Foundation has won two award from the Multiple Sclerosis Society (MS Society) for its work on creating guidelines that aid game developers in making their games easier to use for those with various physical disabilities. The MS society has awarded the AbleGamers Foundation two awards including the da Vinci award for best product in communication/educational aids for its Includification game accessibility guidelines, and the Leo for People’s Choice.

This week's Humble Bundle Weekly sale features four games from Blendo Games: Flotilla, Atom Zombie Smasher, Air Forte, and Thirty Flights of Loving. To get all the games you'll have to pay more than the average price, which is currently at $3.72, but you can get Flotilla, Atom Zombie Smasher, and Air Forte for just paying over $1. To get the fourth game you'll have to cough up a little extra dough.

Activision Blizzard has donated $2 million to the Call of Duty Endowment, a foundation dedicated to helping returning vets from Afghanistan and Iraq find decent employment in the currently rough job market here in the United States by providing scholarships, grants, and other services related to finding gainful employment. The Call of Duty Endowment is a non-profit organization and was founded by Activision CEO Bobby Kotick in 2009.

AbleGamers Foundation announced that its Pachinko for Charity event at PAX East 2013 in Boston over the weekend raised $17,022.09! The group dedicated to evangelizing the need for accessibility in video games for all gamers says that supporters came out in droves, waiting as long as 20 minutes to play even while the lines were three or four rows deep.

Activision's Call of Duty Endowment announced plans to open up a number of chapters around the country using $1.1 million in grant money. They are calling this initiative "Chapterization." The Call of Duty Endowment also announced the appointment of its first full-time Executive Director - Dan Goldenberg. Goldenberg has 21 years of active and reserve military service and currently serves as a commander in the Navy Reserve.

The AbleGamers Foundation has been named a finalist in the MS Society Da Vinci awards for its game accessibility guidelines - Includification. Includification is a 48-page fully-illustrated game accessibility guidelines document for developers to make games more accessible to gamers with various disabilities.

Eurogamer details a bittersweet story of one Total War: Rome 2 fan who was immortalized in the game, but the 24-year-old named "James" who inspired developers Creative Assembly when he visited the studio, would later lose his fight with liver cancer.

Aksys Games passed along word that it is currently hosting a donation drive in observance of the second Anniversary of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster. To help those still suffering from the long-term effects of that horrific natural disaster, Aksys is donating a portion of the sales from its online store to the American Red Cross. For every item purchased from March 11 - 15, Aksys Games will donate $5 to the American Red Cross for ongoing relief efforts in Japan.

If the Humble Bundle isn't offering any games you want in its latest bundle then you may want to spend your money on the Indie Gala Flash Bundle. By paying as little as $1, you can pick up three DRM-free games: Ice-pick Lodge's first-person adventure game Pathologic, Crimson Cow's The Abbey, and a Steam key for Keen Software House's multiplayer action game Miner Wars Arena.

Humble Bundle 5 with Android has raised over $866,000 so far. Launched earlier this week, the latest pay-what-you-want DRM-free bundle offers Beat Hazard Ultra, Dynamite Jack, Solar 2, and NightSky HD. If you pay more than the average price - currently at $6.66 - you'll get Dungeon Defenders plus all the available downloadable content (Android users get Dungeon Defenders: Second Wave) and Super Hexagon.

Bottomline Guild announced its plans to host a 24-hour online gaming marathon to raise money for Wounded Warrior Project called GamePocalypse 2013. This massive gaming event will take place within the virtual worlds of Rift, World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2, and PlanetSide 2. Gamers will be participating in events running for 24 hours, starting at 12:00AM Central Standard Time, March 16th, 2013. All proceeds from the GamePocalypse 2013 event will go directly to charity.

Humble Bundle has jumped right into its newest DRM-free pay-what-you want bundle - Humble Bundle with Android 5. Humble Bundle with Android 5 offers six games for Android, Windows, Mac, and Linux, along with some bonus material for those willing to pay more than the average price.

The base set of games includes Beat Hazard Ultra, Dynamite Jack, Solar 2, and NightSky HD. If you pay more than the average price - currently at $6.33 - you'll get Dungeon Defenders plus all the available downloadable content (Android users get Dungeon Defenders: Second Wave) and Super Hexagon.

Gaming World Wide has teamed up with Rize Up Gaming to bring their charity efforts to a community that believes in creating a positive social atmosphere for gamers of all stripes.

Fundraising for the Humble Mojam 2 Bundle officially closed on March 2, with two charities benefitting from the $517,555.12 raised during and after the 72-hour game jam ended. The Mojam 2 game jam produced several games during its 72-hour run including Vlambeer's Wasteland Kings, Tektonic by Grapefrukt, Space Hunk from Ludosity, Oxeye’s 3918, a 3D multiplayer shooter called Low-light by Wolfire Games, and four games from Mojang teams - Nuclear Pizza War, Endless Nuclear Kittens, Battle Frogs and Nuke the Dinosaurs.

The AbleGamers Foundation will return to the Penny Arcade Expo East (PAX-E) in Boston, Massachusetts March 22-24. The organization dedicated to making gaming more accessible to those gamers with disabilities is being sponsored by Paradox Interactive and other game industry companies this year at PAX East.

The Humble Mojam 2 Bundle has sailed past the $500,000 mark which in turn has forced Mojang co-founder Marcus 'Notch' Persson to shave off his trademark beard.

Notch made the commitment to shave off his beard last weekend during the Mojam 72-hour game development jam, but the number of contributions had not hit the $500,000 mark during that time.

Being a good sport, he decided to honor the promise today. He made the announcement via Twitter:

Just got my beard shaved for charity. Video coming later.

The latest pay-what-you-want, DRM-free bundle that featured a 72-hour marathon game jam session starring teams from Mojang, Grapefrukt, Ludosity, Oxeye, Vlambeer, and Wolfire, has managed to raise over $476,000 total (so far) for charity. The teams made a total of nine games in various phases of development in 72-hours, which ended on Saturday evening.

An anonymous source just donated $100,000 to the Humble Bundle Mojam 2, the latest pay-what-you-want DRM-free bundle. With that huge contribution, the Humble Bundle Mojam 2 has managed to raise just over $252,000.

The charities benefitting from this latest bundle are the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Block by Block - a new collaboration with UN Habitat and Mojang. The news of this massive donation was tweeted by Mojang's Jens Bergensten:

A new game called Depression Quest hopes to raise awareness about the challenges of someone living with depression by using interactive fiction as its medium. The browser-based game was created by Zoe Quinn and Patrick Lindsey and puts players in the shoes of a 20-something as they struggle with their emotions and make daily choices that can either help get them out of their depression or send them spiraling into a state of deep despair.

The developers describe the game as follow:

The AbleGamers Foundation has partnered with Paradox Interactive to help bring video game accessibility to the Penny Arcade Expo East (PAX-E) in Boston, Massachusetts. Each year, the AbleGamers Accessibility Arcade displays the latest assistive technology for gamers with disabilities to play today’s top games with just a little help.

Over the weekend, two Newtown, Connecticut residents opened a family friendly video game arcade in the town called the Sandy Hook Arcade Center (as reported by Polygon). The all-ages arcade is meant to help the town heal and promote family values in the aftermath of the elementary school shooting in December where 26 human lives were lost as the result of a shooting rampage by a lone gunman.

On Saturday, February 16th at 6:00PM EST gamers from Storm Unity will be running a 24-hour Mega Man marathon event to benefit the Child's Play charity. The marathon will be streamed live over Twitch.TV at twitch.tv/stormunity.