Players of the long-running (and still popular) Jagex MMO RuneScape have raised $90,838 for charity by donating their in-game currency through a magic well located in the game called the "Well of Goodwill." The money raised through this community initiative will go to such charities as the Willow Foundation, SpecialEffect, Action For Kids, Games Aid, Internet Watch Foundation, HART and the DEC Philippines Typhoon Appeal.

AbleGamers Charity has launched the 2013 AbleGamers Holiday Gift Guide for Gamers with Disabilities. This year's guide offers recommendations on which games were the most accessible and which assistive devices are the best solutions for helping disabled gamers. In addition to all that, the guide offers recommendations on several items you may want to avoid altogether.

A YouTube channel called "Give8-Bit" officially launches today, with the goal of showcasing the video games industry's ongoing charitable efforts and to raise awareness in general about the good deeds of the industry and gamers when it comes to helping. The channel is being curated by Playmob and promises to host submissions from companies or organizations raising money for charities via games-related activities.

Military gaming charity Operation Supply Drop passed along word today that during the month of November it managed to raise what it called a record-shattering $302,187 worth of games and swag for soldiers and sailors deployed overseas as well as recovering in military hospitals. Much of that tally for the month of November came from game developers and corporations.

ThanksUSA and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) Foundation announced the launch of the ninth annual ThanksUSA Treasure Hunt (TH9), a free, fully interactive digital trivia and puzzle game about U.S. history, culture and values. The annual hunt supports ThanksUSA's annual scholarship fund to benefit the children and spouses of active-duty military personnel by providing scholarships for two-year or four-year colleges, vocational or technical schools. The focus of this year's hunt will be the Bill of Rights.

Operation Supply Drop has raised nearly $300,000 in games and gear for Veterans Day through its 8-Bit Salute drive. The military gaming charity surpassed last year's $58,000 in games and gear raised by over five times with the grand total of $282,721. Donations are still coming in, so that figure is sure to continue trending upwards. The donations will be sent out as a part of Operation Supply Drop's end-of-the-year 8-Bit Salute fundraising drive to build video game care packages for soldiers deployed to combat zones and recovering in military hospitals.

CCP Games announced today that its PLEX for GOOD initiative will help fund relief efforts for victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. On November 8th 2013, Typhoon Haiyan (Typhoon Yolanda) struck the Philippines, leaving a trail of destruction and loss whose effects continue to be felt in the region. In response to this tragedy, CCP and their community of over a half million players will again host a PLEX for GOOD drive to aid survivors.

Developer Insomniac Games announced this afternoon that it has partnered with the Starlight Children’s Foundation to grant wishes to sick children this holiday season. Insomniac Games are the makers of such hit franchises as Ratchet & Clank, Outernauts and Spyro the Dragon.

Insomniac employees are donating items from the Starlight Wish Lists of Miller Children's Hospital in California and Duke Children's Hospital and Health Center in North Carolina, where the company has offices. Insomniac will match all donations dollar-for-dollar.

Aksys Games and developers MarvelousAQL and Arc System Works are hosting a special charity sale to benefit the victims of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in the Philippines. The company is selling a number of items related to its game BlazBlue Calamity Trigger and Muramasa Rebirth including comic books, soundtracks, and even a plushie.

"Our hearts go out to those affected by this tragedy, and we wish the people of the Philippines a quick recovery," said Aksys Games in a statement.

The eBay charity auction of a limited edition white Xbox One has generated $11,300 for the Wounded Warrior Project charity, according to CVG. The special edition console is being given out to Microsoft employees when the Xbox One launches later this week in 21 markets including the United States. The auction on eBay began at $1, but by Nov.

SOA Games announced this morning that it will be running donation events for its fantasy anime action MMORPG, Luvinia World, to benefit relief efforts in the Philippines. The events, which will run three weeks, will let players purchase three items that will be on sale exclusively during this time. One-hundred percent of the proceeds from these items will go to help victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines through Philippines Red Cross.

Gamers Outreach passed along word to us this morning that it will be hosting its Gamers for Giving 2014 LAN gaming event for charity February 8th and 9th at the Eastern Michigan University Student Center. The group says that its full schedule of activities is currently in the works, but the tentative schedule of activities will include:

- BYOC LAN party for PC and console gamers (size of the LAN, tournaments, & activities TBA).

- Console gaming tournaments hosted by Gamers Outreach Foundation (titles TBA).

The latest Bundle in a Box offers a bunch of nifty indie strategy and war games for PC and mobile platforms for a low, low price - and DRM-free. The bundle includes Us & Them - Cold War, Storm Over The Pacific, AI War: Fleet Command, Creeper World, Strategic War in Europe, The Trouble With Robots, Age of Conquest III, and Droidscape: Basilica.

You can pay as little as $0.99 for all these titles, but if you pay more than the current average price of $4.94 you'll get Mayhem Intergalactic, Project Aftermath, Fall Weiss, Creeper World 2, and AI War: The Zenith Remnant.

PopCap Games is the latest game developer to show its support for Operation Supply Drop. The makers of Plants vs. Zombies and Bejeweled have donated $100,000 in games and gear for Operation Supply Drop's 8-Bit Salute! fund-raising campaign. PopCap gave 100 codes which unlocked every game PopCap has ever made including their fan favorites Peggle, Plants vs. Zombies, Bejeweled as well as plethora of other casual titles (over 60 games in all).

UK-based charity Special Effect is hosting a 24-hour marathon early next year to raise funds for disabled gamers. The UK-based charity supports disabled gamers by providing them with adaptive technology that allows them to enjoy playing games. The marathon, the GameBlast weekend will take place on February 21- 23, 2014. From the website for the charity:

Gearbox Software has managed to raise right around $16,000 for the Videogame History Museum, an institution dedicated to preserving and archiving the history of the video game industry. Gearbox raised the money by selling Gearbox memorabilia such as signed Borderlands 2 'Loot Chests', and unique art pieces from Gearbox concept artists to the public.

Sony has donated 15 million yen towards relief efforts in the Philippines. The country was hit by Typhoon Haiyan last Friday, which killed an estimated 10,000 people and has left millions affected in some way. Sony Philippines has also donated 400 emergency radios to help communities devastated by the storm.

Sony issued the following statement this morning about the donations:

Trendy Entertainment has formed what it calls a "Defense Council," a special new advisory council that will allow players with a vested interest in the development of Dungeon Defenders II to provide early, focused feedback directly to the development team. By donating $30 to Child's Play, 500 players will be able to play and influence Dungeon Defenders II.

A day late and a dollar short would be the best way to describe Episode 76. It was recorded a few days after Extra Life (which admittedly messed with our scheduling and mental stability in the early part of the week). Add to that some technical difficulties with editing the show and you have an episode that is a week late. Nevertheless the topics we talk about on the show are timeless enough that you'll still enjoy it.

Military-related gaming charity Operation Supply Drop passed along an inspirational story this afternoon about a suicide bomb survivor who received a special post-surgery surprise from the group.

Trion Worlds announced that last week's participation in the Extra Life charity marathon and a promotion related to it helped give its MMORPGs RIFT Online and Defiance a record-breaking week last week. The company said that over a quarter of a million new players joined their online games, RIFT and Defiance. Bookended by the relaunch of RIFT as a free-to-play game on Steam and the charity marathon for Extra Life, Trion’s celebration week included promotions, in-game special events, and giveaways across both games to celebrate both new and veteran players.

Military-based gaming charity Operation Supply Drop has received the promise of 30 4 inch-by-4-inch micro computers from Intel. The chipmaker will build and donate the absurdly small and powerful Intel NUC computers to the charity to be given out to troops deployed in combat zones in places like Afghanistan and to soldiers recovering from injuries in military hospitals.

Over the weekend a core group from Team ECA based out of our headquarters in Wilton, Connecticut, spent 23 hours setting up and playing video games to support the Extra Life charity. They managed to contribute a substantial amount of the $3,200 in total donations (so far, donations are still coming in) for the Connecticut Children’s Hospital and the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in Westchester, NY - both Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.

UK games charity GamesAid is auctioning off a special version of the Xbox One to raise much needed funds for future charitable work. The special console is very rare; it is white and was only given out to employees who worked on the console.

GOG.com is taking part in a fundraising campaign that lets consumers donate a minimum of $5 to one of three charities to get three games. The charities include the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Gaming for Good, and Worldbuilders. The games players can choose from include FTL, Waking Mars, Incredipede, The Whispered World, Driftmoon, PID, Darwinia, Creature's Village, Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, and Botanicula.

There's no rule against donating to all three charities, which means that you could pick up nine of the ten games listed above.

Zombie Studios, creator of upcoming survival horror game Daylight, has donated $25,000 of in game currency for their flagship first person shooter, Blacklight: Retribution on Steam to Operation Supply Drop.

GameStop has partnered with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital to raise at least $500,000 in charitable donations for the annual St. Jude Thanks and Giving campaign, which involves a number of companies and personalities including celebrities, media, retail and corporate brands. They all come together to ask consumers to donate while they shop during the holiday season and join St. Jude in finding cures for sick children.

Despite its web site being the target of a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, the folks at the Extra Life charity managed to raise a decent amount of money (with the help of thousands of gamers) over the weekend. The charity sent out multiple emails over the weekend keeping Extra Life members in the loop as the events unfolded.

While we don't recommend game binging to the extremes (we've written plenty of stories about people being found dead in cyber cafes in Asia over the years), sometimes - if it is for the right reasons - binge gaming is necessary. When you find yourself in such a situation where it is necessary, you need some rules.

Jagex Games Studio has launched a month-long charity campaign that uses virtual gifting in its games like RuneScape to provide real-world donations to support disadvantaged, at risk or seriously ill young people. Launching today, the Well of Goodwill will offer RuneScape players across the world the chance to gift some of their in-game wealth to charity.