On Desert Bus

I wrote this post at the behest of a friend, who also blogs. You can find his blog here, and you should go check it out. (I'll wait. This post ain't goin' anywhere.)

I want to describe Desert Bus, but I can't.
It sort of defies description.
People have called Desert Bus a video game; they misrepresent it. It's less of a video game and more of a holistic experience. I could call it "beautiful", "mesmerizing", or "compelling", but these words don't do it justice. It's so good it transcends my ability to praise it. I am in love with everything about it.

Perhaps I'd be better off talking about not what Desert Bus is, but what it does. It explores the deepest, most precious aspects of our human nature. It delves into the mystery of the psyche and emerges unharried. It reminds us of the beauty of existence, and it makes us weep by speaking to our own inexorable mortality. It depicts life. It encourages us to question, it empowers us, it shapes the way we see things. It is a landmark of human achievement. What else can I say? DB is simply the most immersive, intense, incredible game I have ever played. I cannot sufficiently convey to you the awesomeness of the white-knuckle action, gripping realism, or mind-blowing plot.

For those of you who are unaware, Desert Bus has you drive a bus from Tuscon to Las Vegas. In real time. It's a straight, 8-hour journey, during which you are incapable of going over the 45 mph speed limit. The scenery is minimal (as in, it doesn't change at all). The sound doesn't change, either. If you attempt to hold the gas pedal down and do nothing else, you begin to slooowly drift off the road, so it demands your constant attention. If you ever drop to 0 mph, you stall out and are towed back to Tuscon -- also in real time.

Once you get to Las Vegas, you score one point. You then get the opportunity to drive back to Tuscon, for another point. There is no save function. That's the entire game.

Well, maybe not. Legend has it that six hours into the drive, an insect will splat against your windshield. I do not know if anyone has ever witnessed this event... but I can dream.

A charity called Desert Bus For Hope started in 2007. The group behind the effort, LoadingReadyRun, streamed nonstop DB gameplay in exchange for a steadily rising cost per hour (i.e. the first hour cost $1.00, the second cost $1.10, the third cost $1.21, etc.). That year, they raised $22,805. They've continued the charity for seven years now -- Desert Bus For Hope 7 raised over $500,000. In total, the group has raised nearly 1.8 million dollars for charity. That means that Desert Bus has made more money towards charity than most people make in thirty five years (assuming a salary of $50,000).

It's times like these when I think back to Mantra One. To me, DBFH perfectly exemplifies the truth in "People are awesome; people are stupid."

I'll leave you with the following Neil Gaiman quote, because (a) It's brilliant and witty, and (b) I think my posts have been leaning a little too much on the cheery side:

"Life is a disease: Sexually transmitted, invariably fatal."

-Me