When the media at large looks at gaming, it tries to portray the socially inept secluded to living in their parents basement, prone to violence or ogling over over-sexualized digital characters. This is something that as gaming culture has grown and moved towards the mainstream, gamers have been forced to combat. While every stereotype comes from a few extreme examples, the average gamer is just like any average person with an enthusiasm for their hobby. Instead of just sitting back idly and accepting this perception, the gaming society has made efforts both from consumers and publishers to change it.

In 2003, the founders of the gaming webcomic Penny Arcade started Child’s Play, a charity to raise money to help provide comfort and entertainment for children in over 70 hospitals nationwide. In 2011, Child’s Play was proud to announce having their biggest year to date. Originally, the goal had been set to hit $2,000,000. Gamers headed the call and toppled that number with over $3,500,000 instead. In addition to being the year with the most donations, 2011 would also put the lifetime total of Child’s Play over the $10,000,000 mark as well. Check out the official press release from Child’s Play here.

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One minute I was just arriving in Boston, and the next I was packing up my bags and saying goodbye to PAX East 2011. And what a weekend it was.

From sampling the finest in upcoming videogames, watching some amazing concerts, meeting and making new friends, and bonding with old ones, this convention has got to be the best weekend of my year. Penny Arcade really puts together an amazing show, and it’s amazing that they do it twice a year, once on this coast and then over on their home turf of Seattle.

Not only was this the best PAX East ever (In my opinion), it was also the biggest. Head hancho Robert Khoo of Penny Arcade said that this year’s PAX had 69,500 attendees, up from last year’s 52,290 at the much tinier Hynes Convention Center.

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Alright, I know I’m pretty late to the bandwagon since Kinect was released during the holidays, but I genuinely haven’t gotten to spend any time with the device. Until now.

One of the amazing things about Penny Arcade Expo is the expansive freeplay section available to attendees, and Kinect was available in full force. I stepped in front of a television armed with an Xbox 360, a Kinect, Kinectimals, and Dance Central, and I unwillingly and surprisingly fell in love.

Believe you me, I was just as skeptical about this device as I’m sure you all were, or maybe still are. And since Penny Arcade is pretty much my go-to for my videogame advice, and they aren’t the biggest fans of Kinect, I was expecting to be underwhelmed. Oh how wrong I was. Two seconds of tossing a ball around to a baby tiger and I was sold.

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This past weekend, the gaming community from Ontario to Hawaii descended upon the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MA for PAX East 2010, the first Penny Arcade Expo on the East coast. PAX Prime, a mecca for all things gamer, has been held since 2004 in the home of Penny Arcade, Seattle WA, so this was the first chance for us this side of the Mississippi River to attend this epic experience.

And what an experience it was. In between concerts by Jonathan Coulton and MC Frontalot and panels with geek gods like Will Wheaton there were tabletop games, demos of huge upcoming titles like Skate 3, Red Dead Redemption, or Dungeons and Dragons tournaments.

Whether you were looking for someone to play Rock Band with or you just wanted to connect your Pokemon with someone else’s Pokewalker, there was never a shortage of things to do at PAX East. And while this was the convention’s debut to our coast, it felt like home already.

While the convention may be over, our coverage at The Flickcast is just beginning. If you didn’t get a chance to attend the convention, or you went but didn’t quite get to see everything, keep an eye out for our articles on PAX East 2010 including some epic cosplay snapshots, our favorite indie games, and some of the newest gaming tech you need to keep your eye on.

For the most part, the Internet is used for fun, games and occasionally for news. A highly trafficked source of that fun can be found at Penny Arcade. A webcomic starring creators Gabe and Tycho, Penny Arcade‘s focus lies in video game nerd humor with a clever and satirical take on the woes and missteps of the video game industry. Often filled with off-color remarks and foul language, not many would have expected this site to start what would become one of the largest gamer-based holiday charities.

Started in 2003, Child’s Play has contributed over five million dollars in video games, toys and money to children’s hospitals across the country. Last year alone, in the face of one of the worst financial situations on record, they broke their goal of over $1,000,000 in donations.

Using Amazon.com’s “Wish List” feature and Paypal, donations can be made either in the form of money or by selecting various toys, video games and dvd’s requested by various children’s hospitals around the country. Any denomination is accepted and there are participating hospitals all over the country and other parts of the world.

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