Gaming News - May 2006
San Diego, CA (May 24, 2006) - Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) today
announced that Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling will appear in EverQuest
II.
From SOE:
Schilling’s video game character will reside within the online world of
EverQuest II (EQII) for three days during the Yankees vs. Red Sox baseball
series June 5, 6 and 7, 2006 at Yankee Stadium. During this time, anyone can
register for and log into EverQuest II at
www.battleals.com to challenge the evil Schilling character,
appropriately named “Curt Schilling.”
Every time a player defeats the virtual Schilling character, Sony Online
Entertainment, creators of EverQuest II, will make a donation of $5 dollars (up
to a maximum of $10,000) to the ALS Association, which assists patients with ALS,
also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. After the three-day baseball series, Curt’s
character will remain within the game as a high-powered enemy that characters
will have to face later in the game. At the launch of the campaign on June 5th,
Schilling’s 10-year-old son, Gehrig (named after the legendary Yankee first
baseman), will be one of the first to battle his virtual dad in-game.
In addition, SOE will encourage its hundreds of thousands of EQII players to
type /ALS within the game in order to donate money to Curt’s charity of choice,
the ALS Association. This program will run for the entire three-day series and
will give the SOE player community a chance to help with this worthy cause.
"ALS is about as devastating a disease as you can imagine," says Schilling.
"It's relentless, ruthless, and devastates entire families as one member slowly
perishes. With video games exploding in popularity, I can’t think of a better
place to reach the masses to raise awareness.”
ALS is no stranger to baseball; it’s more commonly known as Lou Gehrig disease,
named after the New York Yankees infielder whose Hall of Fame career was cut
short by the degenerative nerve disease. Lou Gehrig played in 2,130 consecutive
games before ALS stopped him, a feat matched only by Baltimore Orioles shortstop
Cal Ripken Jr. Curt Schilling and wife Shonda have been involved in the fight
against ALS for more than a decade. Shonda serves on the board of directors of
ALS Association's (ALSA) Greater Philadelphia and Arizona Chapters and advocates
for ALS patients with members of Congress.
Schilling may be one of today’s top athletes in professional baseball, but off
the field he spends time playing with his son in the award-winning Massively
Multiplayer Online (MMO) video game EverQuest II -- a fully realized 3D fantasy
world of mythical creatures, magic spells, majestic landscapes, and fierce
dragons -- since the game’s creation.
EverQuest II offers players a huge online world where thousands of players come
together for shared adventure and community. This online game sets the standard
for graphical realism, as players are immersed in the game’s exciting locales
and dangerous lands. EverQuest II has a powerful epic storyline and gives
players the potential to be hero or villain in a world that never ends.
“I enjoy the anonymity and the ability to interact on a personal level with
people I wouldn't normally meet or know,” Schilling said. “That, and the game is
a riot. There's no end to it, the world is enormous, the possibilities are
endless, and above all else, it's a place to go and relax amongst friends. What
I can't get enough of is your ability to interact with real live people. The
game's about teamwork, and knowing the right way to pick and play your class
properly in such a way that it complements a group. That's why EverQuest has
stayed so popular.”
The 39-year-old baseball superstar has been a long time fan of SOE games, even
contributing game reviews of expansion packs to gaming magazines, and is an avid
web communicator, feeling this is the best way to connect with the video game
fans.
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