Twice a year Games Done Quick holds a speed running event, one in January called, “Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ)” and one in the summer, which is coming up known as “Summer Games Done Quick (SGDQ).” The event runs for a week, starting on Sunday, July 2 ending Sunday, July 9. The full Schedule is on the official website.
Why do these speedrunners decide to do this event? Well, this event is to raise awareness and money for Doctors Without Borders (donate if can). Awesome Games Done Quick in January broke their record with $2.2 million raised and last year’s Summer Games Done Quick raised almost $1.2 million.
The schedule has many different types of games for everyone to enjoy. One of the newer games and first on the list is Nier: Automata. The speed runner Clint “Halfcoordinated” Lexa will attempt a two-hour run on normal difficulty. His nickname “Halfcoordinated” is due to his disability that limits the use of his right hand. We’re in for a treat watching this speed runner do the impossible.
On Tuesday, July 4 is the debut for Dishonored 2 on Games Done Quick. Blood_Thunder who has a knack for Bethesda games, completing Doom (2016) during AGDQ 2017 with a 54-minute run, Wolfenstein: The New Order at SGDQ 2016 which he finished with a time of 1:45:41 and at the same event Wolfenstein: The Old Blood with the time of 1:06:53. It’ll be great to see how he tackles the problems and difficulty of the world of Dishonored 2.
A game that is notably not on the list is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, don’t worry though there are many other Zelda titles in the main schedule like, Twilight Princess HD on Wednesday, July 5th, Majora’s Mask on Saturday, July 8th, and a triple threat on Thursday, July 6th with A Link to the Past, Adventure of Link, and Link’s Awakening DX to end out the day. Even though Breath of the Wild isn’t on the main list, it has been accepted as one of the six “bonus games” that will get an unscheduled hour demo that will be played on the Wii U.
Breath of the Wild is a weird situation when it comes to speed running. Once you complete the 30ish minutes of the Great Plateau you are given the freedom to fight the boss and complete the game, but there are DLC and Amiibos’ to factor in the speedruns. But it’s great to see the process of the speedrunners with Breath of the Wild.
Games Done Quick is an amazing organization, not only do they raise awareness and money for charity, but they also show another side of a gamer. The side that doesn’t just play for their own enjoyment, but also the happiness of others less fortunate. Games Done Quick does great things for this industry and it’s not just playing or talking about games, it’s the joy they spread around.
