So, guys and gals: Extra Life 2009 is a wrap. You’ve heckled everyone you know (and everyone you don’t) for every last scrap of money they have going spare, you got hold of it, then you sat down and gamed your ass off on Saturday the 17th. And you conquered the 24 hours! You did it! Congratulations! Nice one! If you didn’t do it you should’ve and suck as a result! Just kidding! Woo!

But. But. But. Was it an easy 24 hours for you? If it was or it wasn’t, I think I have the solution for next year, or the next 24 hour gaming marathon for charity you take place in (which obviously isn’t as good as yours). New games.

‘Aight, confession time. Extra Life 2008 sucked for me. It sucked major ass. It was great playing games for 24 hours and I got to play with some guys from the community, but I was bored stiff. I wasn’t playing anything I hadn’t played before and so I could compare it to power-levelling in an RPG: a necessary, boring, repetitive thing that would yield some profit in the long run.

I tried to do a run of MGS4 (couldn’t bring myself to), gave Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune a go for the 50th time (couldn’t bring myself to), even played some games so forgettable I traded them in long ago without even noting their names. In the end, the last 6 hours were spent grinding on Warhawk and come 9am I was done, end of story. Yay me.

The pride was there – hells yeah, I got money for sick kids in need, which is awesome – but I didn’t have as much fun as I thought I would.

This year though, hoooo boy. This year was awesome. And all because I figured I’d grab Uncharted 2, a new, sure-to-be-awesome game, and set myself a little goal of playing through it in the 24 hours.

An easy goal, maybe, considering the story lasts 10-12 hours at most, but it kept me amused the whole day. I kept finding loads of new things in the game I wasn’t expecting, and that feeling you get of discovery whenever you pick up a new game kept me going throughout the day.

That applied elsewhere too: Rock Band 2 surprised me with new songs when I continued my progress through the Tour mode, meaning that no matter how many times I was made to replay Pinball Wizard there might be a really cool song waiting for me at a new unlocked venue afterwards.

In my opinion, the key to success in Extra Life is avoiding playing anything you’ve rattled to completion, that you’ve shaken so hard that there’s nothing left in its pockets to fall out onto the floor below like a fourth grader’s lunch money (yeah, American allegories!). If you know multiplayer maps inside out, or you’ve learnt the script off by heart, don’t go there.

Dig into your wallet, seek out thy trusty game vendor, and pick up something that’s gonna surprise you. It’ll keep you going all night when the time comes again next year.

(Also: $137,000 already? Holy sh-)