Game Name: Ducktales
System: NES
Category: Any% Easy
Gameplay Estimate: 9 minutes
Ending/Bonus Estimate: nah
Possible Donation Incentives: can't think of any
Sample run video:

Description: Well known game with lots of nostalgia for lots of people. Great music overall. I'm submitting easy for safety-purposes on backup-strats + you don't need any health-pickups if things go bad. Not talking too much in WR samplevideo, was recorded offline. No run should go over 7:30 but took missed heli-skip in account when doing time-estimate.

Availability: Evenings preferred but not required since I'm on parental leave and should be able to adjust schedule.

Game Name: Chip n Dale
System: NES
Category: any%
Gameplay Estimate: 12 minutes
Ending/Bonus Estimate: nah
Possible Donation Incentives: Characterselection. Chip or Dale
Sample run video:

Description: Another well known Disney/Capcom game. It's quick, has great music and overall a fun run. Even with lots of mistakes the run should not go over 11 minutes but put 12 for safety.

Availability: Evenings preferred but not required since I'm on parental leave and should be able to adjust schedule.

Game Name: Batman
System: NES
Category: Any%
Gameplay Estimate: 13 minutes
Ending/Bonus Estimate: nopp
Possible Donation Incentives: nah
Sample run video:

Description: Another well known game with awesome music. Was just featured in a superhype race at AQDQ which I unfortunately could not attend. I have a 10:12 that is obviously faster then my sample-video but I have more commentary in the 10:13 so I thought I'd might as well submit that. If Dxtr, Riche and Badbrakes are up for it I'll not mind a race here either.

Availability: Evenings preferred but not required since I'm on parental leave and should be able to adjust schedule.

Game Name: Kung Fu
System: NES
Category: any%
Gameplay Estimate: 5 minutes
Ending/Bonus Estimate: nah
Possible Donation Incentives: nopp
Sample run video:

Description: Kung Fu is another NES classic from the early years of the console. A very fast run and with some safestrats which only costs a few seconds sub 3:50 is more or less guaranteed every run.

Availability: Evenings preferred but not required since I'm on parental leave and should be able to adjust schedule.

Game Name: Gremlins 2
System: NES
Category: any%
Gameplay Estimate: 12 minutes
Ending/Bonus Estimate: nah
Possible Donation Incentives: nopp
Sample run video:

Description: Sadly this game is somewhat underrepresented. It has great gameplay and some of the most awesome tracks in any NES game, as always when Sunsoft is behind the wheel. It has LOTS of RNG and times that are close to PB:s are not marathon-guaranteed but even with mistakes the run should not take more then 10 minutes, but adding some extra.

Availability: Evenings preferred but not required since I'm on parental leave and should be able to adjust schedule.

Game Name: Super Mario Sunshine
System: GameCube, playing on Wii
Category: Any%
Gameplay Estimate: 1 hour 20 minutes
Ending/Bonus Estimate: 5 minutes
Possible Donation Incentives: N/A
Sample run video:

Description:
Super Mario Sunshine is the 3rd most played game on speedrun.com, and the Any% category has the most runs on console of any category. The community surrounding the game is very welcoming to new runners, and there is a lot of resources available for the constant stream of new people that want to run the game.

The run itself contains fast paced movement consisting of a lot of different tech, as well as a few interesting glitches/tricks which save a lot of time. These two things combined make it a very fun run to watch. The game has also seen a lot of optimization in the past year, with WR being improved from a 1:19 to a 1:16, partially due to a new skip being found that saves up to a minute.

Availability: Every day, any time. Preferably not between 00:00 and 07:00 CET, but if need be I could manage.

Game Name: Dust: An Elysian Tail
System: PC
Category: 117% Warpless
Gameplay Estimate: 2h00min
Ending/Bonus Estimate: None
Possible Donation Incentives: None
Sample run video:
Description: Animation cancelling: the speedrun. Dust is a great metroidvania platformer with a rather broken speedrun. Almost every ability is abused as we are able to fly infinitely and spam mobility skills for really skill heavy movement. 117% Warpless is a lovely showcase through the whole game without the confusing Warp glitch, and has not been performed in any other marathon before this.
Availability: Friday 5-12pm, Saturday & Sunday 8am-11pm CET

(This submission is a group pitch by the Final Fantasy XIII Trilogy speedrunning community. If either option is selected, we will let you know who will be running and commentating the games as appropriate once we're more sure who's available and when)

Game Name: Final Fantasy XIII-2
System: Xbox 360/PS3/PC
Category: Any% Race (2 or more people, exact number to be determined)
Gameplay Estimate: 3h 30m (Possibly lower depending on runners)
Ending/Bonus Estimate: None
Possible Donation Incentive: Character costumes (Possibly rolling, or per runner, or just one for everyone)
Description: Final Fantasy XIII-2 Is the second game in the FF13 trilogy. Compared to its predecessor, the game has a fixed party of 2 characters, with the third slot taken up by a variety of monsters that are captured either from battle or obtaining crystals in the world. The speedrun consists of many fast battles and very little menuing for the length of the run, with the focal point of the run being the true power of the Ravager role, and the Chichu monster.

Game Name: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
System: Xbox 360/PS3/PC
Category: Any% Race (2 or more people, exact number to be determined)
Gameplay Estimate: 3h 15m (Possibly lower depending on runners)
Ending/Bonus Estimate: None
Possible Donation Incentive: Main Garb colour (Obtained about halfway through the run, colour can be adjusted at any point so again, rolling is possible)
Description: Lightning Returns is a very different game to the other 2 games in the trilogy, with a battle system playing out more like an Action game than an RPG, and with exploitation of certain abilities to really make a lot of fights a lot faster than people would have experienced them casually. Farming for a certain item can be a bit of a sticking point in the run, but making this a race reduces that impact significantly, and although the number of fights isn't excessive, there is always something happening in the run. The final boss fight is especially intense and impressive to watch.

Sample run video for both submissions:

Lightning Returns route has changed a bit since this relay, and 13-2 has had some minor optimisations, but the main structure is the same, and it's a good commentary example for both games.

Game Name: Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (HD)
System: PC
Category: Any%
Gameplay Estimate: 40:00
Ending bonus estimate: None
Possible donation incentives: None
Sample run video:
Description: This was run at last ESA as a four way race. It was VERY close and I had loads of fun commentating with Btrim during the race. This is a remake of the classic Sega Mega Drive game of the same name in which Mickey Mouse attempts to rescue Minnie mouse from the evil Mizrabel. This run has a few skips, but mainly relies on movement and gem collecting (obviously while going fast). I'll be willing to run this solo or as a race against anyone else who submits.

Availability: Like my other post says, I will definitely be available on all days at some point, but I won't find out what my work schedule will be like until the week before the event starts.

Game Name: Ori and the blind forest
System: PC
Category: Any%
Gameplay Estimate: 0:30:00
Ending/Bonus Estimate: 0:05:00
Sample run video:
Description: Ori best game ever :3
Availability: aviable all 3 days, from 8am to 11pm CET

Game Name: Super Castlevania IV
System: SNES
Category: Any%
Gameplay Estimate: 40:00
Ending/Bonus Estimate: 5:00 (credits)
Possible Donation Incentives: none

Sample run video:

Description: CV4 is a great game to speedrun. It has a lot of possible movement optimization for a 2D platformer, cool boss fights, a few impressive glitches, awesome musics... It is a very stressful run since lots of strats are very risky and death is very punishing.

Availability: 29th from 6pm to 2am / 30th or 31st from 8am to 2am (CET)

Game Name: Wario Land 3
System: Game Boy Color (Played on Game Cube w. Game Boy Player)
Category: Any%
Gameplay Estimate: 1:05:00 (H:MM:SS)
Ending/Bonus Estimate: 0:10:00
Possible Donation Incentives: ESGPuppetMaster who's with me on commentary, will play the danish song "Lille Peter Edderkop" (Itsy Bitsy Spider in english) on guitar during the second to last boss which we call "spiderboss".
Sample run video (mostly in danish, ESA run will of course feature english commentary):
Description: Wario Land 3 is a game many played as a child on their Game Boy Colors, but not many has ever seen the amazing any% run. It features many interesting glitches (including frame perfect walljumps, wrong warps, glitched OoB areas, messing with the tileset to manipulate enemy spawns and more), many cool big and small tricks and lots of getting stuff early and getting-to-places where-you-shouldn't-be-yet's and exciting RNG at times. All of this makes for a very optimized run which lands at about 50 minutes if everything goes as it should. Other than that, Puppet, as mentioned above, will join me on the commentary (he did a Wario Land 2 run at ESA 2015) in order to explain as much as possible in the best way.
Availability: Any day, any time, hit me!

Game Name: Risk of Rain
System: PC
Category: Any% Monsoon
Gameplay Estimate: 20 minutes
Sample run video: http://www.speedrun.com/ror#Any_Monsoon
Description: For the purpose of marathon, the estimate is very generous. In addition, I'd be playing on the Zoom x2 option, which doubles the game's zoom. It's bad for speed, but it's good for allowing people to actually see what's going on in the game. It's unwatchable at Zoom x1.

Risk of Rain has had a couple marathon runs, but none of them were really good representations of the how sweet the run is. You go insanely fast, you murder everything, and then you set off some nice fireworks for the finale. The less visible skill is from the map knowledge, enemy control, and stacking odds in your favour, which takes explaining rather than viewing.

Monsoon is mostly just a longer but easier category, giving 30 extra seconds per portal. A good run would only take 12 minutes, but a couple significant RNG elements could cost a lot of time.
Availability: Any day, 11am-6pm and 8pm-1am CET.

Game Name: Crash Team Racing
System: PS1 (playing on PS2 with FDS)
Category: Any%
Gameplay Estimate: 54 minutes
Possible Donation Incentives: Filename (8 characters)
Sample run video: old PB with missing minor strats that I can do ezpz now
Description: You go sideways fast, my current mic is somewhat bad so if that's an issue I can have a co-commentator no problem (Nattyone720)
Availability: After 2pm CET on Friday, any time Sat, up until midnight CET on Sunday

Game Name: Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
System: PS1 (playing on PS2 with FDS)
Category: Any% (No Item Glitch)
Gameplay Estimate: 50 minutes (Execute me live if I don't get at least 47)
Possible Donation Incentives: $10,000 directly funneled into my bank account to keep the SFX on.
Sample run video:

Description: idiot in a fursuit wipes his ass all over history and time, 105% stinks
Availability: anything not midnight to 6am Australian Eastern Daylight Time should work out

Submission Form:
Game Name: Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!
System: PS1, played on PS2
Category: 100%
Gameplay Estimate: 2:00:00
Sample run video:
Description: A childhood favourite for many PS1 kids, Spyro 2 is a 3D collectathon in which we abuse broken movement techniques and lazy level construction to completely ignore the intended path through the game. In the 100% run we make use of major skips to acquire endgame abilities early, then use them to blast through all the levels.
Availability: Should be available any time before 4am UTC on the 31st

Game Name: Ys Origin
System: PC (Steam)
Category: Any% (Yunica)
Gameplay Estimate: 2 hours 20 minutes
Ending/Bonus Estimate: None, everything that can be shown is done in a run
Possible Donation Incentives: None, same reason as above 😛
Sample run video: (Please note the run is old, times are ~6 minutes better now)
Description: One of Falcom's best games that's part of the hugely under-rated Ys series, an action JRPG where you hack n' slash your way through everything with the help of elements you acquire throughout the game. The Any% Yunica category utilizes as many small time-saves as the community has managed to find thus far; from things like the torch jump (a small but hard 8 second time save) to a major boss skip, there's always something going on in the run for people to enjoy!
Availability: Highly prefer 9pm to 3am GMT but can stretch it a little bit if needed 😛

Anything that is submitted after this post will not be considered for inclusion. Thank you to everyone that has submitted.

Game Name: Jet Force Gemini
System (Include both original system and system you plan to play on, if different): N64 - J
Category (Any%, 100%, Glitchless, etc): Any% or 100%
Gameplay Estimate (excluding ending and bonus content): 3:45:00 or 4:25:00
Ending/Bonus Estimate (ending + any glitches/other bonus content you'd like to show post-run): None
Possible Donation Incentives: Category change to 100%, toggle Rainbow Blood effect or Kid character model effect
Sample run video (strongly encouraged but not required): Any% - http://www.speedrun.com/run/0y6de4qm / 100% - http://www.speedrun.com/run/oy203g6m
Description: JFG is a third person shooter developed by Rare for the N64. The run only has one significant sequence break, so a speedrun in any category is primarily playing the way its developers intended. With that said, the entire run is quite fast paced and consists mostly of clearing rooms of enemies as quickly as possible.
Availability: Weeknights after 7PM any time on weekends (US Central)

Good luck!

Thanks to everyone that submitted games for the marathon. We've had a look at all the submissions that were put in before the deadline and are now ready to announce which games have made it.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fm24K5P_cbfMYVjJ21wDpNYZysDBLXwMKQjC31EGLuw

There are three lists. Those in green are successful, and will be included in the schedule. Those in red have not been chosen, and those in the second sheet in orange are on the waitlist, and will be included if space opens up for them in case of dropouts, clashes in availability, etc.

We had over 160 hours of total submissions to fit into a 60 hour schedule, so please understand if your game is not one of those included.

If you feel your game isn't justified in not being included, feel free to contact myself or Riekelt and we will give you our reasoning for not doing so.

Speaking of availability, it is vital that everyone that has not done so makes us aware of their availability during the marathon. If you are on the waitlist or successful lists, please let us know your availability before the 16th. As before, if you do not, we will assume you are always available.

We'd also like to open up some runs to races. There are strictly limited places for this, and we are only opening this up to 2 player races. We will be choosing which games become races from anyone that does request this.

This will only be allowed when the original runner agrees, and they must be the one to contact either myself or Riekelt

Congratulations to everyone that has successfully made it in, commiserations to those that didn't. As a reminder, the first Schedule draft should be made available on the 16th January.

I am in Eastern Standard Time and am most available early mornings in my time zone (4 to 8 AM EST). My work schedule varies quite a bit and this would ensure that my run would be before I head out for work. I would most likely be available any day 7-10 PM EST also.
I can also add a bid war for The Next Penelope, to play the game in either Italian, French or English.

Fuck yea, shower with your dad as a donation incentive. My body is so ready for this speedrun.

I am available to race Ryedawg on friday after 7pm gmt+1 or sunday after 10am gmt+1.
Ryley stated that he is available whenever.