Games

Desert Bus was released as a protest game. In the 90s video games were demonized for being nothing more than violence simulators. Penn & Teller took that as a challenge and had some developers make the most non-violent game they could think of.

It was made as a novelty. The people who made it knew it was boring, that’s the joke. The main group that still actually plays it is a charity group who suffers through it while getting donations for Child’s Play charity.

You're asking questions you donut want the answer to.

Get a group of friends and drink while doing it?

Nothing interesting happens at a mall, pub, but people still enjoy those solo with friends.

I heard he only hits the speed of sound when he's rollin' around.

But part of the legacy of Desert Bus is that it was a big charity series that kind of set the stage for GDQ later in gaming history. A sort of virtual road trip.
So a lot of people have nostalgia for it.