Gamers play "Rock Band" for charity

Achievement unlocked: Playing games to raise funds for children.

That's what gamers have been doing for the past four days. The Rock-A-Thon, which kicked off Black Friday, is raising funds for Child's Play Charity. Gamers from all across the nation are here in Houston, playing the video game, "Rock Band," for 100 hours straight for a great cause.

More on the jump.

Here's the press release:

HOUSTON - What do an pink bunny, global megahit Rock Band®, four sleepless days and Texas Children's Hospital have in common? They are all tied to an incredible charity event this Thanksgiving - The Rock-A-Thon - that will bring joy to thousands of children worldwide.

The Rock-A-Thon brings together some of the most passionate and well-known players of the cultural phenomenon Rock Band together for four days of nonstop playing to raise money for children's charity Child's Play. During the event, the group will play for 100 hours straight and will play every Rock Band song available, which is estimated to be about 1,000 songs by the time of the event.

Energizer has recently announced it will be the Presenting Sponsor for this year's Rock-A-Thon. Because of Energizer's commitment, the group has been able to secure a location for the event at the Meridian (1503 Chartres, Houston) and has received space and bandwidth for the Rock-A-Thon website (www.therockathon.com).

The Child's Play charity (www.childsplaycharity.org) was started to collect donations that are used to purchase new books, toys, and videos games for children's hospitals all over the world. In 2008, Child's Play received more than $1.4 million in donations and has made donations to more than 60 hospitals worldwide, including Texas Children's Hospital.

The Rock-A-Thon is the brainchild of co-founders Paul Slawinski (Houston) and Corey Schon (Orlando), who were inspired by other gaming charity events.

"We noticed several groups used the Internet as a platform for charity events, but we had a vision that we could tap into the universal appeal of Rock Band and hold the charity at a public location," Slawinski said. "This way, we could increase the potential reach of the event, which will help to bring additional money to Child's Play."

The Rock-A-Thon began Black Friday, November 27th, at 12:05 a.m. at the Sports Bar at Meridian. The group will feature 14 members playing in 50-song shifts of four people (1 vocals, 1 guitar, 1 bass, 1 drum), plus two additional people for The Beatles Rock Band songs (which require three-part harmony in addition to the instruments). All songs will be played on Expert setting.

The public is welcome to visit the Sports Bar during the event to cheer on the group, to bid on one of several unique silent auction items or to make a donation directly to Child's Play.

For more information on The Rock-A-Thon or to make a donation, visit www.therockathon.com.

-- M4dSki11z's take: This is the kind of event that needs to happen more and get much more publicity. You can look through new sites and newspapers and see the negatives of video games - from the airport massacre in "Modern Warfare 2" to the incident where the young man was burned over a video game debt - but you rarely see events like this - where gamers are rockin' to raise funds to help children.

This is full of win. Thanks a million and enjoy your visit to H-town.