If thumb cramps are a point of pride, then the continuous 40-hour gaming festival at Centennial Hall this weekend may be for you.

If not - or you're scratching your head wondering what thumb cramps and marathon sessions of Monopoly have to do with each other - you can still stop in and spend a few casual hours at the festival, dubbed Meltdown 2009, to check out the PC and console video games.

As of Tuesday, organizer Jake Carpenter said the event's preregistration rolls had about 80 people. Those are the hard-core ones likely to be fueled by caffeine, high fructose corn syrup and unnaturally orange snack foods.

The festival runs from 7 p.m. Friday continuously through 11 a.m. Sunday. It's free to everyone Friday, $6 for a Saturday day pass - unofficially known as "the girlfriend rate," Carpenter said - $40 for a full pass that includes entry in six competitive tournaments and $45 for a full pass plus table space.

Carpenter said the chatter on the event's online forum suggests some people are planning to stick around for the entire festival, though breaks are encouraged.

"We're definitely encouraging people to go home and sleep, we don't want any health problems," he said.

The organizers have lined up 35 console and PC titles to play, including six tournament titles with prizes for the winners: Halo 3 and Rock Band for the Xbox 360; Mario Kart Wii; Street Fighter 4 on the PlayStation 3; and Quake III Arena and Counter-Strike for the PC. Networks and servers will be set up to facilitate networked play.

Carpenter, 26, whose day job is webmaster for the state Legislature, fashions himself an idea man.

"I'm kind of a chronic thought entrepreneur. I like to think of business as a lot of crazy schemes that never get off the ground. ... Of the ideas I've floated by (my wife), this is the one she didn't immediately roll her eyes on."

Carpenter does Web and Internet technology work on the side and scooped up a garage full of servers, switches and other computer hardware to facilitate the festival at a state surplus sale. He describes himself as a casual gamer (no Mountain Dew for him, he prefers coffee and water to stay awake) more interested in the technical challenge of setting up the festival with help from friends and volunteers than the actual gaming.

Plus, he has an 8-month-old daughter and hasn't had as much time to keep up his gaming habits.

For registration and more information, visit www.alaskameltdown.com.