Gamer aims to break Guinness World Record to raise money for coding program

A Winnipeg man is trying to beat the Guinness World Record for playing a fighting video game for the longest period of time ever.

Starting Wednesday at 7 p.m., Dan Bergmanwillsit down at After Dark Lounge on Osborne Street andstart playing Super Smash Bros. If he sticks to the plan, Bergmanwon'tstop playing the video game, other than the odd break, for 55 hours.

The current record is 48 hours.

• Winnipeg school division charts new territory in computer coding for kids

Bergman is embarking on the gaming marathon to raise money for a coding program for inner city kids run by Geekdom House.The charity saidit tries to bridge the gap between the so-called geek community and the Christian faith.

While Bergman will be playing for hours on end, Guinness allows for players to take 10-minute breaks for every hour played so records can be achieved safely.

"My strategy is to go for as long as I possibly can, take a nice little four hour nap after the second night or something like that and then just truck on and see how far I can go," said Bergman.

The program he is attemptingto raise money for will offer children and youth thechance to code and design video games, skillsthatBergman saidwill come in handy for the rest of their lives.

"These types of skills translate to all kinds of things that they'll be able to do in the future, things that we don't even know about," he said.

"It allows kids who enjoy playing games a creative outlet, rather than just being a consumer of games."

If Geekdom House is able to raise enough money to launch the program $10,000 the charity will start a course for kids in 2017, he said.

As of Wednesday evening, the charity had raised $100 through the Canada Helps website.

"There will be people in the city who are game developers, coders, designers,that kind of thing, who have agreed to volunteer some of their time to teach these kids," Bergman said.

Bergman will set the world record onFriday, Aug.19at 7:01 p.m. but he plans to continue playing Super Smash Bros. for another seven hours to set a new record for 55 hours played.