Hear that racket?

The incessant rock music I have been hearing all day from my desk here on the 29th floor of MTV headquarters today is emanating from Times Square.

That is where, on a concrete island between Broadway and 7th Avenue, people are playing MTV’s “Rock Band.”

They are playing all day. Regular folk. Common men and women. Rocking out to Weezer and Metallica. For a promotional stunt publicizing a new MTV show called “Rock the Cradle.”

I’m not shilling for the show or the game. I just wanted to share one of the most public spectacles of gaming I’ve ever witnessed.

These people are not in their basement eating chips, folks!

This is what it looks like from where I sit (click to enlarge) –>

Look below for more images. Imagine “Say It Ain’t So” filling the air in the scenes you see.

I went down to the ground floor to get a sandwich and to see what was what. I stood across the street from this very public spectacle of video game playing. And I snapped a photo. Behind me, a man said, “They’re playing a video game… ‘Guitar Hero.’

Sorry, MTV CEOs, it’s not my job to correct him.

I spotted one drummer and one guitar player. This was two-player “Rock Band,” fun for half the average family.

Readers should note that Times Square has become a rhythm game battleground. There is a “Rock Band” billboard on one block, and on another, right above where today’s stunt occurred, there’s a giant electric sign that was flashing “Guitar Hero: Aerosmith” ads for the last two days.

In the aerial shot above, do you see that giant NASDAQ cylinder that has windows on it? That thing has been looping the “Guitar Hero: On Tour” DS promo for much of the last week.

Competition is fierce.

But this afternoon the “Guitar Hero” ads weren’t running. “Rock Band” held the Square down.

And my sandwich was good.