Sure, There Might As Well Be A 'world Solitaire Championship' And...
And it might as well fly 400 players to Miami to sit at poker tables playing solitaire on iPads.
We've seen our share of weird gaming tournaments. Farming Simulator has a yearly competitive tourney (and it's really good). Excel spreadsheet nerds compete in Vegas for a legit championship belt.
So why doesn't Solitaire have a world championship, too? Just because it's a game you only ever half-heartedly play while you're stuck at your desk waiting for the clock to hit 5:00 pm so you can go home and play some real games?
Maybe so, but that's about to change, as 400 players will be flown to Miami to sit at poker tables playing Solitaire on iPads (at least according to the video on that page). Can you feel the excitement? Not really? Let me up the ante, then: they'll be competing (at Solitaire on iPads, remember) for a chance to win $150,000, and it's all being presided over by notorious ESPN loudmouth Stephen A. Smith.
If you're still not excited, you must at least be curious about how you could possibly make Solitaire interesting to watch, even with the boisterous Smith tapped to host. And, unfortunately, the email PC Gamer was sent doesn't really shed any more light on that.
"The World Solitaire Championship is the first-ever global competition for Solitaire, transforming one of the world’s most iconic casual games into a thrilling cultural event," says Papaya, makers of the Solitaire Cash app. "Players from around the world will compete for prizes, recognition, and a weekend experience at Temple House Miami, South Beach’s premier event venue."
Cool, but again, as an event, how is this exciting? The email only mentions solitaire again in relation to Smith, saying he's known for his "unmatched passion, insight, and larger-than-life presence," and that he'll help "spotlight Solitaire as a skill-based competition for adults, leading up to the debut of the World Solitaire Championship."
Until today, I'd never have thought of a promotional email as something that could go off the rails, but it pretty quickly does:
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"As part of this partnership, Papaya is launching a broad online campaign to promote the finals, with Stephen A. Smith participating as the ambassador," it continues. "This AI-driven campaign was produced by cutting-edge tools available today for advertisers, led by Ariely Original, a creative lab and advertising agency, in partnership with The A
Source: PC Gamer
