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Session Name:

'Tetris' World Championship: Building Explosive Esports on 8-bit Nintendo

Overview:

'Tetris' is one of the world's best-known games. The Classic 'Tetris' World Championship started in 2010 as a community effort, but has grown rapidly with worldwide regionals, sponsorships from EA, Ubisoft and SEGA, and millions of views online. Carrying on the tradition of the 1990 Nintendo World Championships, the CTWC is an anomaly in esports with its use of 30-year old cartridges and NES systems, augmented with modern technologies to create a compelling competitive environment where one would not normally exist. This session explores how the CTWC format makes the most of odd things like NES Tetris' quirky killscreens, OCR technology, a passionate community low in toxicity and high in intellect, attachment to growing gaming events, explosive memes, and having an amazing role model for a champion. How the CTWC's esports culture reflects back positively to strengthen the 'Tetris' IP and communities will be highlighted.

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