RealNetworks is holding a "man vs. machine" Scrabble game tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. at Seattle's Westlake Plaza. National Scrabble champ Jim Kramer will play against the Scrabble video game that Real has on its RealArcade gaming service.
He'll be in an isolation booth and will play three games, vying for a $10,000 prize. For some reason, a police officer will be handcuffed to a clear briefcase containing the money. (Why is the "Mission Impossible" theme suddenly playing in my head?) The game will be projected onto a giant video screen for those of us whose Scrabble games consist mostly of words like "tot" and "see."
A couple hours before that match, RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser will be playing against the president of the National Scrabble Association at an internal company event.