Tetris turns 25

Jason Thibeault

Some games have some ethereal quality that allows them to transcend cultural barriers and even the ravages of time: for instance, chess, soccer, or Tetris, the latter in fact having just turned 25 today.

And what’s not to love about a game that almost seems like it was designed expressly for compulsive organizers, given that trait happens to be one of humankind’s defining features? Make everything fit together properly, and you can hold back the neverending series of blocks; fail to plan ahead or put the blocks in the right spot in minimal time, and you suffer the ignominy of defeat.

And it’s inspired some great Youtube videos, too — three of them below the fold.

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Tetris turns 25

About the author

Hi! I'm a tech guy, skeptic, feminist, gamer and atheist, and love OSS and science of all stripes. I enjoy a good bit of whargarbl now and again, and will occasionally even seek it out. I am also apparently responsible for the death of common sense on the internet. My bad.

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2 thoughts on “Tetris turns 25”

  1. Dan J
    1

    As much as I am into video games, I never really got into Tetris all that much. I still play a variation of Tetris once in a while though, and do find it entertaining. Even more entertaining are the video homages you show. Very funny stuff indeed!

  2. jthibeault
    2

    I’ve probably only spent grand total of a few hours throughout my entire lifetime on it, but that’s not to say it’s not an enjoyable game.  I recognize that no matter how good I get at it, there will always be someone that’s better, so I can’t really make myself play to the point where I could even measure up to one one-hundredth of this guy:

    [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEDD1Wzj82k&hl=en&fs=1%5D

    Or this one, who manages to even survive through the credit roll at the end of the Grand Master test, where you have to last with instantly dropping blocks for about a minute and the blocks TURN INVISIBLE AFTER THEY LAND:

    [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwC544Z37qo&hl=en&fs=1%5D

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