40 years of Tetris: facts and curiosities about the Soviet video game that conquered the world

Today is the perfect day to reconsider juicy facts and curiosities Tetris, as part of its 40th anniversary. Exactly four decades ago, on June 6, 1984, the game came onto the scene and is sure that it did not strive for everything that it achieved. Worldwide success, specialized competitions, your own film and games outside our planet.

Tetris created by Alexey Pajitnov, a computer engineer who worked in the computing field of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union. Their mission was to research new artificial intelligence systems and test the capabilities of available devices. In an article he published in The keeperPajitnov said that he had been interested in puzzles since childhood and that this hobby served as the inspiration for his famous creation.

“Since childhood, I have loved puzzles, especially pentominoes (…) In June 1984 it occurred to me that they could be a good basis for a computer game. But 12 pentominoes rotating in real time seemed too complicated for me, so I reduced it to tetrominoes, of which there are seven,” said the game’s creator. Among the first wonders Tetris emphasizes the following. Pajitnov created the game on Elektronika 60, a computer that had no graphics and displayed only symbols. That’s why, used letters to form geometric shapes in the original version.

Curiosities Tetris: Soviet success, smuggling and cession of rights

Pajitnov’s publication in The keeper It has no waste. In this text, the programmer tells details from behind the scenes of the game that are worth a look. For example, why did he decide what seems obvious to us now: that the queues should disappear after completion in order for the entertainment to move forward and have problems. “I couldn’t stop playing– he admitted, remembering those days in 1985, before the official launch.

When considering curiosities Tetris In our early years, we discovered some conflicts, problems that are now unthinkable in the video game industry. On the one side, Pajitnov had to cede rights to the Soviet Union. For this reason, the success of its creation did not bring economic returns for more than ten years. Moreover, the engineer said that in the mid-80s the game was smuggled into Hungary and that some companies began releasing unauthorized versions.

Expansion to the West brings us even more interesting and little-known data about Tetris. The game’s inventor admitted his dissatisfaction with the use of unoriginal elements that he would never have included. “All these nesting dolls and churches seemed a little tacky to me, but they helped sales. Chose to play music Peddlers, Russian folk song of the 19th century. And later Nintendo included Nutcracker according to Tchaikovsky. I felt very embarrassed. When the children of the world heard these pieces of music, they shouted: “!”Tetris! ¡Tetris!’. And this is not very good for Russian culture,” commented Pajitnov.

Many years passed before the creator Tetris filled his pockets

If we consider the curiosities Tetris, we should also talk about the state of computing 40 years ago. The creator of the delivery commented on this The game played an important role in overcoming the taboos of ordinary people regarding computers.. “They were intimidating objects for people used to pencil and paper.” This video game, one of the first to achieve great success in the mid-80s, brought these devices into a new space for everyone’s attention. Small games were no longer limited to consoles. And computers have become a little more interesting, moving away from being purely work-related and/or academic.

As we noted, the developer did not receive profit from his game for many years, since he transferred the rights to the Soviet academy, on the basis of which magic happened. “Although I didn’t make any money at first, I was happy because my main priority was to see people having fun,” he wrote in an altruistic tone. Of course: in a few years Pajitnov founded the Tetris company.a company that now owns the licenses to create and distribute parts of this saga, versions of which are available on almost all known platforms.

The ideologist of the game said that his creation began to pay off after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Years later, he said, “It took me a ton of paperwork, bureaucracy, and boring meetings.”

Like other developments of those years, The video game stood out—and continues to stand out—for the beauty of simple things.. Are there any rarities Tetris, is one more authentic than that one? Maybe the next one. According to Pajitnov, this delivery was the key to the success of the Game Boy portable console, which he called the “ideal device” for playing it. Is there in the history of the industry gamer the game that had such a big impact on platform sales Hardware?

7 curiosities Tetris what do you need to know

• Where did the name of the game come from? It combines the Greek word “tetra” – “four” in English – with the last two letters of the word “tennis”, a sport reportedly one of Pajitnov’s favorites. Why four? It’s simple: this is the number of squares in each shape.
• Did you know every piece Tetris has its own name? The baptism of geometric tiles occurred when it did not yet have flowers. At that time they were divided into I, O, L, J, S, Z and T. These letters inspired the corresponding shapes of the tokens.
• One of the brightest oddities Tetris Is this related to the treatment of mental disorders?. This connection was first noticed by Pajitnov’s friend, psychologist Vladimir Pokhilko, who contributed to aspects related to randomness in the fall of pieces and the choice of color in the origins of the game. One of the many studies that mentioned the benefits of playing with these chips was published in 2009 in the journal BMC Research Notes. On this occasion, a group of researchers from New Mexico, USA, noted that brain imaging shows that the game Tetris produces a thicker cortex and may also improve brain efficiency.
• Already in the United States—and after the collapse of the Soviet Union—Pajitnov and his psychologist partner tried to replicate the game’s success with other games. Already as part of The Tetris Company, they tried their luck in small games Khatris And Welltris, both puzzles. Also with Personsvery strange option Tetris in which it was necessary to form faces and divide their fragments into geometric parts. None of them were as successful as the first one, created in the mid-80s.

• Among the curiosities Tetris a tragic story emerges. The aforementioned Pokhilko, who was a partner of the game’s creator, committed suicide in 1998, killing his wife and son.
• In January of this year Willis Gibson, a 13-year-old player, was the first person to complete the game.. How is it in our Hypertext, did it in a game lasting 40 minutes and 1511 lines. Before this, only one artificial intelligence managed to defeat Tetris. This happened in 2021 when programmer Greg Cannon used software called StackRabbit to play Tetris ideal.
• Without a doubt one of the greatest wonders Tetris This is the one that takes us back to 1993. Then, for the first time, a game of a game was played in space. This event with the participation of cosmonaut Alexander Serebrov was recorded in Guinness Book of Records.

Apple’s tense and secret ties to Pajitnov’s game

Last year, Apple became embroiled in unexpected drama following the release of movie Tetris on the Apple TV+ platform. What’s happened? Dan Ackerman, author of the book Tetris effectsued the Cupertino company, The Tetris Company and other participants in the production of the feature film, accusing them of plagiarism.

Akerman suggested that the film copied elements such as tone and approach from the book, published in 2016. “Obviously the film Tetris “substantially similar in almost all material respects, including certain chapters and pages of the above-mentioned book, which were merely adapted into a film without plaintiff’s knowledge, permission or consent,” the legal documents state.

There is another interesting point here in time. Tetris Apple related. What are we talking about? The YouTube user said in the video that the iPod prototype included a secret version of the game created by an American firm, just like Pajitnov. Of course, according to him Engadgetthis delivery never reached the hands of the players.

Peace and simplicity are the key to success celebrating 40 years of life

When asked about the triumph of his game, Pajitnov once commented: “It is simple and very easy to progress through the levels. It also uses templates that make learning easier. You start very slowly, at a simple level, and improve greatly. It’s something that gives you pleasure, seeing you improve. “It’s also a very peaceful game, there are no gunshots or blood, it feels like you’re building something rather than destroying it.”

“That’s why,” the creator concluded Tetris– everyone likes”. Curiosity Tetris to close this anniversary tribute. According to him Guinness Book of Recordsit is the video game with the most variants ever, with a total of 215 versions released.