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| B.T |
Okay everyone it’s time to put our Nostalgic Glasses on, along with the rest of the nostalgic gear that we can muster so we can return to a time when games were simpler, when games came out and cost only a fraction of what they do today. These were the times that games made came encased in a hard plastic cartridge that wouldn’t scratch as easily as today's blue rays or DVD’s. However other games of the time were flimsy plastic packages that inside held a medium disk, a so called floppy disk that some kids today may have never seen. Whatever its’ chosen game platform and how we interacted with those platforms these were the times of LEGENDS.
Now many, many of these games would
go on to become iconic house hold names that people not only revere but also
play even unto this day of Technology be it the originals or some new iteration
of that IP. Many times again we reminisce
to this day how great they were then and now.
Some people may live only in these past times refusing to grow with
gaming innovation and the general times, or maybe it’s the inverse they are too
young to bend their knee in respect to these older games despite the fact that
these predecessors are the sole reason their Halo’s, Angry Bird’s, Plants v.s
Zombie’s, Call of Duties and so on exist…
I welcome you to the first of many
rotating segments put forth by Drunken Procrastinating Gamers…
*Cue the Ian Fleming’s James Bond
movie song; From Russia with Love*
The time is 1984 and Alexey Pajitnov
while working for the Moscow Academy of Sciences had been working on a simple
computer game in his spare time due to his love of puzzles and games. His game
spread quickly throughout Moscow and by 1985 throughout the Motherland of the
Soviet Union.
After 1985 and before 1988 several
companies claimed ownership although the Owner of the IP was the Russian
Government and it the rights to make and sell games of Tetris were not agreed
upon and in most cases outright falsified. During this time game copies existed for different
systems but are ‘pirated copies’ but from these America was introduced to
Tetris as early as 1986.
An official licensed Tetris came
out to North America and Europe in 1987 (Fun Fact: I was born this year) and is
considered one of the first programs to come out from ‘behind the iron curtain’.
In 1988 Video game designer and
publisher Henk Rogers discovers Tetris and loves it and releases it through his
company; Bullet-Proof Software. Where in Japan it becomes a blockbuster hit on
PC and the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Although at the time it also
was a Pirated copy.
By 1989 Rogers had met and became
friends with Pajitnov and began working with the Russian Government to secure
legal rights to making a handheld copy of Tetris. After securing them he
licensed them to Nintendo and Gameboys were launched with the Tetris Gameboy
title. Of which I owned myself and logged many, many hours into as a kid.
By 1996 the Tetris Company is
Formed by Henk Rogers and the Original Creator Alexey Pajitnov, who finally
after twelve years saw money from his creation…… Tetris continues on strong
even today…
As early as 1992 research had shown
that playing Tetris improved brain function and efficiency, this was later
supported with better brain imaging technology of the 2000’s.
For those of you who don’t know
Tetris/ Тетрис is properly pronounce Tet-Reese not Tet-Ris, and in the most simplified
explanation is a tile matching puzzle video game. In Tetris one would line up a
series of Tetrominoes (the four elements, special use of Polyomino) and attempt
to clear an entire row within the holding ‘Matrix’ or ‘Well’. A Tetromino is
made up of four equal sized squares. As a Tetromino is a Polyomino it is
related to a familiar game and puzzle piece the Domino.
The original concept of Tetris must
have come to Pajitnov from his love of puzzles and games as well from the Greek
prefix Tetra.
The Tetris pieces have not always
been the same color throughout history although today the standard set by The Tetris
Company are thus: The I (or line) piece is
Cyan. The J or (gun pointing) piece is blue. The L (fallen over pointing to the
right drunken L) piece is orange. The O or (giant case of booze) piece is
yellow. The S piece is green. The T piece is purple and the Z piece is red.
The simple puzzle game that Tetris
is has made it addictive with inclusion of its Russian theme, and has been seen
on many, if not all the major consoles of the world be they pirated games or
licensed games or variant games. It is so wide spread that it can be found on
graphing calculators, tablets, not to
forget mobile phones and even more.
For me Tetris has always been a
great game and always worth playing. Due to its simplistic nature it allowed
people who would never consider themselves gamers to game and game in places
where it would not physically be possible. Yes that even includes inside a Burger
King freezer or in the middle of Math Class. You can even play them on planes.
Unlike many games of today it does
not require the Internet to play or have more than one player to get full enjoyment
out of it. Not to mention it is also one of the things you can play alone without
feeling shame…
So the Next time you think of turning
on your Microsoft system, Nintendo System or Sony System I implore you to
instead play a Tetris on one of the older systems or if you have it on one of
the newer ones play it there instead of anything else…
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