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Tetris Turns 30

Posted by Soulskill on from the supply-of-long-straight-tetrominos-still-strained dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Wildly popular video game Tetris launched 30 years ago today, and continues to capture the hearts of folks around the world. Topping best-of video game lists for years, the colorful block puzzle has sold an estimated 170 million copies—about 100 million of which are played on mobile devices."

36 comments

  1. but.... by Hsien-Ko · · Score: 1

    the not-so colorful block puzzle is the real seller nerds care about.

    1. Re:but.... by SeaFox · · Score: 1

      Jenga?

  2. Still waiting for a straight piece by jfdavis668 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm in trouble if it doesn't come soon.

    1. Re:Still waiting for a straight piece by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When I worked in Italy and introduced the game to some co-workers, they called the straight piece "salami."

    2. Re:Still waiting for a straight piece by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I called the "L" pieces "cock and balls: side perspective".

  3. Tetris launched 30 years ago by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In Soviet Russia, Tetris launches you!

  4. Re:Turds for Nerds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I was deeply disappointed when I found that most of the log went into the hole at the bottom of the bowl and out of my view.

    Congrats on clearing all four rows at once!

  5. Re:Turds for Nerds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    h aha nice one

  6. Video by OakDragon · · Score: 1

    Christ, Article a Video

    --
    Dark Reflection
  7. Tetris was 30 years ago? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

    If your goal was to make me feel old right before the weekend, mission accomplished.

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    Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
  8. So good, so good by uCallHimDrJ0NES · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What a game! Why does EA get to distribute it?

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    Cloudiot: A person who does not see offsite storage as a way to lose control over access to his or her own data.
    1. Re:So good, so good by dysmal · · Score: 1

      What a game! Why does EA get to distribute it?

      To prove that there's one thing EA can't fuck up!

    2. Re:So good, so good by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      To prove that there's one thing EA can't fuck up!

      You're going to be sorely disappointed, just look behind PapaEA. Look at all those corpses...

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    3. Re:So good, so good by timeOday · · Score: 2

      I tried the official EA version of Tetris on a smartphone lately and it was an absolute travesty. It actually played a video commercial before even letting me play. Then more spam between every level. In some ways computers have really fallen a long way in 30 years.

    4. Re:So good, so good by uCallHimDrJ0NES · · Score: 1

      I had the same experience. It's what led me to post my comment. Too much create-your-account nagging that you couldn't turn off. I'm speaking of the paid Android version.

      --
      Cloudiot: A person who does not see offsite storage as a way to lose control over access to his or her own data.
  9. The original wasn't "colorful blocks" by mike449 · · Score: 1

    Blocks were composed of [ and ] symbols on the text terminal.
    It booted from a 8" floppy on a Soviet clone of PDP-11.

    1. Re:The original wasn't "colorful blocks" by freeze128 · · Score: 1

      "Tetris, Shmetris!"

    2. Re:The original wasn't "colorful blocks" by mythosaz · · Score: 1

      Neat.

      Screenshot here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T...

      I'm pretty sure I played the Spectrum Holobyte version on the PC as my introduction to the game -- the Russian-themed backgrounds bring back some EGA memories :)

    3. Re:The original wasn't "colorful blocks" by spintriae · · Score: 1

      The full quote that you so strategically took out of context is...

      the colorful block puzzle has sold an estimated 170 million copies

      So unless 170 of those 8" floppies were sold, it's a good bet the original is not what was being referred to.

    4. Re:The original wasn't "colorful blocks" by Zanadou · · Score: 1

      *ahem* http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    5. Re:The original wasn't "colorful blocks" by mythosaz · · Score: 1

      Is there something superior to your shortcut to the image (versus mine) that I should be aware of?

  10. Hatris by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Tetris is cool, but it's no Hatris (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatris)

  11. TetriNet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone remember TetriNet by Storm Cat from the 2000's?

  12. It's the GO guy instead. by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    No Google doodle of Tetris. It's the GO guy instead.

    1. Re:It's the GO guy instead. by hugetoon · · Score: 1

      Unforgivable!

  13. favorite version by mmogilvi · · Score: 3, Interesting
    This version always you the best piece at the time: http://blahg.res0l.net/2009/01/bastet-bastard-tetris/

    (Or was it the worst? I forget...)

  14. Ghostbusters will be 30 too! by antdude · · Score: 1

    Tomorrow. Wow. :)

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  15. Long time Tetris fan by dysmal · · Score: 1

    I bought a Nintendo DS Lite in 2006 specifically so i could play Tetris. Never bought another game. Never needed another game. Still got it. I'll take Tetris over any of the eye candy games any day.

    1. Re:Long time Tetris fan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Reminds me of the cat. As long as he's got a box around he's happy. He'll play with it all day and hide in it half the time. I wish I was that easily satisfied.

  16. Numbers seem to be too small by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 2

    Angry birds claim half a billion downloads. Tetris 170 million? Either tetris number is under estimated or angry birds number is inflated.

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    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  17. It was the music by Celarent+Darii · · Score: 1

    To be honest the game was not that extraordinary, but it had its appeal. I think however it was the music that really made the game popular. Seeing that the game was all about matching up blocks that fit together, it was very poetic that they used a Russian folk song that was about courtship.

    Back then, programmers had a bit of culture. These hipsters are just faking it.

  18. Tetris 30 years already! by wvmarle · · Score: 1

    Wow... that means I wasted 30 years of my life so far!

    Btw does anyone knows which keyboard has cursor keys that don't wear out so quickly? I hate having to stop the game just because I have to buy yet another keyboard.

    1. Re:Tetris 30 years already! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe a mechanical model? They do tend to be a bit pricier than your standard matrix keyboard, but I've only had good experiences with 'em. They tend to have better key-rollover, as well...although I doubt you'd need it for Tetris.

  19. A humble contribution to the us gamers by Archimonde · · Score: 2

    I'll hope this is going to be visible on google maps one day: http://imgur.com/a/rkQpO

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    Trolls are like broken clocks. They show the truth two times a day. The rest of the day they talk nonsense.
  20. Oblig xkcd by xOneca · · Score: 1
    Nobody? Please, Slashdot readers disappoints me!

    Oblig xkcd