Hall of Fame: Tetris
On this month’s Hall of Fame we take a look at one of those games that pretty much everyone has played in one incarnation or another. It’s the Russian themed, block dropping craze that is TETRIS!
First to the plate we’ve got Robin Parker, talking about Nintendo’s marketing strategy.
Robin Parker: If you’ve ever owned a Nintendo Game Boy, you’ve probably spent countless hours playing Tetris. Of course, it wasn’t a Game Boy exclusive, and versions of the title have appeared on almost every console imaginable, including current-generation ones, but the decision to bundle in a copy of Tetris with the Game Boy was ingenious, in the sense that Nintendo were providing players with a title that had no set lifespan, that could be played almost forever, and a title that apealed to all ages and a wide target market. Anyone could pick up and play Tetris. It was easy to learn, difficult to master, but extremly addictive.
Graphics and sound were unimportant in a title that relied upon reeling you in with addictive gameplay, but the shaped blocks and Russian-influenced music have become pop culture icons in their own right. Whenever someone has to make items fit together, Tetris will be mentioned. How are you going to get all those boxes into the back of your van? Use your Tetris skills! The theme tune was so catchy that it was released as a CD single in many countries, placing respectably in the sales charts. So much about the game transcended the regular gamer, and the title was a hit in the mainstream. Businessmen could even play their Game Boy on the train and not feel silly. This was a true pre-cursor to the success that Nintendo were to later repeat with the DS, and shows that the marketing gurus in the company really know how to show off their products.
Ray Willmott talks about some of the plethora of modes that’s been available in Tetris over the years.
Ray Willmott: Who would ever have thought that building falling blocks would make for one of the industry’s most infamous and beloved franchises? Like precious few other games, Tetris has proven itself to be completely timeless, finding its way onto every gaming system we’ve ever known, from Commodore to Xbox 360. Yet, these aren’t just simple ports that have survived the test of time; Tetris is a series which keeps evolving, always managing to take advantage of new technology where it can. Motion Control, 3D, Tilt, a competitive online arena and even Augmented Reality. This is a franchise not afraid of change, and it’s come a long way from the simple Marathon mode it was born with.
New instalments of Tetris have seen a wealthy inclusion of party modes. Navigating a tetronimo through set mazes, climbing a tower of building blocks, and even filling up a familiar shape with blocks. Some are worthy inclusions, some aren’t, but it’s the fact that Tetris is always trying to reinvent itself that truly defines it as one of the greatest of all-time. There are few others as worthy of the Hall of Fame distinction.
Next up Benjamin Maltbie tells us about life, love and Tetris.
Benjamin Maltbie: Tetris isn’t a tale of my youth like it is for so many others. No, Tetris forced its way into my life when I was an early college student. I had been eating at a pub, eyeing up an arcade machine, when I noticed the door that gives passage to the internal chambers of the coin filled cabinet had not properly been secured. The door crept open, with the implied significance of a miracle, and waited for me to finger its mechanism. In return, I would be granted access to an unscrupulous and unlimited number of free games.
This is also when I met my future fiancé.
Tetris has the capacity to render players into vegetables, stealing their whole consciousness for as long as they can keep up with its simple yet frantic gameplay. I too succumbed to the flashy colors and hopelessly addictive musical score of this organizational block stacking simulation. There’s a certain pleasure you can take from seeing your meticulous planning rewarded with a numerical score. Having grown up in a small community, the leaderboards held a degree of import as well.
Years later I am single, still playing Tetris and harboring the undisputable knowledge that women are fleeting but Tetris, my friend, is forever. Just look at all the successful remakes the game has spawned.
Tony Windebank steps up and tells us all about Tetris and the family championships it creates.
Tony Windebank: Tetris was a fantastic title that I first played when I was treated one Christmas (as all games and consoles back then were) to a new hand held device simply known as the Nintendo Game Boy. Knowing absolutely nothing about it, but knowing that it was from Nintendo, I was happy to find that it came with a free game. Bargain! Upon finding out that the free game was Tetris, I admittedly wasn’t impressed at first, I was a kid and wanted to play Mario, not mess around with some russian blocks. However this game created a beast that was never fulfilled, one that started a competition that I never thought possible, against my mum and step dad!
I really did get into it in the end, actually enjoying the game itself and its addictive nature, always striving to get the best score. But one day, for a bit of family bonding and the fact my parents wanted me off that “infernal thing”, I introduced it to them. With my Step Father being quite the competitive chap he is (he once launched the Monopoly board across the room with pieces, dices and fake money flying everywhere because I bought Mayfair), he started getting into it as well as my mother and from then on, bragging rights in the family was who was current champion on Tetris. This went on for about a year, but after my attention was distracted with other games, my parents bought their own Game Boy and carried on the competition with each other for the next 5 years. To this day my parents slag myself, sister and each other off as to who was better at it. It goes to show how great this game truely was and the fact that even doddering old fogies could play, which also goes to show how a simple game like this can be an immensely fun and entertaining experience.
As it stands my Mother is currently the Windebank Clan Official Tetris Champion (Undisputed) and because of that she rules the house with an iron fist, whether my Step father likes it or not.
The GodisaGeek Hall of Fame will return next month!
