TakeN Out of Gaming | Issue 3: Tetris

Say the word 'Tetris' to a seasoned gamer, and one particular version will most likely pop into their heads. In 1989 Nintendo had their chance when the official license holder Elektronorgtechnica (in itself an organization of the Russian government that pursued the rights to the game, the Soviet Ministry of Software and Hardware Export) bequeathed the handheld rights to the big N. After going on show at a Consumer Electronics Show, Dutch publisher and videogame designer Henk Rogers helped Nintendo to secure the rights to distribute the game on consoles who, in a masterstroke, decided to bundle it with every Game Boy unit.

The rest, as they say, is history; the game, together with a handheld unit with interchangeable cartridges, became a huge hit for the bus, the toilet and beyond. A 35 million sales behemoth to be exact, and together with Nintendo’s other key franchises it helped cement the company’s dominant presence in the portable gaming marketplace. Tetris has had a successful run since, turning up on numerous game-playing devices of varying origin and make, sometimes adding new experimental modes of play but never wildly deviating on what made it great in the first place.

Other Mediums

A bloke called Dr Haier from the University of California examined how the brain reacts to regular sessions of blocky stacks, finding that, yup, it does indeed cause brain activity and function to increase, with usage becoming more efficient the more you play. More specifically though, even just moderate play every now and then boosts critical thinking, reasoning ability, language understanding and information processing in the mind. Brain Training before Brain Training in other words.

A separate study carried out around two years ago here in merry old England turned up something else entirely. For those dealing with traumatic memories both current and previous, prolonged play of Tetris may disrupt and weaken those recollections, and reduce chances of flashbacks. Dr Holmes of Oxford University hopes to develop this research further, but for now we can assume that those coloured blocks can form a hole-filled wall to those deepest darkest thoughts you might have.

Aside from scientific studies, the game has made numerous cameos and references on popular TV shows: The Simpsons, Futurama, Family Guy, and even Muppet Babies. The famous Music A (originally a Russian folk song called Korobeiniki) notes have been covered by UK dance band Doctor Spin and US alternative rock band Ozma, among others. There is even a tabletop variation of the game, entitled Tetris Tower 3D from Radica Games. eBay is your best bet towards getting one as it has been discontinued for a while now; a Monopoly-beater it was not.

Future Possibilities

Or what about some Tetris furniture? Pieces of shelving or seating that you could move around and combine to form your own unique setup? This idea has been thrown around before, with professional furnishings designers coming up with the models you see below, but nothing productively substantial has been seen of the concept as of yet. Ikea, get on the phone.