This is the story of the most famous game in the world.
Probably Alexey Leonidovich Pajitnov In 1984, he didn’t know he was developing a game that would become the most popular in the world. Tetris was born in Soviet Union programmed into the computer Electronics 60, as explained at the Tokio school, a training center for new technologies.
As mentioned in the article, the key was not in his programming as such, but in his own concept. Currently, the video game is present on all platforms. However, it was not always so.
The programmer was inspired pentominoa puzzle of five square pieces that had to be assembled into a box. In this Tetris They will become four squares.
How it was done Tetris so popular?
It all starts when Alexey Pajitnov Share your video game with your classmates on Dorodnitsyn Computer CenterJust play a few games to take my mind off things.
Vadim Gerasimova colleague, ported the game to the IBM PC. From now on, Tetris It spread, and by 1986 all the Soviets had tried out the name.
However, since there was no intellectual property right in the USSR, it was distributed free of charge and without any control. As expected, it spread beyond the borders and became known to citizens from all over the world.
The gentleman called Robert Stein He wanted to acquire the rights, but did not do so properly. Pajitnov details for BBC that he offered an advance of $12,000, which is about €10,900. They simply replied that they were interested, and “he interpreted the fax as an agreement.”
Before its launch, they received a telex from a Soviet state company. Elorg to warn them that they were going to release the game illegally because they had never officially given permission. Finally, Matte He managed to convince them to sign a contract in Moscow.
Then Matte will sell the video game through a British company mirrorsoft. Maxwell Corporation, its American subsidiary, sees its potential and creates a version for Atari ST And Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Thus, it will start selling in the United States and Europe.
War for video game rights
Tetris It was growing in popularity. It was obvious that it would become one of the greatest classic games. So Elorg director Nikolai Belikov came up with an ingenious plan. At that time, Nintendo was the main rival Atari.
The Japanese company was going to deliver the famous GameboyAs reported in BBCHenk Rogers, a video game trader in Japan, says he organized a meeting attended by 10 people: KGB agents, businessmen, lawyers and the game’s creator. Tetris.
Taking advantage of the ambiguity of rights caused by the definition of “computer”, Belikov It occurred to him that he could add to the original contract with Matte a clause prohibiting licensing of rights to handheld consoles and future media.
Hence, Atari had to stop marketing and no longer wanted to continue selling the most popular video game in history because Nintendo Would be done with console rights.
Because Tetris is it that addictive?
The Creator explained, BBC that video games appeal to the human psyche: “when you play Tetris “You have the impression that you are building something. You have chaos, which consists of random parts, and your task is to put them in order.”
Plus, every time you make a line, it disappears. So “all that’s left are your mistakes, those horrible holes, and that makes you want to fix them,” he adds. On the other hand, it’s also an accessible and easy-to-learn game, though it’s not exactly easy to master.