Celebrating 40 Years of Tetris: The Iconic Game’s Legacy and a Spectacular London Event

In London, the capital of England, a special event was held on large high-definition LED screens at Outernet London within the framework of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the iconic game Tetris.

They played Tetris on the big screen

In this event, participants had the opportunity to play the Tetris game on the big screen through their phones.

PAJITNOV, RUSSIAN inventor of tetris, lives in USA

Developed in Moscow in 1984 by a programmer named Alexey Pajitnov, Tetris quickly spread around the world. Today, Pajitnov lives in Washington, the US capital.

40 years ago, a young Soviet researcher designed an unorthodox computer game. In 1984, Pajitnov, who was working at a science academy in Moscow, turned away from his boring job and directed his mathematical talents to playwriting. The first simple prototype of this modern, Soviet-made game “Electronic 60” It appeared on his computer on June 6, 1984.

Speaking on the BBC’s Witness History program in 2011, Pajitnov said: “When the first prototype appeared, everyone was very curious and couldn’t wait to try it. saying, “Everyone tried the game and everyone, including me, really liked it. he said.

This simple yet engaging puzzle game was taking the first steps towards world conquest. The basis of the game was based on the classic game pentomino (five matching squares). In games like this, different geometric shapes had to be brought together to create a surface without leaving any gaps. Tetris also worked with a similar logic; Players tried to create complete lines from corner to corner, using geometric shapes consisting of four squares (tetramino) falling horizontally.

GAMEBOY ERA

A British software developer came across the game in Hungary and began negotiating distribution rights with the Russian government. Before long, Tetris was being played in homes across Europe and the United States. However, towards the end of the 1980s, the industry underwent a major change: portable game consoles such as the Gameboy were introduced.

According to BBC Turkish, in 1989, an American software developer named Henk Rogers was working for a Japanese company when he realized that this Soviet game had wide market potential. At the time, he decided to move the game from large computers to portable devices; but to achieve this, it was necessary to obtain distribution rights from Pajitnov.

He met a Tetris accountant

Rogers went to Moscow to find the creator of Tetris. During this time, there was an improvement in relations between the Soviet Union and the West after the Cold War. Bringing a new video camera with him, Rogers began to experience the joys of this discovery. to BBC Witness History in 2011 “I bought a new camera, which was very exciting. I wanted to record what was happening and enjoy it.” he said.

Rogers was trying to locate the office of Elektronorgtechnica (Elorg), which imported software and hardware to the Soviet Union. During this process, he was accompanied by a translator. Although the translator took Rogers to “Elorg’s” office, he refused to enter; because he was not invited.

Gathering his courage and going in alone, Rogers managed to announce that he wanted to buy the rights to Tetris. However, this caused a huge mess in the building. Rogers, “It was like moving anthill with a stick.” He explained what happened by saying. He was introduced to Alexei Pajitnov along with eight others. According to Rogers, among “KGB Agents and Who Knows Who” A group was with him.

HOW TO QUESTION YOUR HOURS

“I’ve met businessmen before, but I never liked them. They looked like scammers to me. But Henk really impressed me, because he really understood the meaning of his ‘game and the basis of acting,’ Pajitnov said in an interview with the BBC in 2011.

After a week of negotiations, a contract was signed between Rogers and Pajitnov. This agreement guaranteed Pajitnov an unprecedented personal share of overseas Tetris sales. Rogers, “They were very surprised” saying, “They didn’t see clauses in a contract like the penalty that I had to pay if I didn’t pay on time. This gave them proof.” he added.

Pajitnov, “According to my inside information, at that timeaSince then this treaty has been used as an example for all other treaties.” he said.

Why did Tetris get so much attention?

Rogers explains why Tetris has attracted so much interest with its unique gaming experience. Unlike many computer games with a theme of violence and destruction, Tetris allows players to build and create. According to Rogers, this is a more engaging activity because it appeals to the basic pleasure centers in the human brain: “People want to build things, and they actually feel better after they do. “

Today, Tetris is an important part of gaming history. According to the most conservative estimates, at least one billion people have tried to put colored shapes together to form a neat line at least once in their lives.

Although Pajitnov struggled to get royalties in the early years, he started to get his due when he moved to the United States in the mid-1990s and formed a company with Rogers. Today, Pajitnov lives in Washington DC and stands out as one of the richest and most famous people in the world of computer games.