Forget Pong. Forget Pac-Man. Even forget Space Invaders. The greatest gaming obsession was undoubtedly Tetris. The game, which single-handedly invented the “falling block” puzzler, is celebrating its 30th birthday today.
On June 6, 1984, in a country that was then still known as the Soviet Union, Alexey Pajitnov completed development on the first version of Tetris. Pajitnov, who moved to the United States in 1991, said he still plays his creation a few times a week: “I never imagined Tetris was going to be this successful. But the simple, yet addicting nature of Tetris still has me playing it a few times every week. I meet fans from around the world who are also as passionate about Tetris as me, and there is no doubt in my mind Tetris will continue to expand and bring its classic appeal to new players in new ways and on new devices, whatever they may be.”
Together with Henk Roger, the two men founded The Tetris Company in 1996 and continue to license new entries in the series to this day. And with the game’s 30th anniversary upon us (which they’re calling “We All Fit Together”), they’ve got plenty of cool stuff planned for this year:
- Ubisoft’s new Tetris Ultimate lands on PS4 and Xbox One this Summer (and on the PC in the Fall).
- Electronic Arts introduced a new mode to Tetris Blitz (iOS, Android) called Retro Blitz with shapes, styles, and colors that are an homage to the original Game Boy version from 1989.
- Tetris Online is joining in the celebration with 30th Anniversary updates to the Tetris Battle game on Facebook and the all-new Tetris Battle: Fusion game, now available for download on Amazon Fire TV.
- Rasta Imposta is bringing the Tetris lifestyle to adoring fans in the form of great Tetrimino-shaped Halloween costumes, interactive costumes and accessories.
- Robe Factory is extending the Tetris lifestyle into our everyday lives from the moment we step out of bed with plush robes and slippers, and into the bathroom with great Tetris designs on shower curtains, towels and rugs. The Tetris fun will continue on great new leggings, socks, footwear and more.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to buy a birthday cake for my favorite game and blow out the candles with my screams of frustration after I don’t get that long piece I need.
