The Unlikely Story of How Competitive ‘Tetris’ Went Viral ‘

[DGUtley]

The Unlikely Story of How Competitive ‘Tetris’ Went Viral - ‘Tetris is bigger than video games. Even after thousands of years, it will never get old.’


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‘Tetris is bigger than video games. Even after thousands of years, it will never get old.’

In 1990, a 13-year-old named Thor Aackerlund walked into the Nintendo World Championships to compete in Tetris and left a god. He obliterated every previously held Tetris record.

Then, he disappeared. Adding to his mystery, the Nintendo World Championship (NWC) was a one-time deal. So Aackerlund remained the last true Tetris champion for nearly two decades. In fact, it wouldn’t be until 2009 when someone could finally lay claim to Aackerlund’s throne. “Harry Hong became the first person to score a ‘max-out’ — or 999,999 points, the highest score possible — onNES Tetris,” filmmaker Adam Cornelius tells me. “It was then that I realized there wasn’t an official competition that could crown an official champion.”

In tandem with pursuing a documentary to find the one true Tetris master, Cornelius enlisted the help of third-place NWC champion Rob Mihara and another filmmaker,Vince Clemente, to produce a new tournament. “The main idea to start the tournament was to use it for the climax of the film,” Clemente explains. “I never thought I’d be doing it for a second year, let alone 10 years later.”

“Between the three of us, we ended up creating what’s now theClassic Tetris World Championship,” Cornelius says. “Back [in 2009], it was a modest affair with a basic analog video switcher someone gave us, and just four ugly Tetris games on a movie screen at a theater called theDowntown Independent in Los Angeles.”

Still, even at that first event, there was a palpable buzz. The Tetris Company,known for being very protective of its intellectual property, was “very much on board with the [Classic Tetris World Championships],” says David MacDonald,a YouTuber who’s extensively detailed the CTWC. “So much so thatHenk Rogers, founder of the Tetris Company, spoke at that first event.”

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[Collateral Damage]

I lived, ate and breathed that game for years. I look back now and see how well it improved my eye hand coordination, and sped up my strategic thinking skills.

And it was damn fun.

[Peter1469]

I never got into it.

The old games were lame and I ignored gaming for a while until I realized it got good. Then it got "too good." Many of the classics were best in the Windows 7-9 era. Like Mech Warrior, Total War, and Civilization.

[FindersKeepers]

I lived, ate and breathed that game for years. I look back now and see how well it improved my eye hand coordination, and sped up my strategic thinking skills.

And it was damn fun.

I did too--for a few months. I played it on my son's GameBoy and the first time I beat the game, I was so excited when the shuttle launched and all the fireworks went off. Then it got where playing it was kind of intuitive and I beat the game several times. It got to where my kids wouldn't even come over to see the shuttle anymore. LOL That's when I knew I needed a different hobby.