Tetris turns 25 years young, still puzzles the best of us
If you would've told someone back in 1984 that Alexey Pajitnov would become world renowned, they would've likely laughed you right out of Russia. But on June 6th of that very year, said individual created what's easily the planet's most recognizable puzzle game: Tetris. We mean, who didn't have a childhood obsession with playing this very title on a TI-83 calculator while professors figured you were toiling away on classwork? Ah, good times. Feel free to share your best memories in comments below, and remember, there's no shame in tearing up. Or longing for a "T" to come along and fill that one last gap there on the right.



















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Giga @ Jun 6th 2009 9:38PM
Z and S pieces on the first turn suck.
Kamil @ Jun 6th 2009 9:49PM
SOOO true
oGMo @ Jun 6th 2009 9:54PM
http://fph.altervista.org/prog/bastet.html
Cheng @ Jun 6th 2009 11:14PM
@oGMo
That's pure evil!!
Aguiluz @ Jun 6th 2009 11:23PM
Back then years ago, I was playing Tetris on a Gameboy and I was literally dreaming about falling bricks. One thing that bothered me is that I dreamt I was watching the news and I watched that a meteorite had been recovered from a meteor shower last night. The meteor is a metallic "T" tetromino and one "S" and a "Z."
I must be playing too much. >_<
Now I dream of falling notes from too much DJMAX Portable.
DirtyVegas @ Jun 6th 2009 11:53PM
http://www.pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF206-Game_Boy.gif
sacapuntas @ Jun 7th 2009 12:25AM
lol he has a zune gameboy.
Mark Anderson @ Jun 7th 2009 2:44PM
I remember playing Tetris on my gameboy whilst going to work and staying on three stops past where I was meant to get off cos I was on a roll, baby!
The Walrus @ Jun 6th 2009 9:41PM
Anyone else just feel like Tetris should have always just been around?
Mmmm... Dohnuts. @ Jun 6th 2009 10:41PM
Jesus.
Elisha A. @ Jun 6th 2009 9:46PM
Once i start playing this game on my phone, I can never stop lol. I especially love the tetris theme song.
Jean-Michel Decombe @ Jun 6th 2009 11:53PM
One of my favorite Tetris theme songs was the one made for the Amiga version... very hypnotic!
Nohone @ Jun 6th 2009 9:47PM
Pathetic how Google glorifies the invention of Tetris rather than paying tribute to those who really deserve it.
jk01 @ Jun 6th 2009 10:01PM
I think he was referring to the participates of D-day.
The Walrus @ Jun 6th 2009 10:04PM
Yeah, iPhone is just an idiot
jk01 @ Jun 6th 2009 10:04PM
*participants
jk01 @ Jun 6th 2009 10:10PM
So you can't honor those who actually did the fighting, they didn't make the decisions to go to war, they were just the pawns.
The Walrus @ Jun 6th 2009 10:14PM
Shut the fuck up iPhone, it's because of the people who fought that war you are allowed you fucking idiotic opinion
Kamil @ Jun 6th 2009 10:17PM
iPhone...... mind giving us your adress? i want to see if your afraid to die........
jk01 @ Jun 6th 2009 10:18PM
What your an idiot we're talking about previous wars and the heros fought them, not about trying start another one. I think you need to setup an appointment with the Dept of Homeland Sec and get your problems taken care of at the Cuban resort. Just shut up.
Farris @ Jun 6th 2009 10:33PM
Engadget is a tech blog. I'm not saying that this isn't an important day or that those that dies don't deserve to be honored, but I personally wouldn't go to a Memorial Day event and talk about gadgets.
Topics to be discussed are venue-dependent.
mike @ Jun 6th 2009 11:08PM
It's not like Tetris is recognized every year. This is its 25th anniversary and last I checked, there is no computer game observance day. There is, however, a Memorial day in vritually all countries to remember your fallen heroes. If this had been maybe the 50th anniversary of D-Day, perhaps it would have been in contention.
Aguiluz @ Jun 6th 2009 11:26PM
Oh, I love these kind of people.
puhsitch @ Jun 7th 2009 12:28AM
@deanb: The question about Hitler's religious beliefs may be a little more complicated than that...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler's_religious_beliefs
MaxSMoke @ Jun 6th 2009 9:48PM
Sorry, after playing through the last level, on the hardest setting, of Tetris for the original GB, I officially had enough of that game for the rest of my life. Now Joust, *there's* a game!
Bill @ Jun 6th 2009 9:49PM
Arguably the best portable game ever. If not for this, portable gaming might have never taken off.
Ryan @ Jun 6th 2009 9:51PM
I don't know anyone who longed for a "T" to come... Its all about the Straight Line!!!! FTW!
o29 @ Jun 6th 2009 10:50PM
I came here to say this. Come on Engadget, if you were true Tetris fans then you'd know that the I is the piece that you wait for, not the T.
Michael @ Jun 6th 2009 11:10PM
yeah and especially for "that one last gap on the right". no one wants a T for that... not even rotated.... everyone just wants a I .
absolutc @ Jun 7th 2009 12:25AM
Yup. I was reading and I was like - who the hell wants a T? We all longed for a | , did we not? It always came down to that too. I am only 28 so I know the people writing this blog are not much younger, if not older. Hello... have you EVER played tetris?
Farris @ Jun 7th 2009 1:37AM
I remember using a Game Gear to cheat so that EVERY piece was an "I" piece... ah, good times.
Bandit5317 @ Jun 7th 2009 6:18AM
You just gotta build up that huge wall of pieces with only one column empty, pray for a straight piece to come, then listen to that awesome sound it makes when you get 4 lines at once.
dan! @ Jun 6th 2009 9:51PM
everyday i play during math class on my Ti-84!
best game ever.
rTwelve @ Jun 6th 2009 10:34PM
Yes, in our math class almost everyone played it instead of paying attention. Well, that or Bubble Bobble.
TareX @ Jun 6th 2009 9:52PM
Tan-ta-ta-tan-ta-ta-tan-ta-ta-tan-ta-ta-tan ta-tan tan tan tan tan
Thanks Engadget. Now it's stuck for another 2 years.
tactics @ Jun 6th 2009 9:58PM
got caught playing it on my original game boy back in 6th grade during a national geographic video that i was supposed to be taking notes on... teacher put it in her desk, said she'd give it back at the end of the day. it got stolen at lunch. bitch refused to replace it.
shimmy shimmy yah @ Jun 6th 2009 9:59PM
i spent practically all or my year 10 playing a mixture of this and call of duty 1 on the school computers, almost every lesson of every day, not even joking. very very good times. perhaps one of my favourtie games of all time
chansthename @ Jun 6th 2009 10:00PM
Happy Birthday Tetris
Steve @ Jun 6th 2009 10:20PM
Whats this TI BS. HP 48G FTW!
ShyGuy91284 @ Jun 6th 2009 10:20PM
TI-86 actually.
Shan @ Jun 6th 2009 10:28PM
Brings back memories of boarding school 1989 and the 2 Japanese kids returning from Japan with their brand new Nintendo Game Boy! How jealous were the rest of us... gosh the stuff we sold and sacrificed just so we could borrow and play Tetris! Those two kids were treated like kings!
.... Lets be honest - the straight line is the best .. we all built up for that!
Dennis @ Jun 6th 2009 10:33PM
One of my strongest childhood memories is my mom kicking me off of my Nintendo or if we wasn't home taking my gameboy so she could play Tetris! I Still love that game though.
Thomas Stockwell @ Jun 6th 2009 10:51PM
If anyone is interested in how to create Tetris, I wrote an article for the codeproject with a detailed explanation of how to code it using Visual Basic .NET : http://www.codeproject.com/KB/vb/FallingBlocks2008.aspx
Kevin @ Jun 6th 2009 11:20PM
GAH!!! VB!!! NOOOO, MY EYES!!!!!
Must... go... look... at... a... real... programming... langauge...
*curls into fetal position*
rcarm @ Jun 6th 2009 11:59PM
Here, have a perl script.
*gives script*
guywithdogs @ Jun 6th 2009 10:52PM
Or playing it for so long that your eyes dried out and you couldn't close them without it hurting...
deanb @ Jun 6th 2009 10:55PM
Open Utorrent - Help - About Utorrnet hit the 'T' on your keyboard n celebrate the last 25 years.
dan! @ Jun 6th 2009 11:49PM
haha wow that really worked
i had no idea what it was gonna do
but sweet!
dros @ Jun 7th 2009 2:27AM
damn... doesn't work in the os x version
so let's all have a flamewar!!
ImaYam @ Jun 7th 2009 3:07PM
Holy crap! I never knew! LOVE U!