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.

[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!