GDC08: Tetris, "the Slim Jim of video games"

In what is destined to become the most interesting metaphor used at GDC this year, iQ212 founder Rick Marazzani noted that Tetris is "the Slim Jim of video games." The proclamation came during a lecture entitled "Tetris: Best/Worst Mobile Game Ever," in which Marazzani analyzed the success of Tetris on mobile platforms. Slim Jims — much like Tetris – are "brandable," descriptive, and easy to consume, all of which are very important factors for mobile games meat snacks to succeed. Marazzani contends, however, that Tetris would not succeed if it had been invented in today's market. The primary reason for this is that Tetris isn't winnable, which is apparently a requirement for mobile users. To the best of our knowledge, Slim Jim's aren't winnable either, so the metaphor stands the test.

Most of it makes some amount of (meat-related) sense, but we'd take exception to the idea that a game must have a win condition to be successful (several lecture attendees pointed out games like Bejeweled and Lumines, for example).

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