Tetris
Developer(s)	Alexey Pajitnov (original algorithm), coder Vadim Gerasimov
Publisher(s)	Various
Designer(s)	Alexey Pajitnov
Platform(s)	Various
Release date	USSR 1985 NA 1985
Genre(s)	Real-time Puzzle
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer

Tetris (Russian: Тетрис) is a falling-blocks puzzle video game, released on a vast spectrum of platforms. A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual that creates Video games A developer may specialize in a certain video Alexey Leonidovich Pajitnov (ru Алексей Леонидович Пажитнов regularly Aleksei Leonidovich Pazhitnovborn Vadim Gerasimov is an engineer at Google. In 1994-2003 Vadim worked and studied at the MIT Media Lab. A "game designer" is a person who designs Video games or one who designs traditional games such as Board games Video Games Designer A video game designer Alexey Leonidovich Pajitnov (ru Алексей Леонидович Пажитнов regularly Aleksei Leonidovich Pazhitnovborn In Computing, a platform describes some sort of Hardware architecture or Software framework (including Application frameworks, that allows The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 See also [[Game classification]] Video games are categorized into Genres based on their Gameplay interaction Puzzle video games are a genre of Video games that emphasize Puzzle solving In video gaming, single-player refers to the variant of a particular game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session A multiplayer game is a Game which is played by several players. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Puzzle video games are a genre of Video games that emphasize Puzzle solving Alexey Pajitnov originally designed and programmed the game in June 1985,^[1][2] while working for the Dorodnicyn Computing Centre of the Academy of Science of the USSR in Moscow. Alexey Leonidovich Pajitnov (ru Алексей Леонидович Пажитнов regularly Aleksei Leonidovich Pazhitnovborn Dorodnicyn Computing Centre was established in 1955 and became a leading Research institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union The Russian Academy of Sciences (Российская Академия Наук Rossi'iskaya Akade'miya Nau'k, shortened to PAH RAN) consists of the National Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of He derived its name from the Greek numerical prefix "tetra-", as all of the pieces contain four segments, and tennis, Pajitnov's favorite sport. Numerical prefixes are usually derived from the words for numbers in various languages most commonly Greek and Latin, although this is not always the case Tennis is a sport played between two players ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles) ^[3][2]

The game (or one of its many variants) is available for nearly every video game console and computer operating system, as well as on devices such as graphing calculators, mobile phones, portable media players, and PDAs. This a list of variants of the game Tetris. It includes officially licensed Tetris sequels as well as unofficial clones An operating system (commonly abbreviated OS and O/S) is the software component of a Computer system that is responsible for the management and coordination A graphing calculator (also known as a graphic calculator or graphical calculator) typically refers to a class of handheld Calculators that are capable of A portable multimedia player ( PMP) sometimes referred to as a portable video player ( PVP) is a Consumer electronics device that is capable It has even been played on the sides of various buildings,^[4][5] with the record holder for the world's largest fully functional game of Tetris being an effort by Dutch students in 1995 that lit up all 15 floors of the Electrical Engineering department at Delft University of Technology. The Delft University of Technology ( Technische Universiteit Delft in Dutch) in Delft, the Netherlands, is the nation's largest technical ^[6][7][8]

While versions of Tetris were sold for a range of 1980s home computer platforms, it was the hugely successful handheld version for the Game Boy launched in 1989 that established the reputation of the game as one of the most popular ever. A home computer was a class of Personal computer entering the market in 1977 and becoming common during the 1980s Tetris was a pack-in title included with the Game Boy at the handheld's release in 1989. EGM's 100th issue had Tetris in first place as greatest game of all time. In subsequent EGM 100 best games lists, Tetris fell to second greatest game of all time. In 2007, Tetris came in second place in IGN's 100 Greatest Video Games of All Time. IGN (abbreviated and formerly known as I magine G ames N etwork is a multimedia news and reviews Website that focuses heavily on Video ^[9]

Contents 1 Gameplay 1.1 Colors of tetrominoes 1.2 Scoring 1.3 Gravity 1.4 Easy spin dispute 2 History 3 Variations 3.1 Newest features 4 Tetris variants 5 Is it possible to play forever? 6 Music 7 Effect of Tetris on the brain 8 Popular culture 9 See also 10 References 11 External links

Gameplay

A pseudorandom sequence of tetrominoes (sometimes called "tetrads" in older versions) - shapes composed of four square blocks each - fall down the playing field. A pseudorandom number generator ( PRNG) is an Algorithm for generating a sequence of numbers that approximates the properties of random numbers A tetromino, also spelled tetramino or tetrimino is a geometric shape composed of four squares connected orthogonally. The object of the game is to manipulate these tetrominoes, by moving each one sideways and rotating it by 90 degree units, with the aim of creating a horizontal line of blocks without gaps. When such a line is created, it disappears, and any block above the deleted line will fall. As the game progresses, the tetrominoes fall faster, and the game ends when the stack of tetrominoes reaches the top of the playing field and no new tetrominoes are able to enter.

Tetris game manuals refer to the seven one-sided tetrominoes in Tetris as I, J, L, O, S, T, and Z^[10] - due to their resembling letters of the alphabet - but players sometimes use other names for the pieces, such as "stick" for I or "snake" for S. ^[11] All are capable of single and double clears. I, J, and L are able to clear triples. Only the I tetromino has the capacity to clear four lines simultaneously, and this is referred to as a "tetris. "^[10] (This may vary depending on the rotation and compensation rules of each specific Tetris implementation. For instance, in the Super Rotation System (see below) used in many recent implementations, certain rare situations allow T, S and Z to 'snap' into tight spots, clearing triples. )

Colors of tetrominoes

Pajitnov's prototype for the Elektronika 60 used green brackets to represent blocks. ^[2] Versions of Tetris on the original Game Boy and on most dedicated handheld games also use monochrome or grayscale graphics. Monochrome comes from the Greek μονόχρωμος ( monochromos) meaning “of one color” which is a combination But most popular versions use a separate color for each distinct shape. Prior to The Tetris Company's standardization in the early 2000s, those colors varied from implementation to implementation. For example, the cyan piece is a different shape in nearly every version of the game below. This means that the common habit of referring to pieces by color is not very sensible, except among players of a particular version.

Colors of tetrominoes in various Tetris games

Piece	Vadim Gerasimov's Tetris 3. 12	Microsoft Tetris	Sega/Arika (TGM series)	The New Tetris and Kids Tetris	SRS (Tetris Worlds and Tetris DS)	Atari/ Arcade	TETЯIS The Soviet Mind Game
I	red	red	red	cyan	cyan	red	red
J	white	magenta	blue	blue-violet	blue	yellow	orange
L	magenta	yellow	orange	magenta	orange	magenta	magenta
O	blue	cyan	yellow	light grey	yellow	blue	blue
S	green	blue	magenta	green	green	cyan	green
T	brown	gray	cyan	yellow	purple	green	olive
Z	cyan	green	green	red	red	orange	cyan

Scoring

The scoring formula for the majority of Tetris products is built on the idea that more difficult line clears should be awarded more points. The original Microsoft Windows Entertainment Pack ( WEP) was a collection of simply-designed computer games for Windows. Tetris The Grand Master (often abbreviated TGM) is a puzzle game created by Arika, Inc The New Tetris is a Tetromino based puzzle video game released for the Nintendo 64 by Nintendo based on the popular Tetris Tetris DS is a Touch! Generations puzzle game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. Nintendo's implementations on the NES, Game Boy, and SNES use what is probably the most widely recognized system. The Super Nintendo Entertainment System or Super NES (also called SNES and Super Nintendo) is a 16-bit Video game console that was ^[12]

Nearly all Tetris games allow the player to press a button to increase the speed of the current piece's descent, rather than waiting for it to fall. If the player can stop the increased speed before the piece reaches the floor by letting go of the button, this is a "soft drop"; otherwise, it is a "hard drop". (Some games allow only soft drop or only hard drop; others have separate buttons. ) Many games award a number of points based on the height the piece fell before locking. If a piece is manually dropped x lines and locked, these versions will typically award points proportional to the number of lines that the player accelerated the piece. If a piece is not accelerated at all the player will gain no points for that piece unless a line is made.

In many games, an animation will complement scoring. For example, in the Game Boy Tetris and Game Boy Color Tetris DX, when the player finishes the A-Type game with at least 100,000 points, the game displays a cut scene of a rocket lifting off from a launch pad; higher scores produce a larger rocket. Tetris was a pack-in title included with the Game Boy at the handheld's release in 1989. A cut scene is a sequence in a Video game over which the player has little or no control often breaking up the gameplay and used to advance the plot present A rocket or rocket vehicle is a Missile, Aircraft or other Vehicle which obtains Thrust by the reaction of the When playing Mode B, completing the game at any of the level 9 stages rewards you with dancers and musicians. Completing level 9 with the height setting at 5 gets a large NASA-styled shuttle. In the NES version, a rocket takes off from a platform (the higher your score, the larger the rocket) while Moscow is visible in the distance. If you get over 125,000 points, a UFO is in place of the rocket, but instead of taking off, it sits there and Moscow takes off.

Gravity

Traditional versions of Tetris move the stacks of blocks down by a distance exactly equal to the height of the cleared rows below them. Unlike in real gravity, blocks may be left floating above gaps. Gravitation is a natural Phenomenon by which objects with Mass attract one another Implementing "recursive gravity", a different algorithm that uses a flood fill^[13] to segment the playfield into connected regions and then makes each region fall individually, in parallel, until it touches the region at the bottom of the playfield. Flood fill also called seed fill is an Algorithm that determines the area connected to a given node in a multi-dimensional Array. This opens up additional "chain-reaction" tactics involving blocks cascading to fill additional lines, which may be awarded as more valuable clears.

Original algorithm.

Algorithm with chain reactions.

Easy spin dispute

Although not the first Tetris game to feature "easy spin" (see The Next Tetris), also called "infinite spin" by critics,^[14] Tetris Worlds was the first game to fall under major criticisms for it. This a list of variants of the game Tetris. It includes officially licensed Tetris sequels as well as unofficial clones Tetris Worlds is a version of the popular video game Tetris. It was originally released in 2001 for PC and the GBA. Easy spin refers to the ability of a tetromino's lockdown time to regenerate after left or right movement or rotation, and this has been implemented into The Tetris Company's official guideline. A tetromino, also spelled tetramino or tetrimino is a geometric shape composed of four squares connected orthogonally. The Tetris Company LLC, aka TTC is based in Hawaii and is managed by Henk Rogers. ^[15] This new type of play differs from traditional Tetris because it takes away the pressure of higher level speed. Some reviewers^[16] even went so far as to say that this mechanism broke the game. The goal in Tetris Worlds, however, has to do with completing a certain number of lines as fast as possible, so technically the ability to hold off a piece's placement will not make achieving that goal any faster. Later, critics would receive "easy spin" more openly, saying "though the infinite spin issue honestly really affects only a few of the single-player gameplay modes in Tetris DS, because any competitive mode requires you to lay down pieces as quickly as humanly possible. " ^[17] In response to the issue, Henk Rogers stated in an interview that infinite spin was part of the guideline, giving a rationale:^[15]

So the problem is you get part way through the game, make one small mistake, 'Aw man, I blew it,' and restart. Henk Rogers is a video game designer and entrepreneur best known for winning a license for Nintendo's handheld and console versions of the Computer game I think that's an annoying way to play the game. So we decided it's better to give them a way to recover from that small mistake, but you're losing time. So if you sat there and rotated for, I don't know, five seconds, you've just taken five seconds out of the game that you needed to score so many points. So you won't find in the top games any gratuitous spinning going on, it just doesn't happen. It helps the beginning player who's trying to figure out what to do. It's a useless feature (for competitive play); it only helps if you're taking the time to think. The better players don't take that much time to think, that's the difference. ^[15]

Despite this, some recent games are not implemented in the way he meant for it to work. Modes lacking a timer such as marathon in Tetris Deluxe or also marathon and line mode in Tetris DS make problems for his statement.

History

Tetris has been embroiled in a large number of legal battles since its inception. In June 1985, Alexey Pajitnov created Tetris on an Elektronika 60 while working for the Soviet Academy of Sciences at their Computer Center in Moscow with Dmitry Pavlovsky, and Vadim Gerasimov ported it to the IBM PC. Alexey Leonidovich Pajitnov (ru Алексей Леонидович Пажитнов regularly Aleksei Leonidovich Pazhitnovborn The Elektronika 60 (Russian Электроника 60) was a terminal Computer made in the Soviet Union by Elektronika in Voronezh The Russian Academy of Sciences (Российская Академия Наук Rossi'iskaya Akade'miya Nau'k, shortened to PAH RAN) consists of the National Vadim Gerasimov is an engineer at Google. In 1994-2003 Vadim worked and studied at the MIT Media Lab. Gerasimov reports that Pajitnov chose the name "Tetris" as "a combination of 'tetramino' and 'tennis'. "^[2]

From there, the PC game exploded into popularity, and began spreading all around Moscow. This version is available on Gerasimov's web site. ^[2]

The IBM PC version eventually made its way to Budapest, Hungary, where it was ported to various platforms and was "discovered" by a British software house named Andromeda. Budapest ( also /ˈbʊ-/) is the capital city of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary it serves as the country's principal Political, Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic They attempted to contact Pajitnov to secure the rights for the PC version, but before the deal was firmly settled, they had already sold the rights to Spectrum HoloByte. A personal computer ( PC) is any Computer whose original sales price size and capabilities make it useful for individuals and which is intended to be operated Spectrum HoloByte Inc was a Video game developer and publisher originally based in Alameda California. After failing to settle the deal with Pajitnov, Andromeda attempted to license it from the Hungarian programmers instead.

Meanwhile, before any legal rights were settled, the Spectrum HoloByte IBM PC version of Tetris was released in the United States in 1986. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The game's popularity was tremendous, and many players were instantly hooked—it was a software blockbuster.

The details of the licensing issues were uncertain by this point, but in 1987 Andromeda managed to obtain copyright licensing for the IBM PC version and any other home computer system.

For Amiga and Atari ST two different versions by Spectrum HoloByte and Mirrorsoft became available. The Amiga is a family of Personal computers originally developed by Amiga Corporation. The Atari ST is a home / Personal computer that was commercially available from 1985 to the early 1990s Mirrorsoft was a game software publisher in the United Kingdom, owned by Mirror Group Newspapers. The Mirrorsoft version did not feature any background graphics while the Holobyte version had a background picture related to Russian themes for each level. Games were sold as budget titles due to the game's simplicity.

By 1988, the Soviet government began to market the rights to Tetris through an organization called Elektronorgtechnica, or "Elorg" for short. Elektronorgtechnica (also spelled Electronorgtechnica) better known abbreviated as ELORG, is the former Soviet Ministry of Software and Hardware Export Pajitnov had granted his rights to the Soviet Government, via the Computer Center he worked at for ten years. ^[18]By this time Elorg had still seen no money from Andromeda, and yet Andromeda was licensing and sub-licensing rights that they themselves did not even have.

By 1989, half a dozen different companies claimed rights to create and distribute the Tetris software for home computers, game consoles, and handheld systems. Elorg, meanwhile, held that none of the companies were legally entitled to produce an arcade version, and signed those rights over to Atari Games, while it signed non-Japanese console and handheld rights over to Nintendo. An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in businesses such as Restaurants Pubs Video arcades and Family Entertainment Atari Games Corporation was an American producer of Arcade games, and originally part of Atari Inc For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. is a Multinational corporation headquartered in Kyoto Japan founded on

Tengen (the console software division of Atari Games), regardless, applied for copyright for their Tetris game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, loosely based on the arcade version, and proceeded to market and distribute it under the name TETЯIS: The Soviet Mind Game (with faux Cyrillic typography incorporating the Cyrillic letter Ya), disregarding Nintendo's license from Elorg. Tengen was a Video-game publisher and developer that was created by arcade game manufacturer Atari Games. Atari Games Corporation was an American producer of Arcade games, and originally part of Atari Inc The Nintendo Entertainment System (often abbreviated as NES or simply Nintendo) is an 8-bit Video game console that was released by Tetris (Тетрис is a Video puzzle game originally designed and programmed by Alexey Pajitnov in June 1985 while working for the Dorodnicyn Faux Cyrillic, pseudo-Cyrillic, pseudo-Russian or faux Russian Typography is the use of Cyrillic letters in Latin text Ya (Я я is a letter in the Cyrillic alphabet, representing either the combination /ja/ (a so-called Iotated vowel) or /a/ after a palatalized consonant

Nintendo contacted Atari Games claiming they had stolen rights to Tetris, whereupon Atari Games sued, believing they had the rights. The Nintendo Entertainment System (often abbreviated as NES or simply Nintendo) is an 8-bit Video game console that was released by After only four weeks on the shelf, the courts ruled that Nintendo had the rights to Tetris on home game systems, and Tengen's TETЯIS game was recalled, with an unknown number of copies sold. ^[19]

Nintendo released their version of Tetris for both the Famicom and the Game Boy (the Game Boy version was developed by Bullet-Proof Software, Inc., who held the Japanese license, despite Nintendo's license to the game) and sold more than three million copies; some players considered Nintendo's NES version inferior because it lacked the side-by-side simultaneous play of Tengen's version, but Nintendo's Game Boy Tetris became arguably the most well-known version of Tetris. The Nintendo Entertainment System (often abbreviated as NES or simply Nintendo) is an 8-bit Video game console that was released by The Nintendo Entertainment System (often abbreviated as NES or simply Nintendo) is an 8-bit Video game console that was released by Blue Planet Software, formerly known as Bullet Proof Software, is a video game developer The lawsuits between Tengen and Nintendo over the Famicom/NES version carried on until 1993.

Sega also released a Tetris game for the Mega Drive, however the ensuing blitz of litigation ensured that it was hastily withdrawn - possibly before it even reached shop shelves. is a multinational Video game Software and Hardware development company and a former Home computer The is a 16-bit Video game console released by Sega in Japan in 1988 North America in 1989 and the PAL region in 1990 A handful of copies remain, which now change hands for as much as 800,000 yen ($6600) making it probably the most expensive Tetris game in the world.

Pajitnov himself made very little money from the deal even though Nintendo was able to profit from the game handsomely.

In 1996 when Russian restrictions expired, he and Henk Rogers formed The Tetris Company LLC and Blue Planet Software in an effort to get royalties from the Tetris brand, with good success on game consoles but very little on the PC front. Henk Rogers is a video game designer and entrepreneur best known for winning a license for Nintendo's handheld and console versions of the Computer game The Tetris Company LLC, aka TTC is based in Hawaii and is managed by Henk Rogers. Blue Planet Software, formerly known as Bullet Proof Software, is a video game developer The Tetris Company (TTC) managed to secure trademark registrations for the Tetris mark in several countries and has licensed the brand to a number of companies, but courts have not decided on the legality of tetromino games that do not use the Tetris name. A trademark or trade mark, represented by the symbols ™ and ®, or mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual Blue Planet was later purchased by JAMDAT Mobile, in turn purchased by Electronic Arts. JAMDAT Mobile was a mobile entertainment producer of Video games, Ring tones, Images, and other enterprises

According to circulars available from the United States Library of Congress, a game cannot be copyrighted (only patented), which would invalidate much of TTC's copyright claim on the game,^[20] leaving the trademark on Tetris as TTC's most significant claim on any government-granted monopoly. The Library of Congress is the De facto National library of the United States and the research arm of the United States Congress A trademark or trade mark, represented by the symbols ™ and ®, or mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual In Economics, a government-granted monopoly (also called a "de jure monopoly" is a form of Coercive monopoly by which a government grants exclusive privilege

Some players prefer Tetris brand games; others prefer homemade tetromino games downloaded from the Internet, which are given names such as "N-Blox" or "Lockjaw" so as not to infringe trademarks. In late 1997^[21] and in mid-2006,^[22] TTC's legal counsel sent cease and desist letters to web sites that misused the Tetris trademark to refer to homemade tetromino games. A cease and desist (also called C & D) is an order or request to halt an activity or else face legal action

Variations

Tetris has been subject to many changes throughout releases since the 1980s. It is difficult to place a standard on the game, as newer releases frequently progress it either to make the game better or to keep players interested. Newer Tetris games have made the trend of pace rather than endurance. Older releases such as Game Boy or NES Tetris offer records according to points. Since the meter for points is set to only a certain number of digits, these game's records can be "maxed out" by an experienced player. The next big Game Boy release after Tetris, Tetris DX, in marathon mode — comparable to mode A in previous releases — allowed an additional digit for the point meter. Even so, players still maxed it to 9,999,999 points after hours of play. For The New Tetris, world record competitors have spent over 12 hours playing the same game. The New Tetris is a Tetromino based puzzle video game released for the Nintendo 64 by Nintendo based on the popular Tetris ^[23] It is probably for this reason of seemingly everlasting play that in both Tetris DX and The New Tetris, the new modes sprint and ultra were added. These modes require the player to act under a timer — either to gain the most lines or points in that time. Recent releases like Tetris Worlds did away completely with point records. This particular game kept records by how fast a certain number of lines could be cleared depending on the level. A drawback of this deviation, along with some other newer features, is that many traditional players rejected these advances all together. Critics of Tetris Worlds said it was broken due to how a piece is able to hover over the bottom for as long as a player needs; ^[24] although, players of the game generally do not mind this feature because exploiting it will only hinder play, which is unfavorable to making a record time. Tetris LLC has been juggling different features with different modes of play in past years trying to satisfy traditional and newer players alike.

There are many different modes of play added in recent years. Modes appearing in more than one major release include: classic marathon (game A), sprint (otherwise game B or 40 lines), ultra, square, and cascade.

The field dimension of Tetris is perhaps the least deviated among releases, with the exception of some releases on handheld platforms with small screens. (For example, the Tetris Jr. keychain has 8 columns and 12 rows. A keychain or key chain is a small chain, usually made from Metal or Plastic, that connects a small item to a Keyring. ) It is almost always 10 blocks wide by 20 blocks high. However, the original Tetris for Game Boy is an exception with a 10 by 18 field of play. The field height may have been decreased to fit within the Game Boy screen. As a result, Tetris for Game Boy had an increased level of difficulty compared to some of its counterparts. Game Boy Tetris is also subject to faster speeds at lower levels.

Traditionally, blocks spawn within the four most central columns and the two highest rows. The I tetromino occupies columns 4, 5, 6, and 7, the O tetromino occupies columns 5 and 6, and the remaining 5 tetrominoes occupy columns 4, 5 and 6 (or in some especially older versions 5, 6, and 7). In some more recent games, pieces spawn above the visible playfield.

In traditional games, a level-up would occur once every ten lines are cleared. During a level-up, the blocks fall slightly faster, and typically more points are given. In some newer games such as Tetris Worlds, the number of lines required vary upon each new level. The fall speed also varies but is usually no more than 20 milliseconds faster for each step per level. For example, NES Tetris operates at 60 frames per second. At level 0, a piece falls one step every 48 frames, and at level 19, a piece falls one step every 2 frames. This means for each level, pieces fall 16 milliseconds faster per step. Level increments will either terminate at a certain point (Game Boy Tetris will top off at level 20) or will increase forever yet not increase in speed after a certain point. NES Tetris will level up in until the speed of level 29 (due to frame restrictions, pieces are not capable of dropping faster than this), but tool-assisted emulation will show that the level indicator will increase indefinitely-- eventually leading to a glitch where the meter displays non-numeric characters. Modern games such as Tetris the Grand Master or Tetris Worlds, at their highest levels, opt to drop a piece more than one row per frame. Pieces will appear to reach the bottom as soon as they spawn. As a result, a hover or slide feature is often implemented into these games to help deal with an otherwise unplayable fall speed. In some games, the hover time is regenerated after a piece is moved or rotated.

Soft drops were first implemented in Nintendo releases of Tetris so that pieces would be able to drop faster while not lock as to slide into gaps. The other option is hard dropping, which originated in early PC games such as Microsoft Tetris, a game developed by Dave Edson and bundled with Microsoft Entertainment Pack. The original Microsoft Windows Entertainment Pack ( WEP) was a collection of simply-designed computer games for Windows. With hard dropping, a piece falls and locks in one frame. Newer Tetris games feature both options. Some games have their locking roles reversed, with soft dropping making the pieces drop faster and locking down, and hard dropping making the pieces drop instantly but not lock.

Single direction rotation is an older restriction that has since been ruled out in nearly every new official release by the favor of separate buttons for clockwise and one for counter clockwise rotation. In traditional games, the unsymmetrical vertical orientation I-, Z-, and S-pieces will fill the same columns for each clockwise and counter clockwise rotation. Some games vary this by allowing two possible column orientations: one for counter clockwise and one for clockwise rotations. Double rotation, only seen in progressive clones such as Quadra and DTET, rotates the piece 180 degrees.

One of the features most appreciated by professional players, is the ability of rotating the pieces even if these touch the left or right walls. In the NES version, for example, if a Z piece is "vertically" aligned and falling touching the left wall, the player cannot rotate the piece, giving the "bad feeling" that the "rotate buttons" are locked. In this situation, the player has to move the piece one position to the right and then rotate it to make the piece "horizontally aligned", losing then a precious time. Proper implementations of this "rotating feature" appear typically, among other, in the Atari Tetris Arcade version (MAME: atetris)

Piece preview allows a look at the next spawn. This feature has been implemented since the earliest games, though in those early games, having the preview turned on made the score increase more slowly.

Newest features

Newer versions of Tetris add different scoring goals not present in traditional Tetris. As achieving these goals while not topping out becomes more difficult, these games usually add a few features to help the player.

The New Tetris and The Next Tetris were the first official Tetris games to feature multiple piece previews, showing 3 in advance. Tetris Worlds for PCs and game consoles added 5 more, while the GBA version retained the 3 piece preview. Tetris DS uses the 6-piece preview.

The "phantom piece" (referred to in some versions, such as the Tetris Mania cell phone game, as the "ghost") is a feature that shows an obscuration in the shape of the current piece over where that piece would drop. The feature disposes with the old problem of misdrops and is relatively new.

Hold piece is an optional ability to reserve a piece for later use, allowing a player to either avoid undesirable pieces or save desirable ones, usually the I piece or a piece needed to complete another goal. Some clones featured it as a powerup that the player could earn and use once. A hold piece available to the player at all times was first featured in The New Tetris. Games that have hold piece generally activate it when the player presses both rotate buttons simultaneously or when the player presses a dedicated button, depending on the game. When hold piece is activated, it causes the falling piece to move to the top and trade places with the hold piece. However, the feature cannot be activated twice in a row; a piece released from the hold must be dropped into the well.

Initial rotation and Initial hold are features that make the game accept rotation/hold button inputs while the next piece is still in the preview area. With initial rotation, when the player holds down the rotation button after the previous piece has locked down but before the next piece comes into the well, the next piece will come into the well in an already rotated state. Initial hold works similarly, as the piece will be already swapped with the hold piece when it enters the well. Initial rotation and Initial hold first appeared in the Tetris: The Grand Master series. Tetris The Grand Master (often abbreviated TGM) is a puzzle game created by Arika, Inc

Tetris DS features wireless on-line play through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection system. Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (commonly abbreviated WFC) is an online service run by Nintendo to facilitate free Internet play in compatible Nintendo DS and This new version also takes advantage of the touch screen in the added "Touch Mode," which has no time limit. Instead, every block is already placed in a tall tower, and the player uses the stylus from the Nintendo DS to shift blocks left and right and, in earlier towers, rotate blocks. The is a dual-screen Handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. The goal is to clear enough lines so that a cage of balloons reaches the ground. (This mode is themed on the NES video game Balloon Fight, hence the cage of balloons. is a Video game developed by Nintendo. The arcade version (Nintendo VS )

Tetris DS also introduces the Metroid-themed "Catch Mode. is the first game in the ''Metroid'' series of video games It was released first for the Famicom Disk System on August 6, 1986 " In this mode, the pieces still fall downward, but the stack is moved and rotated instead. As the falling pieces bump against the stack, they get clustered into it. To clear blocks, there must be a solid area of the stack that's 4x4 or larger. When this happens, the blocks glow and the music changes. After ten seconds or upon pressing the X button, these blocks disappear and shoot a laser beam in a plus-shape, the horizontal part equal to the number of rows cleared and the vertical equal to the columns. A laser is a device that emits Light ( Electromagnetic radiation) through a process called Stimulated emission. This laser beam will destroy falling blocks and Metroid enemies in its path. is a series of Science fiction adventure Video games conceived by designer Gunpei Yokoi and produced by Nintendo. The parts of the stack not hit by the laser beam will be pulled in towards the center of the stack after the laser beam dies. If a piece falls below of the bottom screen, the stack hits a falling block while rotating, or the stack hits a Metroid, the stack loses Energy. The player loses if the stack runs out of Energy or if the stack becomes so large that it can no longer fit on the bottom screen.

The Tetris arcade game offered different "puzzles" for selected rounds. The first three rounds are played normally, with no obstacles. At the start of round 4, eight bricks are placed vertically along each side of the well. Round 5 begins with ten bricks scattered throughout the bottom five rows. Round 6 begins with twenty bricks arranged in a pyramid. In rounds 7 through 9, the well starts out empty but single bricks will appear at random on top of your puzzle each time a piece lands that does not clear any lines, potentially thwarting any advance planning you may have done. In rounds 10 through 12, incomplete "garbage" lines will randomly pop up underneath your puzzle, pushing the puzzle upward, when a piece lands without clearing any lines. Rounds 13 through 15 begin with more blocks arranged in predetermined patterns, and the cycle continues throughout the remaining rounds in the game in groups of three.

Bastet uses a special algorithm designed to choose the worst brick possible, instead of the pseudorandom number generator. In Mathematics, Computing, Linguistics and related subjects an algorithm is a sequence of finite instructions often used for Calculation

Tetris variants

Main article: List of Tetris variants

A number of Tetris variants exist. This a list of variants of the game Tetris. It includes officially licensed Tetris sequels as well as unofficial clones Some feature alternate rules and pieces, and others have completely different gameplay.

Because of its popularity and the relatively simple code required to produce the game, a game with nearly the same rules as Tetris is often used as a hello world project for programmers coding for a new system or programming language. A "Hello World" program is a Computer program that prints out "Hello world!" on a Display device. This has resulted in the availability of a large number of ports for different platforms, most of which are not endorsed by The Tetris Company and are given away freely. See also Software portability In Computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created For instance, µTorrent and GNU Emacs contain tetromino stacking games as easter eggs. Emacs is a class of feature-rich Text editors usually characterized by their extensibility ^[25][26]

Is it possible to play forever?

Players may lose a game of Tetris for the following reasons:

• They can no longer keep up with the increasing speed, or
• A specific implementation of the game without very responsive control and without lock delay fails to keep up with itself when the pieces' downward velocity is much more than the maximum lateral velocity the player can apply to a tetromino. In other words, the possibilities for tetrominoes' movement are limited to the shape of a triangle in the playfield on faster levels. Once the triangle no longer covers the entire bottom rows of the playfield, as in level 29 of the NES version, this ceases to be the game's inherent challenge and becomes what some players call a design flaw.

The question Would it be possible to play forever? was first encountered in a thesis by John Brzustowski in 1988^[27] and has been more recently investigated in published articles by Walter Kosters. The conclusion reached was that a player is inevitably doomed to lose.

The reason has to do with the S and Z tetrominoes. If a player receives a large sequence of S tetrominoes, the naïve gravity used by the standard game eventually forces the player to leave a hole in a corner.

Suppose that player then receives a large sequence of Z tetrominoes. Eventually, that player will be forced to leave a hole in the opposite corner without clearing the previous hole. Back and forth, the holes will necessarily stack to the top. If the pieces are distributed randomly, this sequence will eventually occur. Thus, if played long enough, and the random number generator is theoretically perfect (or an "evil" algorithm is used instead of it), any player will lose the game. A random number generator (often abbreviated as RNG is a computational or physical device designed to generate a sequence of Numbers or symbols that lack any ^[28]

Practically, this does not occur in most of Tetris variants. Some variants allow the player to choose to play with only S and Z tetrominoes,^[29] and a good player may survive well over 150 consecutive tetrominoes this way. This a list of variants of the game Tetris. It includes officially licensed Tetris sequels as well as unofficial clones On an implementation with an ideal uniform randomizer, the probability at any given time of the next 150 tetrominoes being only S and Z is one in (2/7)¹⁵⁰ (approximately 2×10^-82). The expected wait until such a sequence occurs has the same order of magnitude as the number of atoms in the known universe. ^[30] Most implementations use a pseudorandom number generator to generate the sequence of tetrominoes, and such an S–Z sequence is almost certainly not contained in the sequence produced by the 32-bit linear congruential generator in many implementations (which has roughly 4. A pseudorandom number generator ( PRNG) is an Algorithm for generating a sequence of numbers that approximates the properties of random numbers A linear congruential generator ( LCG) represent one of the oldest and best-known Pseudorandom number generator Algorithms The theory behind them is easy 2 × 10⁹ states). In fact, newer Tetris brand games from 2001 and later tend to follow a new guideline such that the randomizer generates all seven tetrominoes in a permutation at one time, guaranteeing an even distribution over the short term,^[31] and this randomizer allows the player to continue a game indefinitely in theory, often clearing all blocks from the playfield. In several fields of Mathematics the term permutation is used with different but closely related meanings ^[32] On the other hand, the "evil" algorithm in Bastet often starts a game with a series of more than seven Z pieces.

On the Game Boy version of Tetris the player can only get as much as 999999 score, though the game will continue playing.

Recent versions of Tetris such as Tetris Worlds allow the player to continuously rotate a block once it hits the bottom of the playfield, without it locking into place (see Easy spin dispute, above). Tetris (Тетрис is a Video puzzle game originally designed and programmed by Alexey Pajitnov in June 1985 while working for the Dorodnicyn This permits a player to play for an infinite amount of time, though not necessarily to land an infinite number of blocks.

Several of the subproblems of Tetris have been shown to be NP-complete. In Computational complexity theory, the Complexity class NP-complete (abbreviated NP-C or NPC) is a class of problems having two properties ^[33]

Music

• Music A in the second (version 1. 1) Game Boy edition of Tetris (Music A) has become very widely known, to the point that Level 20 in Tetris DS is based on the original Game Boy version of Tetris and uses that theme. It is an instrumental arrangement of a Russian folk tune called "Korobeiniki" (with various Latin spellings), which has been covered by UK dance band Doctor Spin, US alternative rock band Ozma, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, Dacav5, and also the German techno group Scooter on their 2007 album Jumping All Over the World. " Korobeiniki " ("Коробе́йники" also called " Korobeyniki " and " Korobushka " and The Peddlers, is a Doctor Spin was a Pseudonym used by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Record producer Nigel Wright for their 1992 hit single Ozma is a Rock band from Pasadena California. The band's sound is a mix of new-wave –influenced Power pop and rock with Casiotone Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra (東京スカパラダイスオーケストラ commonly abbreviated by fans as "Skapara" is a Japanese Ska and Jazz Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Techno is a form of Electronic dance music (EDM that emerged in Detroit, Michigan, USA during the mid to late 1980s Scooter are a German Techno and Hardcore techno band from Hamburg, who have sold over 14 million records and have earned 80 gold and platinum Jumping All Over The World is the thirteenth studio album by German Techno group Scooter, released in Germany in 2007 It was also sampled in "21 Concepts" by MC Lars. Andrew Robert Nielsen (born October 6 1982) is an American rapper, known by his Stage name MC Lars. Music A and B are also remixed and arranged for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and can be selected for the stage "Luigi's Mansion. often abbreviated SSBB or Brawl, is the third installment in the Super Smash Bros "
• Music 1 in the NES version is "Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy," a tune noted to be scene 14c of act two of The Nutcracker, which was composed by Tchaikovsky. The Nutcracker (Щелкунчик Shchelkunchik) Op 71 is a Fairy tale - Ballet in two acts three scenes by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
• One song in the BPS and Tengen versions is the Kalinka, a famous Russian song written by Ivan Petrovich Larionov. "Kalinka" (Калинка might be the best-known Russian Song of all time
• Music C in the Game Boy version is an arrangement of Johann Sebastian Bach's French Suite No. 3 In B Minor, BWV 814, V. Menuett - Trio. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section.2 This article is written in British English including maximised use of "-ise" The French Suites, BWV 812-817 refer to six Suites which Johann Sebastian Bach wrote for the clavier ( Harpsichord or

Effect of Tetris on the brain

According to intensive research from Dr. Michael Crane and Dr. Richard Haier, et al. prolonged Tetris activity can also lead to more efficient brain activity during play. ^[34] When first playing Tetris, brain function and activity increases, along with greater cerebral energy consumption, measured by glucose metabolic rate. Glucose (Glc a Monosaccharide (or simple Sugar) also known as grape sugar, is an important Carbohydrate in Biology. As Tetris players become more proficient, their brains show a reduced consumption of glucose, indicating more efficient brain activity for this task. ^[35] The game can also cause a repetitive stress symptom in that the brain will involuntarily picture tetris combinations even when the player is not playing the game (the Tetris effect), although this can occur with any computer game showcasing repeated images or scenarios. The Tetris effect is the ability of an activity to which people devote sufficient time and attention to begin overshadow their Thoughts Mental images and

Popular culture

Tetris' popularity has resulted in its appearance in the media. It was featured in two episodes of the video-game oriented cartoon Captain N: The Game Master. Captain N The Game Master is an Animated television series that aired on U It was also referenced in the Muppet Babies episode "It's Only Pretendo", The Simpsons episode "Strong Arms of the Ma", Family Guy episode "Prick Up Your Ears", and Futurama episode "Fear of a Bot Planet. Jim Henson's Muppet Babies was a popular American animated television series that aired from September 15, 1984 to December 29 Strong Arms of The Ma is the 300th episode of The Simpsons in production order Family Guy is an animated American television sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane that airs on Fox and regularly on other "Prick Up Your Ears" is the sixth episode of season five of Family Guy. Futurama is an Emmy Award -winning animated American sitcom created by Matt Groening, and developed by Groening and "' Fear of a Bot Planet " is the fifth episode in season one of Futurama. " Commercials also occasionally parody the game. Police Academy: Mission to Moscow alluded to Tetris by depicting the Russians trying to hypnotize Americans through a puzzle video game referred to as "The Game" in the movie. Police Academy Mission to Moscow is a 1994 comedy crime film starring George Gaynes, Michael Winslow, David Graf, and Claire Even other videogames have shown tributes to Tetris such as the character Ai from NeoGeo Battle Colosseum, who can summon and attack characters with various Tetris blocks.

In 2007, the video game website GameFAQs hosted its 6th annual "Character Battle", in which the users nominate their favorite video game characters for a popularity contest in which characters participate. GameFAQs is a Website that hosts FAQs and Walkthroughs for Video games It was created in November 1995 by Jeff "CJayC" Veasey and GameFAQs is a Website that hosts FAQs and Walkthroughs for Video games It was created in November 1995 by Jeff "CJayC" Veasey and The L-shaped Tetris piece (or "L-Block" as it was called) entered the contest, and on November 4, 2007, it won the contest. Events 1333 - Flood of the Arno River, causing massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ^[36]

See also

• Tetris effect
• List of Tetris variants
• Game Over - 1993 book covers the legal wrangling with interviews from Nintendo staff
• Brain Wall, called "Human Tetris" on some YouTube videos

References

External links

• Tetris.com, the official website maintained by The Tetris Company
• TetrisConcept.com, a web site operated by fans with a forum and wiki relating to Tetris
• Original Tetris: Story and Download, Story told by Vadim Gerasimov, who helped Pajitnov with Tetris early on
• "Mathematicians prove Tetris is tough", Scientific American, October 2002
• My Wife is the Tetris World Champion, story and video by The Boston Globe Magazine, August 2007
• YouTube video explaining Tetris' history
• Virtual Apple II the original Apple II version of Tetris in digital format. Scientific American is a Popular science magazine, published (first weekly and later monthly since August 28, 1845, making it

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic