Joystiq

Joystiq hands-on: Tetris Party (WiiWare)

Zack Stern — 2008-10-06T16:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Features, Nintendo Wii, Puzzle, Galleries

We've soaked up Tetris on countless platforms. There's a balance to strike between versions that retain enough of the core game to be authentically Tetris, and adding new puzzle elements. Tetris Party for WiiWare nails this demand, providing about a dozen game modes, many of which, are all-new. Call it "yet another Tetris?" Maybe. But this is a Tetris on which we'll gladly spend 1,200 Wii points with its release sometime this month.

Nintendo claims there are 18 modes, 10 of which are new, but we only agree technically; the company counts some modes twice as single- and multi-player games. (Most modes support up to four players on one system, and a few work with up to six online.) We tore into as many as we could before overloading like a kid on a Halloween sugar-high. Here's how they stand up.

Gallery: Tetris Party (WiiWare, 10-06-08)

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Tetris Party: October, 1200 Wii Points, 'Squat Mode'

James Ransom-Wiley — 2008-10-03T12:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Puzzle

Nintendo has kicked off the second day of its fall media summit with a close look at Tetris Party, a robust addition of the evergreen puzzler for WiiWare. The game's producer has confirmed an October release, priced at 1,200 Wii Points ($12) -- or roughly 67¢ per mode (there are 18 of them!). Included in the bunch is a Balance Board ~~mode~~ exercise that requires squatting to rotate the pieces. Betcha can't beat 10 lines!

Gallery: Tetris Party

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IndieCade: International Festival Finalists #11-15

Ross Miller — 2008-09-24T13:10:00+00:00

Filed under: Mac, PC

All week, Joystiq will be revealing the 25 finalists for the IndieCade: International Festival of Independent Games, set to take place October 10 through 17 in Bellevue, Washington. The winners will be announced on October 11.

The Misadventures of P. B. Winterbottom (Website)

In terms of paradoxes and other temporal mechanics, Winterbottom makes Braid look like Mario in the future. From what we've seen and played of the game, our heads turn to mush thinking about how to solve these puzzles. Best of all, it's all in the name of eating pie. Take that, cake lovers.

Gallery: The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom

Psst ... there's more after the break.

Gallery: The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom

Psst ... there's more after the break.

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Today in Joystiq: July 30, 2008

Ross Miller — 2008-07-30T23:59:00+00:00

To be honest, we find the placement of the blue and purple Tetris pieces disturbing. Check out the highlights for today:

News
Shane Kim talks MMO stumbles
Midnight Club: Los Angeles midnight movie
ASA dismisses GTA IV telly ad complaints
PS3 firmware version 2.42 is now live
This Wednesday (today, we mean): Geometry Wars 2
Nintendo Q109 results drown company in billions
Capcom: Q109 sales up 15% (thanks Monster Hunter Freedom 2G)
The BBFC seeks to classify online interaction
Bourne game rights forget Vivendi, return to Ludlum Entertainment
Revealed XBLAugust prices incorrect
See Dark Void's jetpack action in video
Ticket to Ride Europe yet to arrive on XBLA, customers getting antsy
HAWX grounded until 2009
Ubi to release Armored Core for Answer in September
Rock Band concert tour, chance to humiliate yourself on-stage announced
ESA releases annual report publicly for first time
Doctor Who wants to time warp, play retro games
Wii MotionPlus co-developer demos tech in new video
GT5 Prologue update hits on Friday
PixelJunk Eden Trophies detailed, but not in gold

Rumors & Speculation
GTA: Chinatown Wars site hints at Nintendo WFC features
Zombies!!! coming to Xbox Live Arcade???
Rumor: Wal-Mart spotted selling 60GB Xbox 360

Culture & Community
DC, Capcom partner for Resident Evil, Devil May Cry comics
Eegra picks Game Makin' Shindig winners
Wii Brew's Wii Pack Generator delivers no-fuss homebrew
CollegeHumor reveals Bowser minion coup d'etat
Zero Punctuation apparently missed the actual E3
Edge: Nintendo tops industry's best publishers

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Tetris licensee sets out to save the Earth

Kyle Orland — 2008-04-22T19:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, PC, Retro

We're thinking it's not a coincidence that VentureBeat's Dean Takahashi chose Earth Day to publish an interview with Henk Rogers about his efforts to save the environment. You may remember Rogers as the visionary who first noticed an unassuming game called Tetris at a trade show and went on a crusade to get the game licensed outside of Russia. If you're not familiar with his story, we must insist you track down a copy of David Sheff's excellent book Game Over and read all about it. Go ahead ... we'll wait.

Done reading? Well, then you might be interested to know that Rogers is now using the money he made selling the Tetris license to do nothing less than getting the world completely off of carbon-based energy. After accomplishing that modest goal, Rogers says he hopes to realize the vision of his company's upcoming Blue Mars MMO by actually terraforming part of the red planet. Say what you will, you have to admit, the guy's ambitious.

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Fan-made Tetris: The Movie trailer surprises us with quality

Ross Miller — 2008-04-19T20:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Puzzle

Web video gurus Black 20 (remember the PG version of 300?) have released a surprisingly well-made fake trailer for Tetris: The Movie. It sports a heavy, 300-level dose of blue screen CG, some cheap acting and an over-the-top soundtrack. The sad part of all this is that we're infinitely more excited about a fake video game adaptation than we ever have been about a real one. Our fingers are crossed on a movie trailer for the sure-to-be-torture film Dr. Mario.

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April Fools' Alert #13: 3D, physics-based Tetris on WiiWare

Scott Jon Siegel — 2008-04-01T23:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Puzzle

The problem with all of these April Fools' shenanigans is that some of the fake games, peripherals and features people dream up are actually quite awesome. Case in point is this first-of-April report on the WiiWare version of Tetris which, according to a conveniently broken-linked Famitsu source, will feature 3D manipulation of the pieces in what looks to be a mélange of Jenga and ~~EA's~~ Steven Spielberg's Boom Blox.

We get the joke ("what a hilariously awkward take on such a hard-to-mess-up gameplay formula!"), but we have to admit we're intrigued by the potential of taking Tetris in a new direction. Nintendo had previous success with its alternate Tetris modes in the Nintendo DS version of the game. Maybe a physics-based iteration of the tetromino-tilting title isn't such a crazy idea after all.

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Today in Joystiq: March 26, 2008

Ross Miller — 2008-03-26T23:59:00+00:00

Kudos to Soner Ozenc for making an impractical mirror that warms our heart with its nerdiness ... but, as is the case with most Tetris merchandise, we take issue with ~~the gap below the 2x2 block on the left and~~ the three 1x1 blocks on the right side. We're picky, we know. (Big thanks, Vlad) Check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
Family Album: Take-Two Interactive
Law of the Game on Joystiq: End User License Aggravation
Metareview -- Dark Sector (360, PS3)

News
The God of War PSP bundle looks like this
Amazon selling Rock Band for $148, drums on sale too
Bully's Xbox 360 patch may need another patch
Check out some brief Resident Evil 5 footage
Take-Two board rejects EA's 'inadequate' tender offer
Supreme Commander for Xbox 360 delayed
Warhammer MMO delayed until fall
Far Cry 2 confirmed for PC, Xbox 360, PS3 this Fall
Killzone 2, LittleBigPlanet, Resistance 2 get release window in UK
Blizzard locked in legal battle with WoW bot maker
4-player arcade game with 'well known' superheroes in the works
Haze 'officially' coming May 22
50 Cent: Blood on the Sand revealed for PS3, Xbox 360
GTA IV Liberty City map sneaks online
PSN accounts possibly compromised, 'small percentage' affected
Enjoy your Prologue, Gran Turismo 5 'about a year away'
Turok to get five new multiplayer maps tomorrow
Milk it! BioShock MMO, mobile, and movie are 'potential opportunities'
Take a tour of Xbox.com's redesigns
Savage 2 gets free content update, Linux client
Sam & Max meet Beelzebub in Season 2 finale
Guerrilla: Killzone 2 September date isn't 'gospel'
The Political Machine returns for '08 election

Rumors & Speculation
Capcom debunks rumors of RE4 on PS3, 360
'Linger in Shadows' video hints at PS3 project
Pachter: Take-Two's rejection of EA offer a mistake

Culture & Community
How do you decide which console to play?
Speaker lineup for 11th Electronic Gaming Summit announced
Zero Punctuation spares Zack & Wiki

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Hudson to bring online Tetris to Wii Ware

Kyle Orland — 2008-03-11T20:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Online, Puzzle, Casual

A system just isn't a system until it has a version of Tetris (and no, hacks don't count), so it's a good thing Nintendo that Hudson has announced a multi-player Wii Ware version of the game (PDF link).

A translation of the announcement by our good friends over at Engadget Japan reveals support for up to six Wi-Fi players, planned downloadable content and gameplay-altering items activated with Wii remote shaking. Hudson says they expect at least one million downloads for the title after it's simultaneous worldwide release this summer (for an undetermined price). If you just can't wait and/or pay, may we suggest the free and/or currently-available Tetrinet.

Read - Japanese PDF announcement

[Via SiliconEra]

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Today in Joystiq: February 27, 2008

Ross Miller — 2008-02-27T23:59:00+00:00

Said Flickr user SheriB626, this was her "most epic project to date," made for someone she loved but then who broke her heart. At least she got it back. (Via DS Fanboy; thanks, Brian) Check out the highlights for today:

GDC08
Halo 3 outtakes: Full Metal Jacket & ranting lesbian space marine
BioWare founders: 'We're not done yet'

Joystiquery
1UP's letter grade conversion explained, analyzed
Wii Fanboy Weekly: Feb. 21 - Feb. 27

News
Mario Kart Wii features text chat; still no voice support
Bangai-O Spirits on DS features unique 'Sound Load' technology
Schilling, 38 Studios choose BigWorld for Copernicus
Activision investor sues over Vivendi merger
WipEout HD to support customizable soundtracks
Deadliest Catch game in the works
BBFC defends rating system after Microsoft exec. remark
Wii Fit priced for Europe
Duo of Two Worlds DLC packs coming
Some Rock Band DLC titles get patched
Resident Evil Zero port waggling onto Wii
Chrysler's serious game teaches teens to drive
Disney announces peripheral-free 'Ultimate Band' for Wii, DS
Finnish researchers: Video games don't desensitize to violence
Namco chases Tales to North America for Wii, Xbox 360
Zero Punctuation seeks Drake's Fortune, snorts some GDC
Nintendo to sell Wii Wheel separately in Japan
Katzenberg: Video games hurting 'overall home video market'
PS3 head tracking only needs camera
Probed: THQ is clean, cleared by SEC
Best Buy, others offer trade-in program through Dealtree.com
Mario Kart Wii supports 8-player battle mode

Culture & Community
Students throw real Mario party, with matching drinks
The exodus continues: Jason Ocampo leaving Gamespot

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Throw the hippest gaming parties with Tetris ice cubes

Scott Jon Siegel — 2008-02-24T10:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Retro, Puzzle

We suppose that they're technically ice tetrominoes, but that just sounds so much less hip. Next time you have friends and colleagues over for caviar and Rock Band, keep their cocktails cool with these Tetris-themed ice "cubes," fashioned like those seven shapes made famous by Alexey Pajitnov's classic falling block puzzle game. Of course, you could always make them yourself, but nothing says swanky like flexible silicone trays.

Unfortunately, the designer states on his website that the "Tetrice" tray hasn't been put into production yet, but that he's currently seeking out companies to produce it. We hope he finds one soon, because we're already planning our first fancy soirée: black tie only, and you must bring your own controller.

[Thanks, GreasyGuide]

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

Richard Mitchell — 2008-02-18T21:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Portable, Puzzle, GDC

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).

View Poll

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Stop-motion Tetris is people! It's made out of people!

Christopher Grant — 2008-01-01T16:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Retro, Video

From the fine French folks who brought you Stop-Motion Space Invaders With People comes Stop-Motion Tetris With People. Let's compare stats: 4 hours to shoot Space Invaders, 4-1/2 for Tetris; 67 participants for Space Invaders, 88 for Tetris; 390 images for Space Invaders, 880 for Tetris; a roughly 2 minute finished product for Space Invaders, and a just over 2-1/2 minute video for Tetris.

Now, we're not mathologists, but that sounds to us like they've managed to cram even more fun into their videos. And that's one metric system we're a-ok with.

[Via TechEBlog]

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Columnist calls video games 'crack cocaine'

Alexander Sliwinski — 2007-12-13T16:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture

A columnist in Canada has called video games "crack cocaine," bluntly proposing to readers: "Don't play video games." Writing for the conservative National Post, Father Raymond J. de Souza (pictured) explained that he "learned the truth" about video games the hard way -- he hasn't touched one after deleting Tetris. De Souza went on to label video games as "dangerous," blaming them for fat kids and missed pockets in time. Just about what you'd expect from "the crack cocaine of the electronic world."

As if approaching Godwin's Law wasn't enough, Father de Souza also insisted that too many games celebrate graphic violence, multifarious delinquency and borderline pornography. We guess Father de Souza will be missing out on the joys of Peggle too, what with Tetris being "deadly enough" for him.

[Via GamePolitics]

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Tetris L-block wins GameFAQs character battle

Ross Miller — 2007-11-05T00:55:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Retro, Online, Puzzle, Polls

Out of 128 video game characters entered into this year's GameFAQs Character Battle, the one to come out on top and conquer the rest is nothing more than four boxes glued to one another. The L-block of Tetris fame has been crowned winner of the tournament, personally defeating Kirby, Laharl (Disgaea), Nathan Hale (Resistance: Fall of Man), Kratos, Solid Snake, Cloud and Link in the process. The green-clad Hyrulian from Legend of Zelda series came in second place.

Outside of Imaginationland, the human winner of Character Battle VI is Joystiq reader Samiam779 (full disclosure: he's also a real-life friend of this writer and, yes, there's an extra '7' in his GameFAQs screen name), who told us he plans to donate his prize money, a $400 online gift certificate, to Child's Play charity.

The current poll, which is unrelated to the Character Battle, pits L-block against the Pong paddle, the Weighted Companion Cube and a '? block. As of this writing, our tetromino protagonist is still in the lead.

[Video credit: Mega64]

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Tetris Splash already has 14 pieces of DLC

Justin McElroy — 2007-10-04T12:54:00+00:00

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Puzzle

You didn't, but lets say that despite your better judgment, you bought Tetris ... again. If you're looking for way to compliment your $10 bucks spent on Tetris Splash this week on XBLA, perhaps you'd like to throw some good money after bad and pick up one of the fourteen pieces of DLC that became available for the game yesterday.

That's right, 14 additional chunks of the game like the "Butterflyfish Bundle" and the "Angelfish Bundle" with price tags ranging from 50 to 150 points dropped on the same day as the game. It's bad enough that DLC this close to a game's release translates to just trying to bleed more cash out of players. But it's especially bad in this case when you consider that ... you know ... they didn't even have to design a game.

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This Wednesday: Tetris Splash dives into XBLA

Christopher Grant — 2007-10-01T13:46:00+00:00

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360

Here's a fun game to play: try to add up the total amount you've spent on Tetris games in your lifetime and don't forget about that $5 iPod version either. We'll give you a minute ...

... done? Good. So we understand why some of you may have been hesitant to drop $30 on the budget-priced Tetris Evolutions when it came out for the 360 earlier this year. If you held out, your reward is the just announced (but long known about) Tetris Splash, an XBLA version of the classic block-dropper featuring multiplayer support for up to 6 players. Oh, and a virtual fish tank. For 800 Microsoft Points ($10), we just may be able to justify yet another Tetris purchase. Maybe ...

Gallery: Tetris Splash (XBLA)

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Tetris architect Alexey Pajitnov confirmed for UK's GameCity

Jason Dobson — 2007-09-25T15:27:00+00:00

Filed under: Arcade, Portable, Retro, Business

Tetris mastermind Alexey Pajitnov will speak during next month's GameCity industry festival in Nottingham, England. The man whose classic puzzler turned us all into 'Game Boys' will join other presenters, including the previously announced Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi, who will deliver the event's keynote address and show off his upcoming title Nobi Nobi Boy.

According to IGN, Pajitnov will host a series of Tetris-themed events during the 4-day celebration, including an attempt by Tetris guru James Clewitt at besting the Tetris scoring record, as well as a screening of the documentary Tetris: From Russian with Love. This year's GameCity will take place at multiple venues in Nottingham from October 24-28.

Speaking of Tetris records, you seen these hands at work:

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Weekly Webcomic Wrapup: conspiratorial edition

Ross Miller — 2007-09-22T16:20:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Online, Polls

"Frank, come here!"

"What? What is it, I was resting my eyes on my keyboard."

"Frank, I think something strange is going on. Two major webcomics both made Tetris-centric jokes in the same week!"

"So?"

"So? Don't you see what's going on? It's a conspiracy, it's proof of a higher power guiding our hands, it's proof of something so unbelievably abstract and omnipotent that I can't even fathom the ramifications for the world as we know it."

"Dude, Tetris is a popular game. It's just a coinci--"

"No! Don't you dare ruin this for me, man, I need this!"

"Is this because you didn't get to go to Tokyo Game Show and spent your time at home staring at the ceiling wishing you could play Metal Gear Solid 4 with a rumbling PlayStation 3 controller?"

"... I need a hug."

(Here are our picks for the week's best webcomic. Be sure to vote for your favorite.)

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LGC07: German journalists, experts pick all-time most influential games

Ross Miller — 2007-08-27T16:55:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Retro

A gathering of German journalists, publishers and "experts" met at this year's Leipzig Games Convention to pick what they felt were the most influential games of all time (via GameSetWatch). Of the reported 150 nominations, 16 titles were ultimately chosen and, of those, four were noted for being most frequently noted.

The four top-honored games are Tetris, Pong, Doom and Pac-Man. Though we agree with much of the list, we're still left feeling some titles were unfortunately overlooked (e.g. E.T., Custer's Revenge). What do you think of the list?

See Also:
10 most important video games of all time, as judged by 2 designers, 2 academics, and 1 lowly blogger

[Image credit: Senechaux]

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	Hyper realistic murder simulator
	Just do it
	Mass Tetriside
	Bizarro!
	The protip
	Fall of Duty
	It's not you, it's me
	Friend or Foe?