tetris posts (Subscribe to this feed)
Majesco bringing more Tetris to DS and Wii
by JC Fletcher 
{ Aug 20th 2009 at 1:15PM }
Between the release of Tetris on iPhone and announcement of a PSP mini Tetris game from EA, and these two upcoming releases from Majesco, it's suddenly a wonderful time to like Tetris. Which is just a different way of saying it's a wonderful time to be anyone on the planet Earth.
Sony introduces Minis: bite-sized downloads for PSN
by David Hinkle { Aug 18th 2009 at 1:45PM } 
PSP finally joining the Tetris Club
by Griffin McElroy { Aug 7th 2009 at 5:45PM }
Electronic Arts apparently asked themselves this question, then immediately sprung into action to port the popular puzzler to PSP. At least, that seems to be the case, as evidenced by a recent Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (that name is too beautiful to truncate!) listing for an EA-developed PSP version of Tetris. We've contacted EA to see if Lumines' tyrannical reign over the handheld's puzzle genre really is drawing to a close.
[Via Siliconera]
iPhone It In: Drop7
by Ben Gilbert { Jul 21st 2009 at 10:59AM } 
Bonus: Joystiq is giving away Drop7 download codes! Details at the end of the review:
You know what, I'm just gonna say it: I love Drop7. I've been evangelizing the game since I downloaded the free "Lite" version two weeks ago -- and subsequently bought the full version for $2.99 -- trying desperately to explain the game's "Tetris meets Sudoku" concept to anyone who'll listen.
Forget about your Super Monkey Balls and Metal Gear Solid Touches -- Drop7 feels built from the ground up with the iPhone (at least sort of) in mind, and easily warrants the same praise that games like Rolando and Word Fu have earned. It's easy to jump into a game and play for as little (or as long) as you'd like, just the way I like my phone-based gaming.
Oh, and before you jump all over me for not playing the game earlier, I'm quite aware that the game came out all the way back in late January, which is like ten thousand internet years. It doesn't matter though, because Drop7 is timeless.
Forget about your Super Monkey Balls and Metal Gear Solid Touches -- Drop7 feels built from the ground up with the iPhone (at least sort of) in mind, and easily warrants the same praise that games like Rolando and Word Fu have earned. It's easy to jump into a game and play for as little (or as long) as you'd like, just the way I like my phone-based gaming.
Oh, and before you jump all over me for not playing the game earlier, I'm quite aware that the game came out all the way back in late January, which is like ten thousand internet years. It doesn't matter though, because Drop7 is timeless.
Gallery: Drop7
Architect's Journal ranks top 10 gaming worlds
by Ben Gilbert { Jun 25th 2009 at 9:00AM }
The list is rounded out by some rather ... interesting choices -- from Jet Set Willy's house to Halo's ring world, and everything in between, which are all discussed in highfalutin terms that we simply can't wrap our heads around. "Gemutlich?" "Miminalism" (note: not "minimalism")? We're sticking with the video games, thank you very much.
[Via Kotaku]
Interview: Alexei Pajitnov, creator of Tetris
by Kevin Kelly { Jun 10th 2009 at 7:00AM } 
Alexey Pajitnov (right) with Dutch games publisher Henk Rogers, who helped place the game on every Game Boy.
You can listen to the full audio of the interview below, and head beyond the break for probably the world's shortest documentary, entitled "The Tetris Effect." Seriously, it's only three minutes long. How you can sum up the impact of a game that's still fun to play and appears on every major and minor platform around is beyond us. Maybe one of you readers will feel inspired to do an in-depth Ken Burns style documentary on it someday.
He's one of the sweetest people we've met in the industry, and despite having invented one of the most prolific games in the world, he's very humble and down to earth. Give it a listen and try to imagine a world without Tetris.
Gallery: Tetris at 25
Bring a friend to the latest Tetris Party tournament
by JC Fletcher { Jan 27th 2009 at 7:30PM }
These tournaments finally justify all that time and effort most of us have put into Tetris. Extreme line-clearing skill always seemed like the kind of thing that should help people get ahead in life, but until these tournaments, it just hasn't.
Gallery: Tetris Party
DS Daily: Old reliable
by David Hinkle { Jan 13th 2009 at 9:00AM }
For us, there are a few select games that never leave the immediate vicinity of our DS. Tetris DS and Space Invaders Extreme can be immediate sources of instant bliss, so we're never without them when out and about in the real world, where the danger of not being able to game can be very real and present. What about you all? What are those few games that get constant rotation in the cartridge slot of your DS? What game (or games) do you constantly come back to for amusement?
In small doses: Tetris is a PTSD 'vaccine,' prevents flashbacks, study finds
by James Ransom-Wiley { Jan 7th 2009 at 4:59PM }
The study found that those who played Tetris had significantly fewer flashbacks of the gruesome video in the days that followed, according to mandatory diaries kept by the participants. The results suggest that Tetris acts as a "cognitive vaccine" against the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which correlates with contemporary treatments that call for the use of visual "distractions" to treat reoccurring mental trauma. But much like Heroin before it, Tetris may end up being the cure that needs to be cured. In other words: Use only as directed.
[Via guardian.co.uk]
Playing Tetris helps with trauma, study says
by David Hinkle { Jan 7th 2009 at 4:26PM }
So, make more time in your busy life to play some games. It's good for you!
Gallery: Tetris Party
[Via /.]
Tetris theme gets retrofitted with lyrics
by Justin McElroy { Dec 15th 2008 at 1:10PM }
See, that right there is why we're bloggers and not songwriters: An idea that we can only drum up seven syllables on is enough for YouTube's brentalfloss to write a complete set of lyrics to the soundtrack permanently etched in all our psyches: "Korobeiniki."
Be forewarned: This isn't for kids nor the workplace, and some may find it a touch offensive. But we're almost certain he's got his tongue planted firmly in his cheek. Almost. ... His tongue's in his cheek, right?
EA releases Tetris for Android, Bejeweled and Monopoly to follow
by Randy Nelson { Oct 29th 2008 at 4:15PM }
In an official release, EA Mobile America and Asia publishing veep Adam Sussman calls Android an "exciting new platform" and says that the division has "more games in development" beyond the three revealed today. Looking at its catalog of iPhone / iPod Touch games, it's probably safe to expect some variation of Spore and Scrabble to be in the bunch.
Wii Fanboy Review: Tetris Party
by David Hinkle { Oct 21st 2008 at 3:34PM }
Gallery: Tetris Party
Retail and download releases for the week of October 20th
by David Hinkle { Oct 20th 2008 at 12:48PM }
It's a pretty big week for releases. On top of plenty of games available at retail, there's a couple of imports available on the Virtual Console, as well as one awaited WiiWare release (can you guess what it is?). Head past the break and start thinking about cracking open that piggy bank.
Gallery: Tetris Party
Tetris Party gets physical
by Chris Greenhough { Oct 8th 2008 at 12:42PM }
Tetris Party is out soon, which means we get to dust off our Balance Boards and play Tetris the way Tetris was always supposed to be played: by leaning and squatting. Tetris Party producer and cool hat-wearer Tony Tran has generously demoed the Balance Board mode, which looks straightforward enough: you lean to steer your tetrominoes across the screen, and squat to rotate them. The playing field is drastically reduced to allow for the imprecision of balance-based controls.
It looks quite fun, though this video did miss one thing: footage of Tony playing this mother on level 20. We suspect our own knees, weakened by a lack of exercise due to a life spent blogging, would struggle to get beyond level 5 with all that squatting.
It looks quite fun, though this video did miss one thing: footage of Tony playing this mother on level 20. We suspect our own knees, weakened by a lack of exercise due to a life spent blogging, would struggle to get beyond level 5 with all that squatting.
