US teenager beats Tetris and takes video games to a new level
A 13-YEAR-OLD American has become the first person to ever beat Tetris, forcing the 40-year-old video game into an unprecedented “kill screen”.
In a video of the historic moment which he uploaded to Youtube, Willis Gibson – who goes by the streamer name of Blue Scuti – is heard to plead: “Please crash!” as he arranges the puzzle pieces which are cascading rapidly down the screen.
Moments later he experiences something which no – human – player has, when the game freezes, signifying that he has reached the end of the final level, leading him to repeatedly exclaim: “Oh my God!”
Tetris, which was first released in 1984 and became a near-immediate worldwide sensation, challenges players to rotate and conjoin seven different falling block shapes.
It had been thought impossible for humans to beat the game, as the bricks would fall down the screen too fast for them to place.
Mr Gibson broke world records for the overall score, level achieved and total number of lines in the classic Nintendo game, according 404 Media.
“This is unbelievable,” Vince Clemente, the chief executive of Classic Tetris World Championship, told Reuters.
“Developers didn’t think anyone would ever make it that far and now the game has officially been beaten by a human being.”
Previously, only an artificial intelligence computer program had managed to get to the end of the game, Mr Clemente said.
Willis employs a “rolling” controller technique popularised in 2021 that allows a player to move the blocks at least 20 times per second, far more than the previously popular “hyper tapping” method, 404 Media said.
“Hyper tapping” involves hitting the controller D-pad with lots of quick presses, but this can strain fingers and even cause minor injuries.
The “rolling” method, however, involves keeping one hand still above the controller and continuously pushing it up from below in a smooth motion that is easier on the hands.
Created by Alexey Pajitnov at the Moscow Academy of Science during the height of the Cold War, Tetris has shown remarkable staying power, spanning generations.
It is the best selling video game of all time with 520 million copies sold, according to manufacturer The Tetris Company.