KID, 13, ‘BEATS’ TETRIS
First to reach level 157
A 13-year-old gamer is thought to be the first person ever to beat Tetris — 40 years after it was invented.
“Oh, my God . . . I’m gonna pass out!” Willis Gibson gasped on a Dec. 21 livestream as he realized he’d reached level 157, crashing the classic game that for years many thought went only to level 29.
“I can’t feel my fingers,” the astonished Oklahoma teen mumbled as he slumped back in his chair and appeared almost to hyperventilate at his unexpected accomplishment.
“When I started playing this game, I never expected to ever crash the game or beat it,” wrote Gibson, who started playing the classic game when he was 11, according to Popular Science.
It took the boy fewer than 38 minutes to complete the game — after decades of other players attempting the same.
Game maker confirms
The Tetris Company confirmed that the young gamer was the first known to have reached the “monumental” level of the game, which was developed in the Soviet Union in 1984 and hit the US market four years later.
“As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Tetris this year, moments like these truly showcase the passion and dedication of Tetris enthusiasts,” Tetris CEO Maya Rogers told Popular Science of Gibson’s accomplishment.
“Congratulations to ‘blue scuti’ for achieving this extraordinary accomplishment, a feat that defies all preconceived limits of this legendary game,” she added, using Gibson’s YouTube handle.
“This monumental achievement not only breaks new ground in the realm of Tetris but also ignites our anticipation for its future. Here’s to the incredible journey ahead!”
Tetris sees players arranging falling blocks into horizontal lines while they fall at increasing speed.
For most of the game’s history, even the most dedicated players believed level 29 was the highest achievable goal, Popular Science noted.
At that level, the falling blocks started moving so fast that it became too difficult to keep moving pieces side-to-side with the controller.
In 2010, however, US gamer Thor Aackerlund broke through to level 30 using a new method known as “hypertapping” — helping others to push to new limits.
As of late December 2023, however, only artificial intelligence had achieved a true “kill screen” — or the result of a player reaching a level of the game that causes it to crash, the BBC said.
Hamas has been training children to join its campaign of terror and has even deployed the youngsters to the front lines to “deliver messages and ammunitions.”
Israel Defense Forces released photos Wednesday that show aspiring child soldiers alongside Hamas terrorists while holding semiautomatic weapons and manning deadly rocket launchers.
“Terrorism is not innate, it is learned,” the IDF wrote in a post on X, alongside a video of kids running through Hamas tunnels.
The IDF claimed Gazan children are taught in “schools, youth movements, and summer camps” that “killing Jews and Israelis is justified.”
“Hamas runs summer camps, in which the children learn to shoot weapons, attack from a tunnel, fight against tanks and kidnap soldiers,” the IDF told Fox News Digital. “The camps are early stages for military training in Hamas and integration into the military wing.”
The footage was reportedly taken in Khan Younis in Gaza, the IDF told Fox News.
“The transfer of explosives from place to place in Gaza by children, in vegetable bags and placing them in the Hamas ambushes,” the IDF said. “Also, chil
dren are sent to the battlefields after an attack in order to assess the damage and report it to the terrorists who are hiding in shelters.”
The Israeli military claims that more than 170 minors are working for Hamas and the Islamic Jihad throughout Gaza.
The revelation comes after
Hamas claimed Israeli forces killed senior official Saleh alArouri, who was considered one of the founding members of the group.
Israel has not confirmed that Arouri was assassinated, but said it is “in a very high state of readiness in all arenas, in defense and offense.”