The latest in news from the cultural universe
Just For Culture
  • Home
  • Art & Literature
  • Music
  • Day & Nightlife
  • Film & TV
  • About Us & Contact

The Legacy Of Tetris: 30 Years Of Falling Blocks

8/6/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
Picture
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Tetris, the world’s most successful video game of all time.

While technology has marched ever-forward since it first came on the scene, it would appear that the world hasn't changed as much as you might expect since the first release of Tetris.

Created by Russian Alexey Pajitnov in 1984, amidst the tensions of the Cold War, the game went on to find a global audience – uniting East and West in their attempts to improve high scores.

The recent Russian annexation of the Crimea and the international tension inflamed by the geo-political events in Ukraine give us a glimpse back to the world of 1984. Tetris is without a doubt the most popular Soviet Union game ever created but the former Soviet states of Eastern Europe now have a strong creative industry with many titles, such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Metro 2033 and S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Cernoby, coming from game developers in Poland and Ukraine.

The increasing strength of Eastern Europe in the gaming industry is an exciting and possibly a telling sign of the changing nature of the industry. The Western portion of the industry are bogged down by massive production costs exacerbated by their attempts to create Call of Duty like experiences, and the large salaries expected by an educated professional workforce only increases budgets. 

Cheaper costs of living in Eastern Europe combined with smaller, more flexible, publishers has allowed for a fledgling industry which has been able to build a global audience as they look to provide deeper, more technical gameplay experiences.

While Tetris appears simple compared to modern video games, it sported the need for complex strategy, with blocks moving faster over time meaning that the ability to predict and leave space for upcoming pieces was required for high-level play. There have now been over 50 versions of Tetris since its initial release in 1984, that’s more than 1.5 a year, a truly exceptional figure!

The popularity of Tetris will continue to rumble on, and if the hype building around the upcoming The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, from Polish Developed CD Projekt Red, is anything to go by then the appetite for Eastern European gaming will only continue to grow.

                                                                                                                                         John Armour


1 Comment
bandarq link
25/8/2018 10:37:01 pm

In these challenging economic times, it is imperative to undertake the proper care and feeding of the Golden Goose. In this article the author lays out specific guidelines on how best to prioritize capital expenditures to maintain competitiveness while also growing market shares and penetration rates.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    gaming

    The latest news, reviews and thoughts from the JFC gaming mind

    Archives

    June 2014
    March 2014
    June 2013

    Categories

    All
    1984
    2014
    30th
    Alexey Pajitnov
    Anniversary
    Awards
    BAFTA
    Battlefield
    Birthday
    E3
    Ew
    Expo
    First
    Future
    Game
    Gameplay
    Games
    Gaming
    History
    Kinect
    New
    News
    Nintendo
    Nintendo Wii U
    No Man's Sky
    Original
    PlayStation
    Playstation 4
    Preview
    PS4
    Rockstar
    Rumours
    Russia
    Russian
    Tetris
    The Order
    Thirtieth
    Trailers
    Upcoming
    Update
    Win
    Xbox
    Xbox One

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.