Its graphics are simple, and its rules are straightforward: rotate fast-dropping puzzle pieces on your computer screen to fit together and create solid lines — which then disappear. Repeat ad infinitum.
In a new nonfiction graphic novel titled"Tetris: The Games People Play" , writer and illustrator Box Brown fits together the puzzle pieces that describe the explosive gaming-world takeover of"Tetris," uncovering the unique historical circumstances in world politics and the nascent gaming industry that made the"Tetris" story so unique.
And when he shared the game with his co-workers, they started playing it — and kept playing it and playing it. These early players copied and shared"Tetris" on floppy disks, and the game quickly spread across Moscow, Brown wrote. When Pajitnov sent a copy to a colleague in Hungary, it ended up on display in a software exhibit at the Hungarian Institute of Technology, where it came to the attention of Robert Stein, owner of Andromeda Software Ltd.
BulletProof Software's Henk Rogers also had his eye on brokering"Tetris" deals in Japan, and secured rights for"Tetris" distribution on computers and consoles for Nintendo, through the U.S. distributor, Spectrum HoloByte. Elorg agreed that Rogers could secure the handheld rights for Nintendo, with console and coin-operated kiosk rights added later, amid angry protests from Atari over the threat to their own versions of"Tetris." A prolonged legal battle between the two rival game companies followed, but was eventually resolved in favor of Nintendo; that company quickly solidified"Tetris'" hold on eager consumers across America by including a copy with every Game Boy that Nintendo sold.