13-Year Old Becomes First Human To Beat Tetris On NES

13-year-old gaming streamer Blue Scuti has become the first human to beat the classic Tetris game on the Nintendo Entertainment System, almost 35 years after its release. Previously, the game had only been beaten by artificial intelligence. Blue achieved the feat during a semi-final round of the Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC) and set three world records in the process: the highest overall score (6,850,560), the highest level achieved (Level 157), and the most total number of lines (1,511). Wow!

The game is “beat” when it crashes, and the screen freezes. For the first two decades of the game’s existence, it was believed that progress past level 29 was impossible because the pieces are falling so fast that holding left or right will not move a piece all the way to one side or the other before it reaches the bottom. That led gamers to start getting creative with how they used their controllers.

According to Polygon, Blue’s strategy “was a culmination of the technique that younger players have been developing in recent years. These newer strategies, like ‘hypertapping’ and later ‘rolling,’ emerged in 2016 and 2020 respectively, allowing players to operate the NES controller even faster than the buttons by tapping the underside of the controller.” I’ve seen players doing that in videos and wondered what was happening! That explains it. Me? I’m lucky to hit the right button at all, let alone at lightning speed.

[via BoingBoing and Polygon]

Tetris-inspired bookshelf comes with individual modules that you can creatively assemble!

What next, a Fruit Ninja chopping board?!

Meet the Tetris Bookcase, a piece of furniture that really needs no further elaboration! Designed to combine furniture and fun (or what I like calling fun-iture), the Tetris Bookcase comes with multiple brick-inspired modules that stack into a larger empty cabinet. Inspired by the iconic brick-stacking game, the bookcase’s individual modules fit snugly into a larger cabinet based on any orientation you want, or can even be used as independent shelves placed anywhere in your interior space. Who knew decorating your space could literally be a game?!

Designer: Fujun Wang

The Tetris Bookcase has an unusual approach to DIY that seems less instructional and more fun. You literally build the shelf out as if you’re playing a massive game of tetris, and if you mess up? Well, that’s just an excuse to play some more!

The bookcase is made of aluminum alloy, offering strength while being lightweight. Each individual module is powder-coated to give it its vibrant color, while making it resistant to damage and corrosion.

The Tetris Bookcase is a winner of the A’ Design Award for the year 2022.

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This tiny device lets you play a classic game of Tetris anywhere, anytime

Games don’t have to be complicated to be fun or even addictive. They don’t even have to be colorful, let alone have high-resolution graphics. Some of the best games that have survived the test of time are simple yet challenging, even if they can be repetitive. Not all of these games can be lucrative, though, especially those that have trademarked names. That doesn’t stop people from taking the same ideas and same formulas and transforming them into something unique, incredible, or incredibly insane in a good way. Take, for example, this asterisk-shaped device that lets you play that classic puzzle game of falling blocks in what feels like an homage to the early days of handheld games and toys.

Designer: Ampersand

Once upon a time, video games would come in their own piece of hardware, whether it was an arcade cabinet or a “Game & Watch” handheld. Sure, it wasn’t the most efficient way to distribute games, but the technologies of that period prevented more than a few games from being inside the device. At the same time, these individual video game devices each had their own distinct personality and design compared to the generic handhelds and consoles of today. They were, in a sense, also collectible items you could boast to your friends.

There’s a bit of a renaissance of such devices, like the revival of Tamagotchis or teeny consoles smaller than your palm. This nostalgia trip doesn’t come from established brands and companies either. Some makers and modders have come up with their own ways to bring back some of the simple joys of being able to play a single game on a single device without having to worry about distractions or complicated controls.

Asterisk, which accurately describes its basic shape, is a tiny handheld (or perhaps “fingerheld”) gizmo that plays one game and one game only. Falling blocks, a.k.a. Tetris, has always been a classic and one of those games that don’t even need color to be playable. In fact, it doesn’t even need much hardware, as demonstrated by this device. A tall 0.91-inch monochrome screen is the centerpiece, flanked by clearly labeled soft-click buttons on each side. All you need is to clip a standard CR2032 battery on the back, and you’re ready to spend minutes or even hours trying to beat high scores, whether your own or others.

There’s something almost appealing to the Asterisk’s crude form as if there was an element of urgency to its design. Given how the game speeds up as you progress, that association is almost perfect. Best of all, however, the device is simple, with no hidden tricks or secret features. You don’t have to worry about complicated functionality getting away (you just have to make sure you finish a round to save a game before you turn it off). Its portable size, convenience, and simplicity convey a playful and almost mischievous character, perhaps recalling those days when kids would try their best to sneak their small video games to play even when they’re not supposed to.

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Tetris Pieces Waffle Maker: Start Playing with Your Food

Because playing with your food is an important part of a well-balanced breakfast, Firebox is selling this officially licensed Tetris Waffle Maker ($41), which produces seven different Tetrimino-shaped waffles in just minutes. Granted, it will probably never produce one of the long stick pieces when you really need it the most.

It’s fun to think about eating these waffles and then them forming different shapes in your stomach just like in the game, trying to minimize the amount of space they take up in your belly. Wait, did I say that was fun to think about? I meant to say that’s weird to think about.

Now, let’s have a Tetris waffle eating contest! I figure I’m good for at least 100 lines. Just a heads up though, I’ve never lost an eating contest, even if it meant hospitalization afterward. They’re one of the very few things I take seriously in life, along with sleeping in and extreme couponing.

Researchers created a Game Boy that doesn’t need batteries

The original Game Boy was no slouch when it came to battery life. With four simple AA batteries, you could play games like Tetris and Super Mario Land for about 10 to 15 hours. That was something that made the Game Boy so much more appealing than its...

Tetris is now a daily game show with cash prizes

If you’ve ever dreamed of playing Tetris for cold, hard cash, you finally have an opportunity. Today, N3TWORK announced that it’s adding a live, game show feature to its Tetris mobile app. Players can now participate in Tetris Primetime, a nightly co...

This LED Game Table Can Play Tetris

Looking for a unique piece of furniture for your living room or game room? Well, skip the IKEA and go for something a bit more geeky, I say. This cool coffee table has LEDs built into its top which can display a colorful light show, or even play simple video games.

Etsy seller RetroGamesTable makes these neat pieces of electronic furniture over which pack a 12 x 12 grid of LED squares beneath their surface, each of which can be assigned a different color. Its Arduino controller allows it to display various patterns, as well as to play Tetris and Snake using a classic NES-style gamepad.

The light-up tables come in a single player square version that measures about 21.6″w x 21.6″l x 17.7″h, as well as a two-player rectangular model that’s 35.4″w x 21.6″l x 17.7″h, and has twice as many LEDs. The smaller one sells for $370, while the bigger one is $650. Keep in mind that these ship from Ukraine, so it might take a little while for them to get to you, but from the reviews I read over on Etsy, it should be worth the wait.

Researchers control a game of Tetris using a breathable wearable sleeve

Researchers from North Carolina State University created an ultrathin, stretchable electronic material that is gas permeable, or breathable. They believe that it could be used for biomedical and wearable technologies, and to put it to the test, they...