Tetris (NES video game)
Tetris is a puzzle video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System released in 1989. It was the first official console release of Tetris which was developed and published by Nintendo.
| Tetris | |
|---|---|
 North American box art | |
| Developer(s) | Nintendo R&D1 |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Producer(s) | Gunpei Yokoi |
| Composer(s) | Hirokazu Tanaka |
| Series | Tetris |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo Entertainment System |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Development
By 1989, half a dozen different companies claimed rights to create and distribute the Tetris software for home computers, game consoles and handheld systems.[1] Elorg, meanwhile, held that none of the companies was legally entitled to produce an arcade version, and signed those rights over to Atari Games, while it signed non-Japanese console and handheld rights over to Nintendo. Tetris was on show at the January 1988 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where it was picked up by Dutch-born American games publisher Henk Rogers, then based in Japan, which eventually led to an agreement brokered with Nintendo that saw Tetris bundled with every Game Boy.[2] The Nintendo home release was developed by Gunpei Yokoi.
Classic Tetris World Championship
The NES version of Tetris has seen an increase in popularity in recent years due to the Classic Tetris World Championship held every year. The competition uses the NES version of Tetris where players complete in an 1-on-1 competition to score the most points and win. The popularity of the tournament has resulted in an increase in sales of this version of Tetris on online sellers.
Music
The NES version has different music from the popular Game Boy version. For example, the default track is The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker Ballet instead of Korobeiniki.
Reception
The NES version sold 8 million copies worldwide.[3]
References
- "From Russia with Litigation". Next Generation. No. 26. Imagine Media. February 1997. p. 42.
- The Guardian, June 2, 2009, How Tetris conquered the world, block by block
- Director/Producer: Magnus Temple; Executive Producer: Nick Southgate (2004). "Tetris: From Russia With Love". BBC Four. Event occurs at 51:23. BBC. BBC Four.
The real winners were Nintendo. To date, Nintendo dealers across the world have sold 8 million Tetris cartridges on the Nintendo Entertainment system.