Tetris (Spectrum HoloByte)

Last updated
Tetris
Tetris-ms-dos-spectrum-holobyte-cover.jpg
Publisher(s) Spectrum HoloByte
Mirrorsoft
Programmer(s)
  • IBM CGA
  • Eng An Jio
  • Tandy
  • Billy Sutyono
  • IBM EGA
  • Aryanto Widodo [1]
Artist(s) Dan Guerra [2]
SeriesTetris
Platform(s)
MS-DOS
ReleaseMS-DOS
  • UK: January 27, 1988
  • US: January 29, 1988
Apple II
  • July 1988
[4]

Tetris is a 1988 video game published by Spectrum HoloByte in the United States and Mirrorsoft in the United Kingdom. It was the first commercial release of Tetris , a puzzle game developed in the Soviet Union in the mid-1980s, and was released on multiple home personal computer systems. Tetris received positive reviews overall, winning multiple Excellence in Software Awards, and would eventually sell over one million copies.

Contents

Development

Alexey Pajitnov (pictured in 2024) was the creator of Tetris. Alexey Pajitnov GDC 2024 (cropped).jpg
Alexey Pajitnov (pictured in 2024) was the creator of Tetris.

Tetris was created by Alexey Pajitnov in the Soviet Union. Pajitnov wanted to export Tetris, but had no knowledge of the business world. His superiors in the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union were not necessarily happy with the success of the game, since they had not intended such a creation from the research team. [3] : 87  Furthermore, copyright law of the Soviet Union created a state monopoly on import and export of copyrighted works, and the Soviet researchers were not allowed to sell their creations. [5] : 301  [6] : 10 min  Pajitnov asked his supervisor Victor Brjabrin, who had knowledge of the world outside the Soviet Union, to help him publish Tetris. Pajitnov offered to transfer the rights of the game to the Academy, and was delighted to receive a non-compulsory remuneration from Brjabrin through this deal. [3] : 88 

In 1986, Brjabrin sent a copy of Tetris to the Hungarian game publisher Novotrade. [3] : 88  From there, copies of the game began circulating via floppy disks throughout Hungary and as far as Poland. [3] : 89  Robert Stein, an international software salesman for the London-based firm Andromeda Software, saw the game's commercial potential during a visit to Hungary in June 1986. [5] : 302  [6] : 11 min  After an indifferent response from the Academy, [6] : 12 min  Stein contacted Pajitnov and Brjabrin by fax to obtain the license rights. [6] : 11 min  The researchers expressed interest in forming an agreement with Stein via fax, but they were unaware that this fax communication could be considered a legal contract in the Western world; [7] Stein began to approach other companies to produce the game. [3] : 89–90 

Gameplay screenshot from the MS-DOS version of Tetris. Tetris-SpectrumHolobyte-MS-DOS-gameplay.jpg
Gameplay screenshot from the MS-DOS version of Tetris.

Stein approached publishers at the 1987 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Gary Carlston, co-founder of Broderbund, retrieved a copy and brought it to California. Despite enthusiasm amongst its employees, Broderbund remained skeptical because of the game's Soviet origins. Likewise, Mastertronic co-founder Martin Alper declared that "no Soviet product will ever work in the Western world". [3] : 90  Carlston regretted turning down what he described as "the worldwide rights to Tetris for $50,000 ... People have tried to make me feel better about my decision by telling me about everything Henk Rogers went through to get the rights, but yeah, I should have accepted the game". [8]

Stein ultimately signed two agreements: he sold the European rights to the publisher Mirrorsoft [3] : 90  [9] : 479  and the American rights to its sister company Spectrum HoloByte. [9] : 294, 479  The latter obtained the rights after a visit to Mirrorsoft by Spectrum HoloByte president Phil Adam in which he played Tetris for two hours. [3] : 90  [6] : 15 min  At that time, Stein had not yet signed a contract with the Soviet Union. [9] : 479  Nevertheless, he sold the rights to the two companies for £3,000 plus a royalty of 7.5 to 15% on sales. [5] : 304 

Release

Before releasing Tetris in the United States, Spectrum HoloByte's CEO Gilman Louie asked for an overhaul of the game's graphics and music. [3] : 90  The Soviet spirit was preserved, with fields illustrating Russian parks and buildings as well as melodies anchored in Russian folklore of the time. The company's goal was to make people want to buy a Russian product. The game came complete with a red package and Cyrillic text, an unusual approach on the other side of the Berlin Wall. [6] : 16 min 

The game was first released for IBM PC DOS, with other platforms following over the next year. [9] : 294  [3] : 91  The versions for the Macintosh, Macintosh II, Apple IIGS, Amiga, and Atari ST included a six-player tournament mode, an advanced mode, and music. [10]

Spectrum HoloByte's version of Tetris was released for MS-DOS in Britain on January 27, 1988, and in the United States on January 29. [11] [12] [13]

Mirrorsoft and Spectrum HoloByte would release versions of Tetris to home computers within a few months of the release of the MS-DOS version, such as the Commodore 64, Apple IIGS, Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, MSX and the ZX Spectrum. [14] [10]

Reception

Tetris was a commercial success in Europe and the United States: Mirrorsoft sold tens of thousands of copies in two months, [3] : 91  and Spectrum HoloByte sold over 100,000 units in the space of a year. [6] : 18 min  Within two years, the game sold 150,000 copies for $6 million ($15 million adjusted for inflation). [23] By 1995, the versions sold more than 1 million copies, with women accounting for nearly half of Tetris players, in contrast to most other PC games. [24] According to Spectrum HoloByte, the average Tetris player was between 25 and 45 years old and was a manager or engineer. At the Software Publishers Association's Excellence in Software Awards ceremony in March 1988, Tetris won Best Entertainment Software, Best Original Game, Best Strategy Program, and Best Consumer Software. [3] : 91 

The IBM version received positive reviews. Compute! called it "one of the most addictive computer games this side of the Berlin Wall ... [it] is not the game to start if you have work to do or an appointment to keep. Consider yourself warned". [25] Orson Scott Card joked that the game "proves that Russia still wants to bury us. I shudder to think of the blow to our economy as computer productivity drops to 0". Noting that Tetris was not copy-protected, he wrote: "Obviously, the game is meant to find its way onto every American machine". [26] Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column of Dragon No. 135 gave the version 4.5 out of 5 stars. [27] Roy Wagner reviewed the game for Computer Gaming World the same year, and said that "Tetris is simple in concept, simple to play, and a unique design". [28]

The Macintosh version also received positive reviews. Macworld praised its strategic gameplay, stating that "Tetris offers the rare combination of being simple to learn but extremely challenging to play", and also praising the inclusion of the Desk Accessory version, which uses less RAM. Macworld summarized their review by listing Tetris' pros and cons, stating that Tetris is "elegant; easy to play; challenging and addicting; requires quick thinking, long-term strategy, and lightning reflexes" and listed Tetris' cons as "None". [29] The Lessers gave the version 5 out of 5 stars in Dragon No. 141. [30]

In their June 1989 issue, Zzap!64 awarded the Commodore 64 version a score of 98%, the joint highest score in the history of the magazine. [21]

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References

  1. ↑ Spectrum HoloByte (January 27, 1988). Tetris (MS-DOS Version) (IBM PC). Version: IBM CGA, Programmer: Eng An Jio, Version: Tandy, Programmer: Billy Sutyono,Version: IBM EGA, Programmer: Aryanto Widodo
  2. ↑ Spectrum HoloByte (January 27, 1988). Tetris (MS-DOS Version) (IBM PC). Graphics: Dan Guerra
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Ichbiah, Daniel (1997). La Saga des Jeux Vidéo (in French) (1st ed.). Pix'N Love Editions. ISBN   2266087630.
  4. ↑ Digital Eclipse (November 12, 2024). Tetris Forever (Windows). Digital Eclipse. Tetris Apple II. July 1988
  5. 1 2 3 Sheff, David; Eddy, Andy (1999). Game Over: Press Start to Continue (1st ed.). Cyberactive Media Group. ISBN   0966961706.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Temple, Magnus (2004). Tetris: From Russia with Love (Documentary).
  7. ↑ Temple 2004, 12 min..
  8. ↑ "A chat with Gary Carlston of Brøderbund". Spillhistorie.no. 2024-06-19. Archived from the original on September 3, 2024. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Kent, Steven L. (2001). The ultimate history of video games: from Pong to Pokémon and beyond the story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world . New York: Three Rivers Press. pp. 377–381. ISBN   978-0-7615-3643-7. OCLC   47254175.
  10. 1 2 Tetris [IBM 256K version] (Back cover). Spectrum HoloByte. 1988.
  11. ↑ Digital Eclipse (November 12, 2024). Tetris Forever (Windows). Digital Eclipse. Tetris (MS-DOS) The first commercial release of Tetris was the MS-DOS version of the game programmed by Spectrum HoloByte. Its U.K. sister company Mirrorsoft publihed it in Britain on January 27, 1988 and Spectrum HoloByte published it in the US on January 29.
  12. ↑ "Soviets Play Capitalist Game With New Computer Puzzle" . The Los Angeles Times . January 28, 1988. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
  13. ↑ Lewis, Peter H. (January 29, 1988). "New Software Game: It Comes From Soviet" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on October 23, 2021. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
  14. ↑ Digital Eclipse (November 12, 2024). Tetris Forever (Windows). Digital Eclipse. Going Multi-Platform Over the next months, Spectrum HoloByte and Mirrorsoft would release versions of Tetris for many different computer platforms, including Commodore 64, Apple II, Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, MSX, ZX Spectrum and later the Macintosh and Atari ST.
  15. ↑ Sutyak, Jonathan. "Tetris". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
  16. ↑ Savignano, Lisa Karen. "Tetris". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Reviews: Tetris". Crash . No. 50. March 1988. p. 10. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved November 22, 2012.
  18. ↑ "Tetris Mastertronic". Computer and Video Games . No. 92. June 1989. p. 74. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved November 22, 2012.
  19. ↑ "TETЯIS: Arcade Review". Sinclair User . February 1988. p. 13. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved November 22, 2012.
  20. ↑ Worrall, Tony. "Tetris". The Your Sinclair Rock'n'Roll Years. Archived from the original on April 27, 2012. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  21. 1 2 "Gold Standard". The Def Gui to Zzap!64. Archived from the original on December 4, 2012. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  22. ↑ "Tetris: Can MIRRORSOFT pack them in?". ACE. February 1988. p. 49. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved November 22, 2012.
  23. ↑ Dvorchak, Robert (17 June 1990). "Soviet Game Conquers the Free Market : Technology: Tetris, an electronic Rubik's Cube, proves to be addictive. Sales are sizzling. Sequel is coming from East Bloc". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on 2020-01-10. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  24. ↑ McGowan, Chris; McCullaugh, Jim (1995). Entertainment in the Cyber Zone. Random House Electronic Pub. p. 81. ISBN   978-0-679-75804-4. Spectrum HoloByte claims that nearly half of Tetris players are women, a striking contrast to the profiles of most other computer games. Since 1988, the company claims to have sold more than a million copies of Tetris-family PC products.
  25. ↑ Weatherman, Lynne (July 1988). "Tetris". Compute!. p. 72. Archived from the original on March 16, 2014. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
  26. ↑ Card, Orson Scott (April 1989). "Gameplay". Compute!. p. 11. Archived from the original on March 16, 2014. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
  27. ↑ Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (July 1988). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (135): 82–89.
  28. ↑ Wagner, Roy (May 1988). "Puzzling Encounters: Two Titles from Spectrum HoloByte's International Series". Computer Gaming World. Vol. 1, no. 47. pp. 42–43.
  29. ↑ Buderi, Robert (December 1988). "Tetris 1.0 Review". Macworld. Mac Publishing. p. 178.
  30. ↑ Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (January 1989). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (141): 72–78.
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