Tetris HD & An Economy of Scale
Screenshot of the "Original" 1986 IBM PC Version of Tetris
I have to admit, I didn’t really think the concept of Tetris had much milelage left in it. At the very least, I didn’t expect to be shown a new Tetris game and that my first reaction would be, “Wow, I wish I thought of that.”
Well, that was before I clicked on a link to Tetris HD.
After clicking the link I suspect you’ll say, “Damn, that’s big.” That’s because it is. The playing area of Pajitnov, Pavlovsky, & Gerasimov’s original Tetris was 10 units wide by 20 units deep. Tetris HD is 304 units wide by 171 units deep. Note: I know that a piece in Tetris is called a tetromino, or a tetrad if you into the new versions, but I have never come across the term for a single unit in Tetris…interesting. Regardless, Tetris HD is 30 times wider and 9 times deeper than the ‘original’ 1985/86 IBM PC game. Insanity.
I have been told, and have sadly verified, that it takes roughly 15 minutes to form a single line. You can intentionally lose a lot quicker though. Someone asked, however, “How long would it take to lose Tetris HD if I clicked ‘Start’ and then did nothing?” The answer as you’ll see below is about 12 days.
Tetris HD @ 46:39:18
Tetris HD @ 119:06:34
Tetris HD @ 193:46:15
Tetris HD @ 238:58:33
Tetris HD @ 287:45:09
posted by Dakota Brown on March 26th, 2009 at 7:06 am Permanent link to this post
3 Responses to “Tetris HD & An Economy of Scale”
Must admit, I saw this on delicious the other day and after two minutes of staring at a vastly white canvas and some tiny little blocks I got a little bored. Just doesn’t have the same addictive qualities of the classic. I wish I would’ve thought to find out how long it would take to lose by doing nothing!
I’ll agree that there is a big difference between a game being interesting from a critical standpoint and a game actually being entertaining to play.
When I first saw Tetris HD it actually reminded me of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force ‘Go Right’ game. Again critically interesting, but an intentional bust entertainment-wise.
http://www.adultswim.com/games/game/index.html?game=goright
Yep, that game was on par with Tetris HD.