An Oklahoma teenager has finally conquered the unbeatable game: Tetris

CNN
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It looks like a 13-year-old from Oklahoma finally did what was necessary Impossible: He beat Tetris.

Willis Gibson is believed to be the first human player to reach level 157 of the classic video game, nearly 40 years after its release.

“I’m passing out, I can’t feel my fingers,” Gibson said after his performance derailed the match. video It was posted on YouTube on Tuesday.

“When I started playing this game, I never expected it to crash or fail the game,” Gibson wrote in the video’s description.

Gibson’s 38-minute viral gameplay video, released under his moniker “Blue Scooty,” is the latest peak of nostalgia for this addictive and enduring game. Created by a Soviet engineer It was released on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1984.

To date, more than 200 official versions of Tetris have been released on at least 70 systems World record According to Guinness Book of Records. Developed in 2006 by Electronic Arts, the mobile version sold over 100 million copies, making it the third best-selling video game of all time. Hewlett-Packard Report Last year.

The creator himself said that after developing the game he was immediately addicted.

“I couldn’t stop myself from playing this first version because it was so addictive putting the shapes together,” Alexey Pajitnov told CNN in 2019.

After its invention, Tetris quickly gained popularity and such staying power that it remains so powerful that the story of its Cold War-era origins has become a true story. film for Apple TV+ in March.

“It was connected to us in an almost primitive state,” says Victor Lucas, the gaming expert behind the TV series Electric Playground. “Really, it goes beyond video games like checkers or chess. It’s one of those powerful gaming experiences that every person can understand immediately and use forever.”

The game is simple: manage falling blocks of different sizes and fit them together to form solid rows. Blocks fall faster as the level increases.

While other video games today feature storylines, hundreds of characters, cinematic visuals and even… Travis Scott Live ConcertSome experts say that it is the simplicity of Tetris that has made it popular for decades.

Tetris remains the same though Over the decades, the way it is played has evolved. Until 2011, players believed that level 29 was the highest possible level because this level had the highest speed in the game.

“It’s so beautifully designed and appeals to so many generations of gamers that people are literally discovering new achievements to achieve, points to overcome and challenges to overcome,” video game expert and consultant Scott Steinberg told CNN. “It constantly brings new challenges that even professors find difficult to overcome.”

Tetris’ staying power comes from both the simplicity and difficulty of the game.

Once the 29 level barrier is broken, players use techniques like “hyper-tapping” and “rolling” to level up higher and higher in tournaments like the Classic Tetris World Championship.

Gibson finished third at the 2023 World Cup. While Gibson was a record-breaking human player, the AI-played Tetris game reached level 236 in 2021 by changing the parameters of the game.

“Even in an age when few video games cost as much to make and look as good as many Hollywood blockbusters, there’s something to be said for a game that’s simple, elegant, incredibly accessible and entertaining for gamers of all ages,” Scott Steinberg told CNN: ” background.” “Sometimes simple is better, and the best games stand the test of time.”