io9
At a young age, my brain was hijacked by the game of Tetris. Now it helps me navigate through life. When I was in the sixth grade, my friend Chiyo and I used to play this addictive puzzle game—developed in 1985 by a Russian engineer—for hours on end with a single 100 yen coin at an arcade in Tokyo. We probably should have been doing homework or at least pretending to, but instead, there we were, every day after school, sitting side by side executing crazy maneuvers with our joysticks. The mantras that I repeated in my head while playing the game at max speed as a pre-teen are totally in sync with some basic tenets of Asian philosophy.
In retrospect, if I hadn't been such a Tetris freak as a kid, I would probably be a completely different person today. Here's how a simple video game taught me things that neither my parents, teachers, nor any religion could have ever ingrained in my stubborn-ass pre-pubescent head. I'll go through the lessons step by step.
Take calculated risks.
In the beginning, when you still have a lot of physical and emotional space to work with, you have to go for the Tetris score, even if it means cranking out the first few minutes with no instant gratification. Patience, confidence in the future, and comfortableness with the unknown are a must. Don't worry—the long orange stick will come.
Keep things simple.
Don't try to get fancy and open up the board to two Tetris opps or create pockets for hard-to-place blocks unnecessarily.
Whatever you do, do it with dignity.
Dignity could mean several things. It could mean not leaving holes in work that has potential to be flawless. It could also signify the need to stay even-tempered despite the chaos taking place on-screen.
The nail that sticks out should be hammered down.
Try not to create bumps in the surface of your palate unless you're anticipating a green or blue block that requires a hook to rest on. Smoother surfaces are easier to deal with, and you don't want to be the one that's causing the entire board trouble.
Get perspective.
Your blocks are stacking up and your anxiety is snowballing. Don't let it kill you—take what comes and spread it out so that it doesn't hurt too much in one place.
When faced with adversity, practice humility.
So you screwed up, and your board is totally out of sync. This is where you practice moderation. You can't expect to recover by executing some flashy move that's going to blow out the holes and miraculously smooth things out. You'll probably die trying. Take things one line at a time, and repeat to yourself: This, too, shall pass. Before you know it, you'll be back in the groove.
Comments
Heh.
Should add, don't get greedy and start going for the big kill especially on head to head play.
In the negative, Tetris made a worse student because I ended up playing it for hours on end instead of studying...
I had Tetrisitis for a while, but Dr. Mario had the cure.
I play Tetris all the time. I believe it is a good game for kids to learn problem solving and such. I find Tetris relaxing to play. It's always in my DS.
i'm on board with so much of that. tetris taught me patience and holding out for the ultimate goal. it taught me the value of building a good base for the future. tetris was also a good way to clear my mind.. whenever i had a problem to think through, i turned to tetris (or other games of its ilk). i sometimes even create holes/problems for myself so i can gain the satisfaction of overcoming them later. and the best feeling? fixing everything and having a clean board at level 10 :D
Super Bust-a-move II taught me the meaning of life.
Great article and funny topics. Good times.
Patience, Simplicity, Dignity, Humility
Wisdom of the Ages, Thy name is Tetris.
Thats my woman. Very proud boyfriend here.
@Brian Lam: Gawker sure is an incestuous bunch. Do you, Miss Katayama, Jesus, Addy, and all the rest live in some hippy compound together? If so, can I move in?
Tetris is definitely on of the best games of all time. Does anyone remember a 3d version I think called frac3d? Well made game, but insanely hard.
Also, for those who haven't tried it, Hexic has all the great qualities of tetris, but adds a taoish element of interconnectivity and has a much more natural flow.
Tetris has made me an extraordinary packer of trailers and such. I am called upon to help friends move. Moving this, music gear furniture, in trailers making it fit just right is one of my guilty pleasure in life.
@Gann: I remember Tetrisphere for the N64. I thought that game was a lot of fun.
@Gann: I remember playing 3d Tetris on my brothers vitrual boy. After an extended period of time the outside world would have an unnatural reddish hue to it and my eyes would be overly sensitive to real light. I can't Im not blind now from wario, tennis and tetris on that thing.
Tetris is my favorite video game. It's so zen.
Falling blocks delight
Square, Ls, zig-zag, elongate:
Can you fill the gap?
I was a columns fan, but mostly because it filled in the empty spots that tetris had. I was way better at it than tetris, but then again, I consider beating Duck Tales on NES a major gaming accomplishment in my life. I could always kick my ex's ass at Sonic's Mean Bean, though.
all hail the mighty god of electronic devices!-blurey
Action games taught me you should pick the right path, and stay on that path, cause you should use the basic pistols rather than use a rocket launcher, you'll run out of rockets when you need them most. The basic pistol has unlimited ammo, so you'll get good at something you can use forever and that is why I don't wank off.
@zenpoet: We met way before my time at Gawker, not that that's anyone's business!
@Brian Lam: So its not incestous, its nepotism!
Actually I don't know what that would be considered. Anyway, Lisa wrote a great article, and I still wish I could live in the Gawker hippy compound. I can tie-die my own shirts, and can grow a decent beard if need be.
@zenpoet: It's not a hippie compound -- it's a hardened cyber compound and Lisa is its robot guardian with gigantic guns instead of eyes. So beware!
I have always believed that games like Tetris enhance and excercise analytical problem solving abilities. As the game moves on and gets faster, the value of this increased, having to make these analytical decisions faster. Excellent tool it is.
@Annalee Newitz: I call B.S., as it would be very difficult to play tetris with guns for eyes!
@zenpoet:
HA! With guns for eyes, Lisa could blast new spaces for those damn L-shaped chunks.....oh wait, that might not work.....
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