Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters
August 25, 2011 1:25 PM Subscribe
From the days of Thor Aackerlund and his historic victory at the 1990 Nintendo World Championships, right up to the present and Harry Hong's perfect "Max-Out" score this documentary expertly chronicles over two decades of Tetris Mastery. The film is Ecstasy of Order by director, and holder of 18th highest score on the game, Adam Cornelius. Folks in Texas can see its World Premiere screening at the Austin Film Festival in October.
They're all kids! They didn't have adult gamers back then.
posted by joelf at 1:43 PM on August 25, 2011
posted by joelf at 1:43 PM on August 25, 2011
It IS funny how it was all kids. And it's still kids but more like "kids"
posted by ReeMonster at 1:52 PM on August 25, 2011
posted by ReeMonster at 1:52 PM on August 25, 2011
This is relevant to my interests!
posted by d1rge at 2:17 PM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by d1rge at 2:17 PM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]
Huh. That 18th highest score claim is kinda shaky; it's just the 18th highest score submitted to TwinGalaxies. I've exceeded that score a few times, and I know I'm not one of the top 18 players in the world.
posted by Ickster at 2:23 PM on August 25, 2011
posted by Ickster at 2:23 PM on August 25, 2011
Geez. Looking at the official list on the Twin Galaxies site, the bottom of the list (45) is a score of 30K. I do not think being on the list means what he thinks it means.
posted by Ickster at 2:28 PM on August 25, 2011
posted by Ickster at 2:28 PM on August 25, 2011
(Am I jealous that I haven't submitted a score to be an officially recognized Tetris record holder? Yes.)
posted by Ickster at 2:29 PM on August 25, 2011
posted by Ickster at 2:29 PM on August 25, 2011
Ah yes, that "Max-Out" video reminds me so well how Tetris is a game to panic during.
Ickster: Why not contact Twin Galaxies and register in your score? Back in my days of trying to get the Crazt Taxi record a gameplay video was enough, although I suspect Tetris is an easier game to manipulate illegally so they might want further documentation.
posted by JHarris at 2:30 PM on August 25, 2011
Ickster: Why not contact Twin Galaxies and register in your score? Back in my days of trying to get the Crazt Taxi record a gameplay video was enough, although I suspect Tetris is an easier game to manipulate illegally so they might want further documentation.
posted by JHarris at 2:30 PM on August 25, 2011
"If anybody's interested we may be about to have a Tetris kill screen coming up in a minute."
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 2:43 PM on August 25, 2011 [5 favorites]
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 2:43 PM on August 25, 2011 [5 favorites]
Are there standard strategies for single-player Tetris? Are they complex?
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:48 PM on August 25, 2011
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:48 PM on August 25, 2011
King of Kong set a very high bar for the retro-obsessive documentary, it would be fantastic if this lives up to it. See also the fantastic A Life Well Wasted podcast interview with the man who bought the rights to tetris.
posted by Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory at 3:04 PM on August 25, 2011
posted by Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory at 3:04 PM on August 25, 2011
JHarris: That occurred to me, but I don't have any record of the games I played years ago on the NES. I still play on an emulator, but I doubt that would make the grade because it's very easy to cheat there. I'd have to go out and find a working NES and a Tetris cart, and I don't care that much.
Almost, though.
posted by Ickster at 8:39 PM on August 25, 2011
Almost, though.
posted by Ickster at 8:39 PM on August 25, 2011
I believe Twin Galaxies keeps separate emulator records, although because of the ease of cheating I imagine the required effort to adjudicate scores has to be much higher.
'94, there are indeed, although I am not well read up on the strategy lore of the game I have my own strategies, and others must have their own. The "Max-Out" score video above uses some good ones related to keeping the stack down. Note that several times he performs unusual line clears, like clearing lines in the middle of the stack instead of at the lowest point a block lands. That's a potent technique for getting out of trouble.
Basic Tetris strategy, I think, involves keeping a handle on the shape of the top of the stack. You don't want any part of the stack to stick up more than two blocks above the rest of the stack if you can help it, but neither do you want a perfectly flat surface. One or two blocks of "roughness" are best, with a two-block-wide basin for dropping squares into.
The problem there is that every time you drop a block in such a way that it uses up one of the places you have prepared for block eventualities, it changes the shape of the stack, and I don't think it's possible to place all arbitrary sequences of blocks in such a way that they always stack without leaving gaps. If you have a two-block-wide basin for squares, for example, that's fine, but what if you get two squares in a row? You could quickly end up with a pillar of squares towering above the rest of the stack. I've had similar problems with Zs and Ses.
So, a really good strategy would take that into account, and try to stack the blocks in such a way that options remain open as long as possible.
Source: my own Tetris experience, although probably a lot more can be learned over at the tetrisconcept wiki.
posted by JHarris at 9:31 PM on August 25, 2011
'94, there are indeed, although I am not well read up on the strategy lore of the game I have my own strategies, and others must have their own. The "Max-Out" score video above uses some good ones related to keeping the stack down. Note that several times he performs unusual line clears, like clearing lines in the middle of the stack instead of at the lowest point a block lands. That's a potent technique for getting out of trouble.
Basic Tetris strategy, I think, involves keeping a handle on the shape of the top of the stack. You don't want any part of the stack to stick up more than two blocks above the rest of the stack if you can help it, but neither do you want a perfectly flat surface. One or two blocks of "roughness" are best, with a two-block-wide basin for dropping squares into.
The problem there is that every time you drop a block in such a way that it uses up one of the places you have prepared for block eventualities, it changes the shape of the stack, and I don't think it's possible to place all arbitrary sequences of blocks in such a way that they always stack without leaving gaps. If you have a two-block-wide basin for squares, for example, that's fine, but what if you get two squares in a row? You could quickly end up with a pillar of squares towering above the rest of the stack. I've had similar problems with Zs and Ses.
So, a really good strategy would take that into account, and try to stack the blocks in such a way that options remain open as long as possible.
Source: my own Tetris experience, although probably a lot more can be learned over at the tetrisconcept wiki.
posted by JHarris at 9:31 PM on August 25, 2011
They do have emulator records for some things, but NES is original hardware only.
posted by Ickster at 12:11 AM on August 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Ickster at 12:11 AM on August 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'm sure there are more formal tetris strategies than mine, but I prefer a flexible approach. Basically, you have to play enough to be able to know instantly how the gaps in your stack can accommodate the upcoming pieces, and you have to always be playing a block ahead. This requires understanding exactly how many times you have to rotate the current piece (and in which direction!) to fit in the available space and then hitting the space with half an eye on the upcoming piece.
It's generally a good idea to be creating stacks with a single square-wide gap so you can drop a straight piece in for a tetris, but you have to be willing/able to block that gap temporarily if you get in trouble. This means blocking it before your stack gets so tall you can't rotate/position the current piece before it sticks where you don't want it.
Basically: play enough so that you start to feel decisions rather than having to think about them.
posted by that's candlepin at 12:15 PM on August 26, 2011
It's generally a good idea to be creating stacks with a single square-wide gap so you can drop a straight piece in for a tetris, but you have to be willing/able to block that gap temporarily if you get in trouble. This means blocking it before your stack gets so tall you can't rotate/position the current piece before it sticks where you don't want it.
Basically: play enough so that you start to feel decisions rather than having to think about them.
posted by that's candlepin at 12:15 PM on August 26, 2011
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posted by griphus at 1:38 PM on August 25, 2011