Tetris is a puzzler that has been around for some 25 odd years, has sold more than 125 million copies and is available on over 30 platforms. You would think that the minds behind the game and its many variations would be happy cashing in the success of the game. But, as gaming blog Kotaku reports, the creators are not content with Tetris just being called a game and are pushing to turn it into a virtual sport.
Alexey Pajitnov came up with the brilliant idea for the game in 1985, and with Henk Rogers in 1991, established the Tetris Company to further the developments of the game. Now Rogers speaks on how the game has evolved over the years and why it should be raised to sport status. He explains that Tetris makes up ten percent of all games sold on mobile phones and that the game leaped more last year, than it has done in any one year in its entire history.
Rogers says, “We are going to turn Tetris into the first real virtual sport. Sports like baseball and football were created at a time when our future was a lifetime of physical activities and physical fitness. But now that’s not as important, it’s more about mental fitness today. Tetris is a virtual sport that exercises the mind. That is the definition of a virtual sport.”
Pajitnov has contributed to other games as well, such as Hexic HD and Pandora’s Box. He has even tried his hand at a first person shooter called Ice and Fire which according to Pajitnov himself, was a complete failure.