In a groundbreaking achievement, 13-year-old American Willis Gibson, known in the gaming sphere as Blue Scuti, achieved an unprecedented feat by becoming the first person ever to conquer Tetris, pushing the classic Nintendo game into uncharted territory known as a “kill screen.”
During a gripping gameplay session captured in a YouTube video on Jan. 2, Gibson uttered the words “Please crash” while deftly arranging the falling puzzle pieces. Moments later, his wish was granted as the game froze, which prompted him to scream “Oh my God!”
Gibson shattered multiple world records, setting new benchmarks for the overall score, the highest level achieved, and total number of lines, as reported by 404 Media.
Vince Clemente, CEO of the Classic Tetris World Championship, expressed disbelief, stating, “This is unbelievable.” He highlighted that developers never anticipated a human reaching such a pinnacle in the game, marking an official victory over Tetris by a human being. Before this, only an artificial intelligence computer program had managed to accomplish this, Clemente revealed.
Gibson utilized an advanced “rolling” controller technique, a method popularized in 2021. This technique allowed him to manipulate the directional pad (D-pad) at a staggering rate of at least 20 times per second to maneuver the blocks, surpassing the previously popular “hyper tapping” method, as detailed by 404 Media.
Tetris, initially released in 1984, swiftly captivated global audiences with its challenge to rotate and merge seven different falling block shapes. Conceived by Alexey Pajitnov during the Cold War era at the Moscow Academy of Science and fostered into commercial success by gaming entrepreneur Henk Rogers, Tetris has exhibited remarkable resilience, captivating multiple generations.
Its enduring popularity is evident from the astounding sales figures, with The Tetris Company reporting a staggering 520 million copies sold, solidifying Tetris’ position as the best-selling video game of all time.
