The falling-block video game Tetris has met its match in 13-year-old Willis Gibson, who has become the first player to officially 91裸聊视频渂eat91裸聊视频� the original Nintendo version of the game 91裸聊视频� by breaking it.
Technically, Willis 91裸聊视频� aka 91裸聊视频渂lue scuti91裸聊视频� in the gaming world 91裸聊视频� made it to what gamers call a 91裸聊视频渒ill screen,91裸聊视频� a point where the Tetris code glitches, crashing the game. That might not sound like much of a victory to anyone thinking that only high scores count, but it91裸聊视频檚 a highly coveted achievement in the world of video games, where records involve pushing hardware and software to their limits. And beyond.
It91裸聊视频檚 also a very big deal for players of Tetris, which many had long considered unbeatable. That91裸聊视频檚 partly because the game doesn91裸聊视频檛 have a scripted ending; those four-block shapes just keep falling no matter how good you get at stacking them into disappearing rows. Top players continued to find ways to extend their winning streaks by staying in the game to reach higher and higher levels, but in the end, the game beat them all.
Until, that is, Willis managed on Dec. 21 to trigger a kill screen on Level 157, which the gaming world takes as a victory over the game 91裸聊视频� something along the lines of pushing the software past its own limits.
The makers of Tetris agree. 91裸聊视频淐ongratulations to 91裸聊视频榖lue scuti91裸聊视频� for achieving this extraordinary accomplishment, a feat that defies all preconceived limits of this legendary game,91裸聊视频� Tetris CEO Maya Rogers said in a statement. Rogers noted that Tetris will celebrate its 40th anniversary this year and called Willis91裸聊视频� victory a 91裸聊视频渕onumental achievement.91裸聊视频�
It91裸聊视频檚 been a very long road. Early on, 91裸聊视频渢he Tetris scene people didn91裸聊视频檛 even know how to get to these higher levels,91裸聊视频� said David Macdonald, a gaming YouTuber who has chronicled the gaming industry for years. 91裸聊视频淭hey were just stuck in the 20s and 30s because they just didn91裸聊视频檛 know techniques to get any further.91裸聊视频� Level 29 posed an especially tough roadblock because the blocks began falling more quickly than the in-game controller could respond.
Eventually players found ways to make progress, as Macdonald chronicled in his . In 2011, one got to Level 30 using a technique called 91裸聊视频渉ypertapping,91裸聊视频� in which a player could rhythmically vibrate their fingers to move the game controller faster than the game91裸聊视频檚 built-in speed. That technique took players to level 35 by 2018, after which they hit a wall.
The next big thing came in 2020 when a gamer combined a multifinger technique originally used on arcade video games with a finger positioned on the bottom of the controller to push it against another finger on the top. Called 91裸聊视频渞olling,91裸聊视频� this much speedier approach helped one player reach Level 95 in 2022.
Then other obstacles arose. Because the original Tetris developers had never counted on players pushing the game91裸聊视频檚 limits so aggressively, bizarre quirks began to crop up at higher levels. One particularly difficult issue arose with the game91裸聊视频檚 color palette, which traditionally cycled through 10 easily distinguished patterns. Starting at level 138, though, random color combinations began to appear 91裸聊视频� some of which made it much harder to distinguish the blocks from the game91裸聊视频檚 black background.
Two particularly devilish patterns 91裸聊视频� one a dim combination of dark blues and greens later dubbed 91裸聊视频淒usk,91裸聊视频� the other composed of black, gray and white blocks called 91裸聊视频淐harcoal91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频� proved taxing for players. When combined with the strain of increasingly longer games, which could run 40 minutes or more, progress slowed again. It took a Tetris-playing AI program dubbed StackRabbit to break that logjam by helping map out just where players might happen across a glitch resulting in a kill screen, and finally beat the game.
StackRabbit, which managed to make it all the way to Level 237 before crashing the game, ran on a modified version of Tetris, so its achievements aren91裸聊视频檛 strictly comparable to those of human players. And its findings weren91裸聊视频檛 immediately applicable to the human-played game, either. But its runs clearly demonstrated that game-ending glitches could be triggered by very specific events, such as which block pieces were in play or how many lines a player cleared at once.
That let human players take over the task of mapping all possible scenarios that could cause such crashes in the original game. These typically resulted when the game91裸聊视频檚 decade-old code lost its place and began reading its next instructions from the wrong location, generally resulting in garbage input. A massive effort spurred by StackRabbit91裸聊视频檚 experience eventually led to the that detailed which game levels and which specific conditions were most likely to lead to a crash.
That91裸聊视频檚 what compelled Willis to make his run for the record. Yet even he appeared shocked when he crashed the game at Level 157. In his , he appears to hyperventilate before barely gasping 91裸聊视频淥h my God91裸聊视频� several times, clutching his temples and worrying that he might be passing out.
After cupping his hands over his mouth in an apparent attempt to regulate his breathing, he finally exclaims, 91裸聊视频淚 can91裸聊视频檛 feel my fingers.91裸聊视频�
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