I finally got an Apple TV+ subscription (thank you, daughter) and the Tetris movie was the first thing on my watch list. It was released in March of 2023 and I am embarrassed that it took me this long to watch it.
The quick verdict? I really enjoyed it (and have already watched it multiple times).
Setting the Scene: The Strange Credits in NES Tetris
When I played the original NES Tetris, I was always a bit confused by one part of the opening copyright splash screen that displays every time you powered on the game.
Being licensed to Nintendo and designed by Alexey Pazhitnov is clear, but what is ‘Electronorgtechnica’? “ELORG” is obviously a shorter version, but who or what is “ELORG”?
The Tetris movie actually answers this question. In fact, a majority of the movie plot revolves around ELORG.
The Tetris Movie
I will not dissect the entire movie. Watch the movie and experience it for yourself.
The Tetris movie deals with Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton) working hard to ensure that his company, Bullet-Proof Software, is able to license Tetris for Nintendo. Specifically, he wants to secure the handheld rights which would be for the not yet released Game Boy.
By Al Pavangkanan
On paper, it sounds a little boring. To the contrary, it is actually quite entertaining. The movie has a cold-war/spy thriller vibe, since Henk needs to travel to the Soviet Union in order to secure the Tetris rights.
Is the Tetris Movie Factual Acurate?
The movie is definitely a dramatization. The car chase scene, for example, was added for the drama. Looking briefly into some of the history, though, I was impressed to see that many of the things in the movie are accurate and based on actual events.
The Tetris Licensing was a Complicated Nightmare
Some extra drama was added, but the Tetris movie actually simplifies a lot of the details. The real history is more complex, with more people and more companies involved. To keep the film entertaining, the screenwriters tell a more focused story and gives the audience clear villains and heroes to follow.
Introducing Alexey Pajitnov
Alexey Pajitnov wrote the original Tetris game on an old computer that didn’t support any computer graphics. It was done with just ASCII characters where the blocks were made up of square brackets. The straight line piece, for example, would literally just be: [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ].
By Eunice Szpillman
He was inspired by Pentiminoes, a math game where blocks are made up of five units. The pieces fit together into a rectangular frame with no gaps. Once the pieces are removed, it is your job to figure out how to fit them back together in the frame.
Alexey simplified the concept for Tetris by limiting it to pieces that are only made up of four units, which reduced the number of unique pieces to seven (including mirror images). This also ensured that the pieces would fit together better and you wouldn’t be left with too many odd shapes.
Some of Alexey’s colleagues did help him port the game to IBM compatible machines with color graphics, and the movie does mention this briefly. It was an iterative process. They would have various ideas on how to improve it (such as the point scoring and having unique colors for each of the tetrominoes). The team polished the game, however, the original idea and game were Alexey’s.
What the Tetris Movie Didn’t Explain
The movie emphasizes that Alexey didn’t have any rights to Tetris. Living in a communist country, everything he worked on belonged to the Soviet Union. ELORG managed all the imports and exports of electronic hardware and software. Through ELORG, the State negotiated the distribution and publication rights of Tetris.
What the movie doesn’t touch on is that ELORG did have a deal with Alexey. ELORG would manage the Tetris rights for ten years, then they would go to Alexey. When Alexey and his family were able to immigrate to the United States, he asked help from Henk Rogers to secure the Tetris rights. Together, they formed the Tetris Company.
With the fall of the Soviet Union, ELORG eventually became a private business. In 2002, the Tetris company completely bought ELORG to ensure that there were no disputes as to who owned the rights.
Henk and Alexey Tell Their Story
For firsthand accounts, I recommend two interviews with Henk and Alexey (one print and one video).
First, Matt Peckham interviewed them for Time Magazine in 2014, celebrating the 30th anniversary of Tetris (Alexey having originally programmed it in 1984).
The other interview is a YouTube video in 2015 at a DICE Summit. What is neat with this video is that there is no interviewer. Alexey and Henk go back and forth asking each other questions. They are using prepared questions, but it feels personal and sincere.
From both of these interviews, you can see where the Tetris movie gets a lot of its plot and inspiration.
Game Boy Tetris Impact
The influence and reach of Game Boy Tetris can not be overstated. For Nintendo alone, it made them the long time leaders of handheld gaming, even with a somewhat underpowered, non-color device.
For video games, it kicked off a new genre of puzzle gaming that many developers would imitate, endlessly.
Culturally, it became loved by young and old, male and female, and across many countries and cultures.
By Ralph Alswang
In 2015, President Bill Clinton’s presidential library released a 1993 photo of First Lady Hillary Clinton playing the Game Boy on an airplane. The picture was taken shortly before her father passed away. She mentioned that the Game Boy helped pass the time during the long hours while she was at his bedside.
In another interview, she admitted that she enjoyed playing Tetris. I like to think that Mrs. Clinton was playing Tetris in the photo. The Soviet Union was our Cold War enemy. Japan was the economic rival of the United States and we feared that their economic dominance would eclipse our own. Yet, the American First Lady was playing a Soviet game on a Japanese gaming device.
Game Boy Tetris reminds us that we have a lot in common with many others around the globe. Alexey correctly saw it as an “electronic ambassador of benevolence”.
Enjoy the Tetris Movie
If you don’t have a subscription to Apple TV+, I encourage you to try a free trial or sign up for a month. The Tetris Movie is absolutely worth seeing and helps put into perspective the impact that Tetris has had on the world.
P.S. After you watch Tetris, give the Silo series and Ted Lasso a try too. 🙂
