MOVIE: Tetris (2023)

by benmweilertNo Comments
TetrisYear: 2023Rating: RLength: 118 minutes / 1.97 hours Every time I hear a movie is being made based on a video game that doesn’t have any story, I always wonder what those movies are going to be about. With Tetris (2023), the plot centers on the distribution rights for the titular puzzle game. While it’s interesting to see what happened to bring Tetris to its status as a worldwide cultural icon in gaming, the film really just boils down to the legal and international gymnastics that needed to occur. The Cold War setting did much of the heavy lifting for the suspense, but we already know how things turned out. I’m still confused about who this film was for. It seemed like they were trying to appeal to gamers by showing the history of one of the founding games of the industry. However, providing little pixel art cuts to explain how distribution rights for a video game were different between the arcade...
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VIDEO GAME: Tetris Effect (2018)

by benmweilertNo Comments
Tetris Effect Year: 2018 Rating: E Time Played: ~10 hours While most virtual reality games attempt to immerse the player in an interactive environment, Tetris Effect is best played sitting completely still. Tetris is Tetris, but Tetris Effect takes this classic formula and adds just enough new mechanics to it for the entire game to feel fresh and engaging. I've played this game both on my PC and on my Oculus Quest, and I have to say that I prefer the Quest version because of how immersive it is. There are no distractions. It's just you and Tetris. Since I recently trained myself on Tetris 99, I still found some levels in Tetris Effect's story mode to be quite difficult. Of course, as a single-player game, Tetris Effect had little to offer past this story mode. That was until they added the "Connected" mode that introduced online multiplayer. The 3-versus-1 mode is some of the most innovative Tetris I've ever played. With the multiplayer aspect...
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VIDEO GAME: Tetris 99 (2019)

by benmweilert1 Comment
Tetris 99 Year: 2019 Rating: E Time Played: 125+ hours The "Battle Royale" genre of video games took the world by storm a few years ago. While most of these games were shooters like Fortnite, one odd entry resonated with me. Tetris 99 takes the versus mode of this classic video game and pits you against 98 other players to see who has the skills to be the best for that round. I never played much "competitive" Tetris before I picked up this game, so there was a bit of a learning curve. Still, I eventually trained my playstyle to survive long enough to achieve the title of "Tetris Maximus." With over 125 hours clocked in this game, I found it easy to pick up and play. After I rose to the top of the 99 players, I could play in the "Invictus" mode, only for players who had become Tetris Maximus at least once. I usually play in Invictus mode for the challenge, but...
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