In a remarkable feat of skill and determination, 13-year-old American Willis Gibson, known in the streaming community as Blue Scuti, has become the first person to conquer the iconic Tetris video game, leading it to reach a “kill screen.” This achievement, ending a more than three-decade challenge posed by the classic Nintendo game, was captured in a YouTube video on January 2, where Gibson, amid arranging the falling puzzle pieces, eagerly anticipated the game to crash, which it did, eliciting his astonished reaction.
Gibson’s triumph in Tetris is notable for several reasons. He shattered world records for the highest overall score, the level achieved, and the total number of lines completed. This accomplishment was previously believed to be unattainable by human players, with only an artificial intelligence program having beaten the game before, as mentioned by Vince Clemente, CEO of the Classic Tetris World Championship.
A key to Gibson’s success is his use of the “rolling” controller technique, which gained popularity in 2021. This method allows the player to manipulate the game’s directional pad at a speed of at least 20 times per second, a significant improvement over the previously dominant “hyper tapping” technique. This technique enabled Gibson to maneuver the Tetris blocks more efficiently and rapidly than traditional methods would allow.
Tetris, which debuted in 1984, was developed by Alexey Pajitnov at the Moscow Academy of Science during the Cold War and later turned into a business venture by gaming entrepreneur Henk Rogers. Its simple yet challenging gameplay, where players rotate and align seven distinct falling block shapes, has contributed to its enduring popularity and status as the best-selling video game of all time, with over 520 million copies sold.