The author of the idea and the creator of the game Tetris. How to make yourself with my wife. Verified methods. Do not require immediate decisions
Tetris can rightfully call the game to which children and adults play. Simple, at first glance, the puzzle is fond of from the first minute, and it is practically impossible to tear away from sorting unpaid figures. In my diary there are many different games Tetris. I liked Tetris, where the falling figures need to be grouped by colors so that they repeat a certain form.
Everything is played in Tetris. What is the story of this game?
Photo. Soviet engineer Alexey Paszitov
The uniqueness of Tetris is that in this game there is no plot, nor characters or decoration. All that is, is the figures consisting of four blocks, for this, in fact, Tetris and got its name (tetra - four translated from the Greek language). In the late 1980s - early 1990s, Tetris acquired world fame. This game is released for all imaginable devices - for the prefixes of Nintendo and computers, if desired, the game can be installed on modern mobile phones.
Tetris was invented by the Russian computer engineer Alexei Pasitov, when he worked at the Academy of Sciences in Moscow. To test the new software on the computer, electronics 60, it came up with a program that became the tetris prototype. Initially, the combination made up of four letters appeared on the screen, but they quickly filled the screen, and the engineer understood that, filling the row completely, they should disappear.
Gradually, Tetris became the game that we used to see today. Talking about the concept of the game Edition The Guardian, Alexey Pazitnov admitted: "There was no account in the game and difficulty levels. But I started playing and could no longer stop. " The engineer showed the game code to his friends, among whom was Vadim Gerasimov, who adapted it to AUM. Vadim Gerasimov is also thus the creator of this game.
The game instantly became popular. In just two years, she flew off the entire Soviet Union, began to speak about it in the West. There were written versions for Commodore 64 and Apple II. The first commercial company, which became interested in the release of the game, became the British company Andromeda. It is now difficult to understand how to manage the British, without having copyright game, sell her company Spectrum Holobyte, which released a paid version of the game. The release of the game had the effect of a broken bomb: Users wouldingly bought the game, and the company "owner" has fallen further to sell an imaginary license. Abroad, many businessmen have already been fledged on this game, and Alexei Pasytov did not receive a penny.
Pains could not get a patent for the game, as he created her by working at the Academy of Sciences. He gave the right to the game for 10 years of the USSR. The organization of Elorg was created, which became the copyright holder of the state license for Tetris. The license decorated by the law was bought by Nintendo giant. True, Pasytnov This again did not bring benefits.
Alexey Pazitnov was able to return the rights to the game only 12 years after her invention. He became a co-founder of Tetris in 1996. Finally, he began to receive fees due to him, and already in 2005 began to cooperate with Microsoft.
Tetris has been working so far, now the engineers have the opportunity to defend their copyrights on legal basis. When Apple launched the TRIS game in 2009, Alexey Pacitov sent a complaint on behalf of his company. And after all, he finally had full right. After all, it was he who created the game Tetris, in the title of which the Greek root of "Tetra" combines and the name of the favorite game of Alexey - Tennis.
Tetris By right, you can call the game to which children and adults play. A simple, at first glance, a puzzle fascinates from the first minute, and it is almost impossible to break away from sorting unpaired figures. Everything is played in Tetris, but the story of his appearance few people know.
The uniqueness of Tetris is that in this game there is no plot, nor characters, no plot or decoration. All that is, is the figures consisting of four blocks, for this, in fact, Tetris and got its name (tetra - four translated from the Greek language). In the late 1980s - early 1990s, Tetris acquired world fame. This game is released for all imaginable devices - for the prefixes of Nintendo and computers, if desired, the game can be installed on modern mobile phones.
Tetris was invented by the Russian computer engineer Alexei Pasitov, when he worked at the Academy of Sciences in Moscow. To test the new software on the computer, electronics 60, it came up with a program that became the tetris prototype. Initially, the combination made up of four letters appeared on the screen, but they quickly filled the screen, and the engineer understood that, filling the row completely, they should disappear.
Gradually, Tetris became the game that we used to see today. Talking about the concept of the game Edition The Guardian, Alexey Pazitnov admitted: "There was no account in the game and difficulty levels. But I started playing and could no longer stop. " The engineer showed the game code to his friends, among whom was Vadim Gerasimov, who adapted it to AUM.
The game instantly became popular. In just two years, she flew off the entire Soviet Union, they also began to speak in the West. There were written versions for Commodore 64 and Apple II. The first commercial company, which became interested in the release of the game, became the British company Andromeda. It is now difficult to understand how the British managed, without having copyright to the game, sell her company Spectrum Holobyte, which has already released a paid version of the game. The release of the game had the effect of a broken bomb: Users wouldingly bought the game, and the company "owner" has fallen further to sell an imaginary license. Abroad, many businessmen have already been fledged on this game, and Alexei Pasytov did not receive a penny.
Pains could not get a patent for the game, as he created her by working at the Academy of Sciences. He6 transferred the right to the game for 10 years of the USSR. The organization of Elorg was created, which became the copyright holder of the state license for Tetris. The license decorated by the law was bought by Nintendo giant. True, Pasytnov This again did not bring benefits.
Alexey Pazitnov was able to return the rights to the game only 12 years after her invention. He became a co-founder of Tetris in 1996. Finally, he began to receive fees due to him, and already in 2005 began to cooperate with Microsoft.
Tetris has been working so far, now the engineers have the opportunity to defend their copyrights on legal basis. When Apple launched the TRIS game in 2009, Alexey Pacitov sent a complaint on behalf of his company. And after all, he finally had full right. After all, it was he who created the game Tetris, in the title of which the Greek root of "Tetra" combines and the name of the favorite game of Alexey - Tennis.
Tetris is such a popular game that it seems soon she will conquer the real world. Confirm this can be seen in!
Tetris (English. Tetris) - Cult computer game, invented Alexey Pazitnovym and submitted to the public on June 6, 1984. The idea of \u200b\u200b"Tetris" was suggested by the game purchased to them in Pentamino.
Interest in the figures of Domino, Trimino, Tetramino and Pentamino in the USSR, arose thanks to the book of S. V. Golomb "Polymino". In particular, Pentamino was so popular that in "Science and Life", since the 1970s, there was a permanent section on the preparation of figures from the Pentamino set, and plastic pentamino sets were sometimes sold in stores.
Tetris was first written by Alexey Papitov in June 1985. of the year on the computer electronics-60. Working in the USSR Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Pasytnov was engaged in problems of artificial intelligence and speech recognition, and for running the ideas used puzzles, including classical pentamino. Pasytov tried to automate the laying of pentamino into the specified figures. However, the computational capacities of the then equipment for rotation of Pentamino lacked, had to be debugged on Tetramino, which determined the name of the game - "Tetris" (from Dr.-Greek. Τετράς- four). In those experiments, the basic idea of \u200b\u200b"Tetris" was born - so that the figures were falling, and the filled rows disappeared.
For IBM PC, the game was rewritten by a 16-year-old schoolboy Vadim Gerasimov.
The game quickly spread throughout Moscow and below. When the game reached Budapest, Hungarian programmers implemented it on different platforms, and the game was "discovered" by the owner of the British software company Andromeda. He tried to agree first to patent it first, and then to buy the rights to the version for the PC, first with Pasytovyov, then from the IEC, but even before the execution of the transaction the right was sold to Spectrum Holobyte. After failure with the conclusion of a deal in Moscow, Andromeda tried to buy rights from Hungarian programmers.
In 1986, Spectrum Holobyte released a version for IBM PC in the USA. The popularity of the game was huge, she immediately became a bestseller.
Further details are unclear, but in 1987, Andromeda declared its rights to the game for PC and any other home computers. In 1988, the Soviet government, in the face of the state organization "Electricity equipment" ("Elorg"), announced its rights to Tetris. By this time, neither the ICEC (and Paschitsov, like his employee), nor "Elorg" did not receive any cash deductions from Andromeda, but that she stated their rights to Tetris and sold the license to other companies.
As a result, by the beginning of 1989, before half-life, various companies declared their rights on Tetris versions for different computers, gaming consoles and pocket gaming systems. "Elorg" stated that these companies do not have any rights to the versions for slot machines and provided these rights to Atari Games. The right to the versions for game consoles (video applicants) and portable game systems, in the acute and dramatic competitive struggle with Atari (in which the highest persons of the Soviet state could be involved - the company Nintendo. The amount of the transaction with Nintendo amounted to 450 thousand dollars, plus 50 cents from each sold cartridge.
However, Tengen (ATARI Games division, engaged in software consoles) released its version of the game for the Nintendo NES console, ignoring the agreement, and many players found the version of Tengen better than Nintendo. The game called Tietiis. But Nintendo filed on Tengen to court and won. Just a few months after the release of Tietiis, the game had to withdraw, after the sale of about 50 thousand copies.
The author of the hut puzzle has a beautiful renome. He organized an Anima Tek company, which was soon invited to cooperate with Microsoft himself. In 1991, Pasytov moved to the United States and finally created the company Tetris, after which part of the income from the release of the game flowed into his author's pocket.
All ingenious is simple. It is rare, such a simplicity becomes very rare, and that's how it happened to Tetris - a program that has changed the life of one particular person who has influenced the history of the gaming industry and presented happiness to millions of people. Her creator, Alexey Leonidovich Paszitov, does not need a submission.
Unfortunately, not all compatriots know the "world" story of the formation of Tetris, and meanwhile - this is a real detective, according to the passage of passions is not inferior to some "Santa Barbara".
In fact, the graphic and logical idea of \u200b\u200bTetris was not invented by Alexei. In the late 70s - early 80s around the world (and in the USSR - including), the puzzles of the American mathematics of Solomon Golomb were successfully sold, the most famous of them was called Pentomino Puzzle. Their idea was pretty simple and to painfully familiar with any contemporary - from several figures that had familiar now (see drawing from the bottom) of the form, it was necessary to collect the specified figures. Alexey's fateful acquaintance with this fun took place in the early 80s, when such puzzles were still in the wonder.
Alexey Pazitnov received the formation of an ordinary Soviet engineer, as well as hundreds of thousands of people in the USSR. He worked in those distant years at the Moscow Aviation Institute (many talented and famous people later came out). By education, Alexey, as well as its aforementioned American colleague, was a mathematician, and therefore, at the beginning of the 80s, he met a miracle of computer technologies who were actually inaccessible to people of other professions. As you know, at the time of people indifferent to computers simply did not exist - or people did not recognize them and did not see more meaning in them than in the furniture, or instantly fall in love. Is it worth saying that there are no personal enjoyments - he became an adherent of the second group. According to his memories, the person who remained one on one with the computer turned into a certain old man Hottabach, and was capable of his small, local miracle.
As soon as Aleksey had an opportunity, he moved from the Institute to the Computing Center at the Academy of Sciences, killing two Zaitsev at once: took up work that he was really interesting, and got access to the most powerful computing technology from the situation in the Union. At the new location of Pasytov, it took up the problems of creating artificial intelligence, computer graphics and issues of computer recognition of voice. At that time he was 29 years old. Therefore, nothing strange was that in his free time, he was betrayed by writing small and very simple toys. The moment of his transition to a new place of work on a happy chance coincided with the hobby of the puzzles of the Golomb - and in the bright head of the Russian engineer for the first time cuddered the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating a computer version. Fastellov pretty much added the idea - to collect "figures in the glass" was to be in real time, and the figures consisted of five elements (Pentamino - from Greek. "Penta" - five), and on the idea should have been shuting around their own severity. Alas, the electronic "brains" of the time of that time were too weak to embody the idea of \u200b\u200bhuman brains - for computer "Pentamino" simply lacked resources. Then the enclosures makes the decision to reduce the number of blocks from which the falling figures up to four, embodying, thus "in the figure" is not a resource-intensive "Tetramino" (from Greek. "Tetra" - four). The abbreviated name "Tetris" gothes a little later.
Not good, in general, the idea was subsequently amazing results. The first version of the game Alexey wrote quickly - taking the basis of seven figures who later became a standard set of Tetris, in two weeks he programmed the backbone of the game. In it, even graphic images of figures fell into the "glass", and their text analogues are consisting of spaces, brackets, etc. It looked all up to Zhui Primitive - the game was created on the basis of the "folk" language Pascal, and on the computer "Electronics-60", which did not even have a normal monitor. But the game worked, and how worked!
The first time beyond the same laboratory Tetris did not go out. Fastellov, taking the initial option for themselves and colleagues, attracted to the decision of the associate, sixteen-year-old Vadim Gerasimov, and for two months the first graphic, color version of Tetris, who has a sane management and small pleasures, which seems to be a table of records. An important point was the fact that Gerasimov actually helped "port" the game on the PC platform, gaining popularity with each day. Together with the PC, the first 5.25 "" drives were gained popularity, so the question of the initial "replication" decided to rather quickly - coping the resulting fun on the diskettes, Alexei Sovicias spread it in Kulurami NII. Friend rewritten from a friend, then gave to copy a three more familiar, and slowly the electronic "letter of happiness" was spread throughout the capital, and slipped out of its limits. The game became famous in the USSR.
In 1985, the tetris went on more and more warm feedback, and gradually Alexey leans to the idea that with his creation should be familiar with him and abroad. Budapests from the Institute of Cybernetics Problems of Cybernetics, with whom the NII collaborated in those times on one of the many programs of "fraternal nationalities" became the first foreigners. The PC version of Tetris leaked abroad, and already in Hungary, it was adapted for the needs of alternative platforms - Commodore C64 and Apple 2. For good luck, Alexey, at that time, Robert Stein, Hungary of English origin, was held at the institute, whose advantages were not ended with one foreign passport. Stein, in the fatal coating of circumstances, turned out to be the owner of his own game studio Andromeda. An experienced dealers instantly felt the potential of the toy. Without postponing things in a long box, Stare offers to redeem the rights immediately to all versions of the game: on Apple 2 and C64 in Hungarians, and the RS-option, respectively, among the Russians. It was said - Made: Robert wines in the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, and the Russians on the White suggests to redeem the rights to Tetris, however, without the announcement of any specific amounts. Who would turn away from such a gift for fate? Pasytov was not one who misses their chance, and he meets consent.
Wood at this time returns to London, and starts searching for markets for the markets of the game, and London is already (according to the standards of the mid-80s) far abroad with all the obstacles for those times. Therefore, due to political wires, Hungary receives a historical telex with the answer of Pasytov only after a month and a half. However, instead of waiting for an answer, and then humanize the contract to a business trip and sign, Hungary does not sit without a case, he is frantically looking for someone who can fuse the future hit. At first, he offers Tetris's option to those who are closer - English Mirrorsoft. The owner of this company at that moment was the media magnate Robert Maxwell, the owner of the British newspaper corporation Mirror Newspaper Group and American Macmillan. Later, he will also tell his weightless word in this story. The Lord from Mirrorsoft got acquainted with Tetris, played a little, and ... blasphemously doubted the product's ability to sell well. The project was sent to an alternative trial to their American colleagues in Spectrum Holobyte. Well-versed in games and ways to make money out of the air, Americans progress in the program considerable potential. Yankees reported their own opinion to the British, and those agreed with Stein. The result of such a leap was the contract between Mirrorsoft and Andromeda, which was estimated a ridiculous amount of 3,000 pounds of sterling and a floating percentage of income (7 - 15% depending on the number of copies sold). And all this Stein has tested, without having at that time right from the Pasytnova itself!
At that time, Alexey Leonidovich was in Moscow, in complete ignorance as to what was happening with his brainchild. Therefore, when he received the Second Message from Stein, in which he offered to Pasietov's three-quarters of all his income, plus a good amount of cash - his joy was not borders. Her and then, when Hungary "Svodonka" suggested paying part of the advance computers Commodore, because he was some kind of official distributor of this company. Alexey seemed to be located and to such development of events, but did not yet accepted the final decision. An important point in these negotiations remains that it was only about the PC-version of Tetris. In the winter of 85 years, the Stein comes to Moscow, in order to arrange the relationship documented, but it does not sign anything. Russians (in the person of individual representatives of the An) are commonly asked more than he offered to them in their telegrams. I had to leave Hungar with anything.
Meanwhile, events are developing on an unpredictable scenario. Americans from Spectrum Holobyte, who had a version of the game from the British from the Mirrorsoft, to which those allegedly owned the rights sold by him by Stein, seriously took up the program. Events unfold during the consequences of the Cold War, the confrontation of capitalism and socialism is noticeably naked eye. And on this background, the game from Russians already in itself looked indescribably attractive, regardless of the content. It is in accordance with his concepts about Russians, the Americans reprove the design of the game, leaving the mechanics unchanged. Black background change to the chest screensavers, as an ambient sounds "Kalinka-Malinka" and "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Vasily Blessed landing Matias Rust on his famous Cessna aircraft! In a word - the game changed from the program created by the enthusiast, turned into a full-fledged commercial product, let both Western.
Stein did not have anything else, as soon as he would get a contract from the Russians. It was already 87 years old, and in the West were preparing for the release of the revised version of Tetris, believing that they had all the grounds for this (bought by Stein the right). And the grounds were just not. The AndroMeda owner has noticed between the hammer and an anvil - he still had no right from the author, and at the same time he had no idea how to inform Western colleagues about the need for a delay of almost the finished game. As a result, cowardice defeated, and in 1988 release in America and England.
Tetris immediately gained fame and began to be sold very good circulations, gradually conquering more and more popularity. Less than a year will pass - and "Tetris" will quit several of the most important awards of the American Association of Software Developers. In particular, as a better consumer software, the best original development and the best entertainment program.
Alexey, in the meantime, left the AN and joined the newly formed company of Eletronorgtechnik (Elorg). There he was explained that he did wrong, and why his product came out in the West without his own participation. Fastess agrees with good arguments of more experienced colleagues. It is necessary to say that after that, it was literally fallen on Stein, demanding to resolve the situation out of control. The pressure on the part of Russia was exacerbated by similar actions from Shatny's compatriots. Especially after the game was rareled as many awards, and the omnipresent Journalists of CBS were excavated by the Russian genius and took an interview with him, clarifying many things. Unclean on the hand, Hungar did not have anything else, as in May 1988 to sign the tracking agreement on the terms of the Russians. And again only on the RS-option of the game. Meanwhile, the events did not stand still. West Tetris turned out to be fame and awards, and advanced on the world. At the same time, technical progress was moved and technical progress - the concept of "game" and the computer began to side, and the era of the first consoles was slowly kicked ...
Mirrorsoft blowing to the wind, demanded from Stein to buy the rights to the console and arcade options for Tetris, and in the meantime, herself sold the rights to the arcade option (without having no reason on this level) quite well known in certain circles of Atari, which immediately resell their Japanese Sega. In how! It is also worth mentioning that the lustful rights of Elorg Stein, she did not achieve anything. And at this time in Japan, the PC version of Tetris comes out, and also (which is much more important) his Famicom version on the console from Nintendo, which eventually diverges the country of the rising sun by more than a two million edition! In order to explain how it has become possible, you need to dig a little deeper and in the past.
A couple of words should be said about the submachine "tycoon". At the end of the 70s, Nintendo begins to gain momentum, and releases a revolutionary product to the market for the time the product is a pocket toy Game & Watch (later we have an analogue - "Well, wait!"), Which immediately becomes a bestseller. A little later (84) Nintendo releases a Gameboy product even more significant for its development, and just looking for a game that can bring a pocket console superpopularity. At the time of the spread of Tetris in the world, the relationship between Nintendo and Atari was like a cat with a dog because of some major "support" in the US market, and subsequent protracted trials. And again (in which already once!) In the game, his Majesty interferes with the case. In June 88, the President of the American division of Nintendo Minor Arakawa accidentally saw a computer with a installed tetris at some exhibition of household appliances. He immediately felt the beauty of entertainment, and walked to acquire the rights to the portable (console) version of the toy. He began to find out to whom they belong to at the moment, and came out at Atari, where they completely sincerely believed that all rights belong to them, because they were "honestly" bought them from Mirrorsoft. Goose pig is not comrade, Arakawa understands that with Atari it is useless to talk. However, the happy case is knocking on the door again, and confronts Arakawa with Hank Rogers.
Hank Rogers is one of the key figures in all this story. The owner of a small Japanese company Bullet Proof Software has become the person to whom Spectrum Holobyte sold the rights of publishing Tetris in the Japanese market. True, only on its PC version, since all other rights at that time were at the Atari. But entrepreneurial Yankees knew how to knock on the door. Very soon he is able to squeeze the rights from Atari and on the console version for the same market. And almost at that moment he meets Arakawa!
Mr. Arakawa immediately took a bull for the horns. He needed Tetris. The release of the Famicom version has become a landmark event in the company's history, however, at the time of unfolding events, much value for Arakawa was represented by a portable version of the game, as the most suitable candidate for expansion on GaMeboy. And pay for the right to this option, he was ready for Stridogoga. Rogers by nature was a man with a slightly, and suspected that with the rights, it is clearly unclean, so he decides to trace the entire chain of copyright holders, starting from the original source. In February 89, he goes to Moscow. Stein, who has not long before that, Rogers led the right to the portable option, felt that he smelled roasted, and urgently went there. Kevin Maxwell, the son of media magnate, who belonged to Mirrorsoft and (a priori) Spectrum Holobyte becomes the third person.
What was the surprise of Rogers (who came to Alexey and as a presentation showed him the Japanese version of Tetris for Famicom), when he learned that no one was selling any rights, but about Nintendo did not hear a layer here! Full analogue of Famicom, known as Dendy, will appear in Russia much later, no one knows about the wonderful consoles in the USSR. However, the enclosure of the reasons was much more: it turns out to be "walking" throughout the world and in all versions, and he did not receive anything else. Using the moment, Rogers signs the contract for the transfer of rights to the portable version of the game, and promises to return to the representative of the mighty by that time Nintendo, for the sake of genuine rights for the console option.
Arriving a little later, Stein in two words explained who he was, and showed a contract signed with him at the very beginning, where it was clearly said about the transfer of rights only to the PC-option. Hungarian did not prove that he was not a camel and agreed on all the points of the charge. Since the trust in the comrade was already undermined, then everything he was able to get from the visit - the transfer of rights to the arcade version of the game (for slot machines), and for "very expensive". With that, he left.
A little later, the son of Maxwell appears in Elorg. Comrades fuss to him under the nose Cartridge with a game, where the name of the game and the name of the distributor company is read by understandable English: "Mirrorsoft". After that, ask the question: "On what grounds does this cartridge exist?". The guy who did not hold all the information can not give a clear explanation, and leaves in the dumbfounded state home. As soon as he arrives in England and notifies the results of the meeting of the Father, the pressure of Elorg begins. Realizing that the positions of Mirrorsoft and Atari under threat, Robert Maxwell involves all the power of the information network created by him, raises the hype, and with this I bring the problem to the government level. According to the unconfirmed officials of the information, the Government of Great Britain and the USSR decide to help Maxwell, with the aim of incurred by Natisk to Elorg from the Fatherland. However, the Russians never "rushed" - and that's why.
Because Rogers did not deceive. While Maxwell spun his intrigue, Rogers - incognito, in the setting of strictest secrecy (in order not to spoil competitors from Atari) brings to Moscow Arakava and his legal adviser of Howard Lincoln (who became president of Nintendo). In the first-hearth, they sign the most important contract. On March 21, 1989, the largest player in the electronic entertainment market was given all the rights to Tetris (for video card) for the amount that independent analysts are estimated within $ 3-5 million. Along the way, after a long trial, a serious damage of Nintendo's competitor was caused by ATARI. Full-sighted businessmen killed in one taught shot of two hares.
Fastening himself received very little from this money. True, rumors went that the USSR government presented Alexey "For merits to the Motherland" such luxury things like the 286th computer and a whole Moscow apartment.
Tetris became superhit of all times and peoples. Thanks to him, for the first few years of existence, Gameboy has developed more than 30 millionth editions, and about 15 million were sold to the cartridges themselves with the program. Subsequently, Gameboy became the most successfully sold console in the entire history of electronic entertainment (more than 100 million officially sold consoles) . Tetris directly brought Nintendo to various estimates from 2 to 3 billion dollars of net profit, given all ports, versions and licensing deductions. For 20 years of existence, all kinds of Tetris (including official statistics, electronic devices and illegal sales) were divided into a fantastic circulation, which is estimated at a quarter of a billion copies. It is worth saying that there was no such popularity to achieve a single game. Yes, and hardly ever succeeded.
Further fate of the Pasytinova was not easy, but interesting. Realizing that it is possible to earn a favorite case for life, in 1989 he together with his friend Vladimir Pokhilko and with the participation of the very Hank Rogers based on Animatek Studio, the main activity of which the development of various computer puzzles and problems of artificial intelligence in games are becoming the development of various computer puzzles. At first, Animatek customers are such well-known Russian firms as paragraphs, dock, dialogue and a number of smaller companies. In total, by 1991, Alexey with comrades developed or participated in the development of more than three hundred games! Animatek's developments were subsequently used in such famous projects as Age of Empires from Microsoft and Final Fantasy Tactics (Square).
However, at the beginning of the 90s, the game market in the post-Soviet space was none, and in order to receive an adequate fee for his work, enchanting shifts to America. Animatek headquarters relocate in San Francisco, and continues to play the game. Vladimir Pokhilko did not leave a friend, and also moved to the United States, where Animatek managers remained for a long time. By the way, a little later in America and another acting face of our history - Vadim Gerasimov, whose efforts Tetris had hit the IBM PC to the efforts. However, from his rights to Tetris Gerasimov refused back in 1987, so his fate has not been confidently connected with the game.
Alexey left the management of the company to Pokhilko, and himself in the same 91 year (and again with the participation of Rogers) creates a campaign with the speaker name "Tetris", where he is developing various puzzles, including on the basis of classical tetris. And it is at this stage that he finally begins to receive money from the games developed by him. The fate of Animatek in America is not easy. Russians publish one after another game of different genres, but not one of them is not possible to sell in large circulations. In particular, society completely ignores the innovative EL-FISH project (something like a computer aquarium), which was essentially the first computer animation of the company. And then the flourishing of the electronic entertainment market begins, and the company is not able to compete with professional game developers, translates the arrows on the rails of three-dimensional graphics modeling programs. In particular, from under the company's pen, products such as World Builder came out (a program for modeling three-dimensional landscapes) and Caviar (work with vox technologies).
Fastenov himself in 1996 passes "under the wing" of Almighty Microsoft, in order to do what he likes most - puzzles. From now on, he becomes a game designer-consultant, and under his beginning it serves a small cohesive team of a dozen man. The first result of their joint activity is the release in 1997 The Puzzle Collection, which represents a set of puzzles of the most different nature. If one of them involved exclusively gray cerebral cells, then others were calculated on a certain reaction rate, the ability to quickly make the right solutions, and so on. And in September 1999, Pandora Box is published - a collection consisting of seven puzzles, which has an intriguing name, like a certain Stori-Laina and a beautiful visual performance. Different temporary epochs (from ancient Egypt to modern skyscrapers), high-quality photos, and reproductions of the most famous artists and sculptors - all this served as a background for excellent, smart games. And in the first, and in the second case, Microsoft was not ashamed to resort to an additional PR - there was a line "from the creator of Tetris" in the games ...
After the release of the "Pandora drawer", Alexei's gaze turned to Online. On the official Microsoft server even existed a special MSN Game Zone - Mind Aerobics. In essence, this is the same set of static puzzles, however, with some innovations relating to the main game modes. In particular, people got the opportunity to compete with each other on the Internet, to move to the top of the pedestal of the honorable, or just follow the "fights" of acquaintances. The game for a long time was very popular.
Such is the difficult story of Alexey Pasytnova. Now he is a secured and respected person, an employee of the famous Microsoft, lives and works in the United States. Russian genius released several times its games - mostly puzzles, very interesting and good-quality products. His Hexic HD is included with the Xbox Live Arcade service for Xbox 360, and the PC users could recently get acquainted with his last work - DWICE (Description One can find in our review of the crescent games.). But it was not destined to achieve such success as with Tetris. However, no longer one game in the world could even get closer to Tetris in popularity.
In the second half of the eighties of the twentieth century, young people practically in all countries are spinners in the hands of a Rubik Cube. Soon a new game came to replace this enthusiasm, for which a personal computer was required.
Anomalous popularity of "Tetris" and its reasons
Mass psychosis, accompanied the appearance of a new toy, is difficult to describe. And young lovers, and gray-woven researchers with the same excitement to the keys, trying to reach a new level. It seemed that all their future depended on success. It happened that, spending on the computing center a complete shift, an instruction engineer or a programmer remained a little to play and sat in front of the monitor for several hours in a row.
At that time, personal computers could not purchase ordinary people, they were purchased for the needs of organizations and departments. Most often it was the Robotron Machines manufactured by GDR with information specifications, significantly inferior to some modern mobile phones. The first Tetris was created for such computing technology. The game was simple, and this was explained by the unique popularity she used.
Historical pills
The Soviet Union with the beginning of the perestroika was experiencing a systemic crisis, originated in the sixties and seventies of the XX century. The contradiction was accumulated between the high medium intellectual potential of engineering and technical personnel, excellent qualification preparation of workers and scant material and living conditions of life, which, besides, constantly worsened. There was an outflow of labor resources in non-productive areas of national economy and private-cooperative trade.
The prestige of higher education rapidly fell. The world-class programmers were in numerous research institutes, trying to survive on the bench wages, which was constantly declining due to avalanche-like inflation. One of these unclaimed intellectuals was Alexey Papitzov, who worked in the USC of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
Secret weapon of Russians
Many devices and technologies have been invented in the USSR, which have found use in countries that have considered much more advanced technical terms. Inventors often remained unknown, and their copyrights seized more energetic and legally competent people who receive profits from the introduction of these innovations. The question of who invented Tetris invented, unlike many other similar cases, has a very specific answer. This is a sudden, citizen of the USSR, the will of fate became the symbol of the intellectual potential of our country.
His even half-hearted was accused of undermining the defense capability of the United States. The officers of the Pentagon, instead of dealing with the issues of nuclear safety, exploration and global strategy, were twisted against the grouped squares, trying to lay them with even rows and spending on this most of the service time. The question of where Tetris was invented, did not stand, he was called "secret weapons of Russians."
Why was the "Tetris" was invented
Knowing the history of the appearance of this game, one can conclude that its development was almost the goal of the life of an outstanding scientist. This is not quite so. In fact, there was no entertainment, the inventor "Tetris" did not specialize in creating toys. He was engaged in more serious questions. His scientific work was associated with the creation of cyberitellect. Puzzles like "Poomnino Puzzle" was made to them to illustrate various logical processes characteristic of human mind and logical thinking.
Other visual means were developed for explanations of mental algorithms. Then he had extremely limited possibilities, much more modest than now, so the spread received "Tetris" (in which the figures consist of four "cubes"), and not "pentomyloo" (where there were five elements). The game can also serve as the simplest scheme of the body's struggle with aging. It shows that the efforts of the regenerative system does not always have enough to replace damage arising in the process of life, and entropy wins.
"Tetris" in the West
The one who invented Tetris, namely, did not immediately receive dividends from his product. This became possible only after international licensing and patenting. The company from Great Britain "Andromeda" was the wish to acquire copyright and contacted directly with the author. The game was already leaked to the West and found his fans there, and therefore, many entrepreneurs had a desire to make money on it.
Director "Andromeda" Mr. Stein brought Pasytov to the TV show, where he introduced him in the live channel CBS, so that everyone knew who invented the game Tetris. In the interview process, it turned out that the author and owner of everyone had not yet received for his popular puzzle, neither the cent, albeit "Microsoft", and "Spectrum Olobight" already presented it in the market as their own products.
Invention and remuneration
The monopoly of the Soviet state for foreign trade and in this case had sad consequences. The leadership of the electrophenechnic association has finally realized that this, at first glance, a stupid thing, like the falling figures, can become a source of quite serious money, and concluded a contract with the stein. At the same time, no one thought to sign the contract with the Pasytov himself. From the point of view of the command and administrative system, it was absolutely no matter who invented Tetris, the main thing that did this Soviet citizen (no one argued with that), and therefore, and the profits should be taken from the bureaucratic car.
Fate inventor
Career Alexei Pazitinova has developed quite safely, at least in material relation. This talented programmer has been working in Microsoft for eighteen years old, where he has all the possibilities for self-realization. The tasks that he perform is incomparably harder than the puzzle glanced, but in order to increase the attractiveness of the product developed by him, in promotional purposes mention that the author is the one who invented Tetris, Alexei Penivanov his own person.
In the nineties, a joke about the "New Russian" (there was such a popular comic image in a lilac jacket and with a gold chain on the neck), which bought the most expensive and modern computer. At the same time, he set the seller a very strict condition: "If" Tetris "will not work, you will answer me!" It is possible that the Talented Programmer Alexei Pasytinov will remember through many decades only as the inventor of this nomudren toy. Sad ...