Development and history Tetris (Atari)

tengen s tetris nes in one-player mode. two-player mode replaces statistics display playfield.

in 1988, soviet academy of sciences researcher alexey pajitnov alongside dmitry pavlovsky , vadim gerasimov developed tetris out of desire create two-player puzzle game, , game spread commercially amongst computers. mirrorsoft president robert stein approached pajitnov offer distribute tetris worldwide, , secured rights license title, in turn granted spectrum holobyte. after seeing game run on atari st, programmer ed logg petitioned atari games license it, , approached stein. rights secured, atari games produced arcade version of tetris, , under tengen brand name began development port title nintendo entertainment system (nes) in may 1989.

tengen along spectrum holobyte later licensed rights henk rogers on behalf of nintendo distribute tetris in japan, , rogers traveled moscow secure permission distribute tetris game boy. around same time, nintendo approached spectrum holobyte on prospects of developing version of tetris game boy, , representative of mirrorsoft, kevin maxwell, traveled russia secure permission on behalf. however, because stein had secured rights pajitnov directly , not russian authorities, ussr s ministry of software , hardware export stated console rights tetris had been licensed nobody, , atari games had been licensed rights produce arcade games property. sent fax maxwell in england 48 hours respond; maxwell still in russia @ time , received fax late, resulting in licensing being distributed nintendo. in april 1989, tengen, had filed anti-trust suit against nintendo, sued nintendo again claiming rights distribute tetris on nes, , nintendo counter-sued citing infringement of trademark. in june 1989, month after release of tengen s tetris, u.s. district court judge issued injunction barring tengen further distributing game, , further ordered existing copies of game destroyed. result, 268,000 tetris cartridges recalled , destroyed.

the art featured on tengen cover airbrush painting known illustrator marc ericksen featuring st. basil s cathedral in red square, moscow, , featuring @ base falling stone concept mirrored gameplay. atari made use of same art when advertising new release, seen in atari inset above right, adding fireworks motif not part of original art.

in interview, ed logg notes tengen version of tetris built scratch, using no source code or material original game. after presenting title @ consumer electronics show in las vegas, tengen president randy browleit requested improvements in game. portrayed solely in black , white, browleit requested pieces portrayed in color, , logg altered game accordingly prior next consumer electronics show. when asked version of tetris liked most, logg stated nintendo version of tetris nes wasn t tuned right , citing lack of logarithmic speed adjustment source of version s overly steep increases in difficulty.