Hacker Cinema
Tetris: From Russia with Love
2004 · Film · documentary · 59 min
Directed by Magnus Temple
This is the story behind the fiendishly addictive game, a tale of high stakes, intimidation and legal feuds set against the backdrop of Cold War tensions between East and West.
6 positivefrom 6 commenters
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6 comments on Hacker News
I watched this last night. Pretty well done. Another worth watching is Tetris - From Russia with Love that aired on BBC a few years ago and is on youtube: https://youtu.be/NhwNTo_Yr3k
BBC4 did a good documentary on this a few years ago called "Tetris: From Russia With Love". Recommended if you can find a copy on your preferred streaming/download option.
Tetris first came out as an indy-esque game in the Soviet Academy of Science, then spread from office to office, and was then picked up by a Hungarian company and then spread to the West.
Nintendo wanted then an exclusivity deal for consoles and sent Henk Rogers to discuss the matter with the soviet (other people wanted to same thing at the same time).
This is described the documentary "Tetris - From Russia with Love" linked somewhere else in this comment thread.
The rest is history: Tetris became bundled with the Gameboy and that was hugely successful. That huge boom in popularity is certainly why many people erroneously refer to "The Original Tetris" as either the Gameboy or NES version instead of the Electronica60 one (here's some footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0gAgQQHFcQ )
I respect this man! True passion and dedication.
You guys should watch this 4 part documentary about him and his early days, JUST amazing story:
Tetris - From Russia with Love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhwNTo_Yr3k
That music is so haunting at the start!
The 2004 BBC documentary "Tetris: From Russia with Love" is quite good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhwNTo_Yr3k
For the history of Tetris, check out the BBC documentary "Tetris: From Russia with Love".