cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/7643915

As always in capitalism, video games have largely deformed from an art form into just another means to generate profit for large corporations

    • crypticthree@lemmy.world
      82·
      1 year ago

      Yeah it being an incredibly addictive universally approachable game has nothing to do with it being widely played for over 40 years… 🙄

      • AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
        3·
        1 year ago

        Psst. Almost 40 years. Tetris was released in 1985 not 1983

        This comment brought to you by an old fuck that doesn’t need to be artificially aged to be even older

      • Bernie Ecclestoned@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        19·
        1 year ago

        You know that copyright export was illegal under the Soviets though yeah? So it only got released because a UK software sales guy faxed them a contract and they didn’t realise it was binding

        Robert Stein, an international software salesman for the London-based firm Andromeda Software, saw the game’s commercial potential during a visit to Hungary in June 1986.[18]: 302 [25]: 11 min  After an indifferent response from the Academy,[25]: 12 min  Stein contacted Pajitnov and Brjabrin by fax to obtain the license rights.[25]: 11 min  The researchers expressed interest in forming an agreement with Stein via fax, but they were unaware that this fax communication could be considered a legal contract in the Western world;[26] Stein began to approach other companies to produce the game.[17]: 89–90

        Stein approached publishers at the 1987 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Gary Carlston, co-founder of Broderbund, retrieved a copy and brought it to California. Despite enthusiasm amongst its employees, Broderbund remained skeptical because of the game’s Soviet origins. Likewise, Mastertronic co-founder Martin Alper declared that “no Soviet product will ever work in the Western world”.[17]: 90

        Stein ultimately signed two agreements: he sold the European rights to the publisher Mirrorsoft,[17]: 90 [27] and the American rights to sister company Spectrum HoloByte.[28] The latter obtained the rights after a visit to Mirrorsoft by Spectrum HoloByte president Phil Adam in which he played Tetris for two hours.[17]: 90 [25]: 15 min  At that time, Stein had not yet signed a contract with the Soviet Union.[27] Nevertheless, he sold the rights to the two companies for £3,000 and a royalty of 7.5 to 15% on sales

        https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris

        Would be kind of hard to play a game that didn’t get published by the evil capitalist lol