Tetris (Russian: Тетрис) is a puzzle video game originally designed and programmed by Alexey Pajitnov in June 1985, while working for the Dorodnicyn Computing Centre of the Academy of Science of the USSR in Moscow. He derived its name from the Greek numerical prefix "tetra-", as all of the game's pieces (known as Tetrominoes) contain four segments, and tennis, Pajitnov's favorite sport.
The game (or one of its many variants) is available for nearly every video game console and computer operating system, as well as on devices such as graphing calculators, mobile phones, portable media players, PDAs and even as an Easter egg on non-media products like oscilloscopes. It has even been played on the sides of various building with the record holder for the world's largest fully functional game of Tetris being an effort by Dutch students in 1995 that lit up all 15 floors of the Electrical Engineering department at Delft University of Technology.unreliable source?]
While versions of Tetris were sold for a range of 1980s home computer platforms, it was the hugely successful handheld version for the Game Boy launched in 1989 that established the reputation of the game as one of the most popular ever. Electronic Gaming Monthly's 100th issue had Tetris in first place as "Greatest Game of All Time". In 2007, Tetris came in second place in IGN's "100 Greatest Video Games of All Time
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Merlin (game)
Merlin (sometimes known as Merlin, the Electronic Wizard) was a handheld electronic game first made by Parker Brothers in 1978. Merlin is notable as one of the earliest and most popular handheld games, selling over 5 million units during its initial run, as well as one of the most long-lived, remaining popular throughout the 1980s. A version of the game has been recently re-released by the Milton Bradley Company.
Merlin was created by Bob Doyle, a Harvard PhD. and inventor who had previously worked with NASA. Merlin took the form of a rectangular device about eight inches long and three inches wide. The play area of the game consisted of a matrix of eleven buttons; each button contained a red LED. The array was encased in a red plastic housing, bearing a slight resemblance to an overgrown touch-tone telephone. Four game-selection and control buttons were also placed at the bottom of the unit; a speaker took up the top section. Supporting electronics (including a simple microprocessor) were contained within the shell of the game. Parker Brothers later released Master Merlin with more games, and the rarer Split Second, where all games involve time with a more advanced display, sporting line segments around the dots. Both of these share the same general case shape, and came out a few years after Merlin.
Merlin's simple array of buttons and lights supported play of six different games, some of which could be played against the computer or against another person. Here is the list of games that could be selected:
Tic Tac Toe
Music Machine
Echo, a game similar to Simon
Blackjack 13
Magic Square, a pattern game similar to Lights Out
Mindbender, a game similar to Mastermind
The Music Machine game functioned as a musical instrument; in this mode each key was assigned a musical note, and sequences of notes could be recorded and played back. This made Merlin one of the earliest sequencers as well as an early consumer-level electronic synthesizer.
In 1978 Merlin (painted blue) and Milton Bradley's Simon shared the cover of the Christmas issue of Newsweek.
The Toy Manufacturers of America named Merlin the best selling Toy and Game Item (SKU) in America in 1980 (2.2 million sold).
Merlin was created by Bob Doyle, a Harvard PhD. and inventor who had previously worked with NASA. Merlin took the form of a rectangular device about eight inches long and three inches wide. The play area of the game consisted of a matrix of eleven buttons; each button contained a red LED. The array was encased in a red plastic housing, bearing a slight resemblance to an overgrown touch-tone telephone. Four game-selection and control buttons were also placed at the bottom of the unit; a speaker took up the top section. Supporting electronics (including a simple microprocessor) were contained within the shell of the game. Parker Brothers later released Master Merlin with more games, and the rarer Split Second, where all games involve time with a more advanced display, sporting line segments around the dots. Both of these share the same general case shape, and came out a few years after Merlin.
Merlin's simple array of buttons and lights supported play of six different games, some of which could be played against the computer or against another person. Here is the list of games that could be selected:
Tic Tac Toe
Music Machine
Echo, a game similar to Simon
Blackjack 13
Magic Square, a pattern game similar to Lights Out
Mindbender, a game similar to Mastermind
The Music Machine game functioned as a musical instrument; in this mode each key was assigned a musical note, and sequences of notes could be recorded and played back. This made Merlin one of the earliest sequencers as well as an early consumer-level electronic synthesizer.
In 1978 Merlin (painted blue) and Milton Bradley's Simon shared the cover of the Christmas issue of Newsweek.
The Toy Manufacturers of America named Merlin the best selling Toy and Game Item (SKU) in America in 1980 (2.2 million sold).
Electronic Sports World Cup
The Electronic Sports World Cup is an international professional gaming championship. Every year winners of national qualifier event around the world earn the right to represent their country in the ESWC Finals. The event has won a lot of praise for its organisation and ability to put on a good show for spectators.
The ESWC is hosted by a French company called Games Services (previously called Ligarena) who previously hosted smaller LAN events in France under the name of LAN Arena. In 2003 they decided to do something on a larger scale and the ESWC was born.
The grand finals and masters of ESWC have had a total prize purse of 1,507,500 USD from 2003 till 2008
The ESWC is hosted by a French company called Games Services (previously called Ligarena) who previously hosted smaller LAN events in France under the name of LAN Arena. In 2003 they decided to do something on a larger scale and the ESWC was born.
The grand finals and masters of ESWC have had a total prize purse of 1,507,500 USD from 2003 till 2008
Greek electronic game ban
In 2002 the Greek government, ostensibly in an attempt to fight illegal gambling, passed the ambiguous and controversial law 3037/2002 which effectively banned all electronic games, including those running on home computers. The bill was formulated after a member of the ruling Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) political party was videotaped in an illegal gambling establishment, resulting in public hysteria that was fueled by sensationalist reporting in the press. The bill was declared a law on July 30, 2002.
Custom Search
During a case against some Internet café owners who allowed their customers to play online chess and other games, a local court in Thessaloniki declared the law unconstitutional. More than 300 people were gathered outside the court in support of the Internet café owners.
The European Commission sent an official letter to the Greek Foreign Ministry explaining that the law may be in conflict with European legislation. In that case, the European Court of Justice could take action against Greece.
The law would affect both Greek citizens and foreigners.
On September 24, 2002, government officials published a document in an effort to clarify the controversial articles of the law.
After the European Union intervention and debates with the Internet café owners, the government passed a new decision (1107414/1491/T. & E. F.), published in the Government Gazette issue 1827, on December 8, 2003. The new law clarifies some articles of 3037/2002 but it still bans video games in Internet café, and computer software which delete or encrypt files on hard disks of computers owned by Internet café.
The law is currently suspended as unconstitutional; therefore, it is not being enforced
Custom Search
During a case against some Internet café owners who allowed their customers to play online chess and other games, a local court in Thessaloniki declared the law unconstitutional. More than 300 people were gathered outside the court in support of the Internet café owners.
The European Commission sent an official letter to the Greek Foreign Ministry explaining that the law may be in conflict with European legislation. In that case, the European Court of Justice could take action against Greece.
The law would affect both Greek citizens and foreigners.
On September 24, 2002, government officials published a document in an effort to clarify the controversial articles of the law.
After the European Union intervention and debates with the Internet café owners, the government passed a new decision (1107414/1491/T. & E. F.), published in the Government Gazette issue 1827, on December 8, 2003. The new law clarifies some articles of 3037/2002 but it still bans video games in Internet café, and computer software which delete or encrypt files on hard disks of computers owned by Internet café.
The law is currently suspended as unconstitutional; therefore, it is not being enforced
Video game
Early games used interactive electronic devices with various display formats. The earliest example is from 1947— a "Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device" was filed for a patent on January 25, 1947 by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann, and issued on December 14, 1948 as U.S. Patent 2455992.
Inspired by radar displays, it consisted of an analog device that allowed a user to control a vector-drawn dot on the screen to simulate a missile being fired at targets, which were drawings fixed to the screen.
Other early examples include:
The NIMROD computer at the 1951 Festival of Britain
OXO by Alexander S. Douglas for the EDSAC in 1952
Tennis for Two, an interactive game written by William Higinbotham in 1958
Spacewar!, written by MIT students Martin Graetz, Steve Russell, and Wayne Wiitanen's on a DEC PDP-1 computer in 1961.
Each game used different means of display: NIMROD used a panel of lights to play the game of Nim, OXO used a graphical display to play tic-tac-toe, Tennis for Two used an oscilloscope to display a side view of a tennis court, and Spacewar! used the DEC PDP-1's vector display to have two spaceships battle each other.
In 1971, Computer Space, created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, was the first commercially-sold, coin-operated video game. It used a black-and-white television for its display, and the computer system was made of 74 series TTL chips. The game was featured in the 1973 science fiction film Soylent Green. Computer Space was followed in 1972 by the Magnavox Odyssey, the first home console. Modeled after a late 1960s prototype console developed by Ralph H. Baer called the "Brown Box", it also used a standard television. These were followed by two versions of Atari's Pong; an arcade version in 1972 and a home version in 1975. The commercial success of Pong led numerous other companies to develop Pong clones and their own systems, spawning the video game industry
Inspired by radar displays, it consisted of an analog device that allowed a user to control a vector-drawn dot on the screen to simulate a missile being fired at targets, which were drawings fixed to the screen.
Other early examples include:
The NIMROD computer at the 1951 Festival of Britain
OXO by Alexander S. Douglas for the EDSAC in 1952
Tennis for Two, an interactive game written by William Higinbotham in 1958
Spacewar!, written by MIT students Martin Graetz, Steve Russell, and Wayne Wiitanen's on a DEC PDP-1 computer in 1961.
Each game used different means of display: NIMROD used a panel of lights to play the game of Nim, OXO used a graphical display to play tic-tac-toe, Tennis for Two used an oscilloscope to display a side view of a tennis court, and Spacewar! used the DEC PDP-1's vector display to have two spaceships battle each other.
In 1971, Computer Space, created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, was the first commercially-sold, coin-operated video game. It used a black-and-white television for its display, and the computer system was made of 74 series TTL chips. The game was featured in the 1973 science fiction film Soylent Green. Computer Space was followed in 1972 by the Magnavox Odyssey, the first home console. Modeled after a late 1960s prototype console developed by Ralph H. Baer called the "Brown Box", it also used a standard television. These were followed by two versions of Atari's Pong; an arcade version in 1972 and a home version in 1975. The commercial success of Pong led numerous other companies to develop Pong clones and their own systems, spawning the video game industry
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