A 13-YEAR-OLD boy is believed to be the first person to beat the classic video game Tetris since it was released nearly 4o years ago.
Previously only bots and AI have managed to get to the ‘death screen’ whilst racking up the maximum 999,999 score.
The landmark gaming session was then subsequently belittled by a Sky News report that quipped the teen should now ‘Get outside and get some fresh air’ – a reaction that has been blasted by viewers.
Oklahoma teenager Willis Gibson posted a YouTube video documenting his achievement, which saw the youngster play for nearly 40 minutes, beating over 157 levels and clearing a whopping 1,511 lines before he hits the death screen and the game crashes.
Gibson exclaimed: “Oh my God! Yes! I’m going to pass out. I can’t feel my hands.”
President of the Classic Tetris World Championship, Vince Clemente, told the New York Times: “It’s never been done by a human before. It’s basically something that everyone thought was impossible until a couple of years ago.”
The teenager is reported to play over 20 hours of Tetris a week and even uses a vintage cathode-ray tube television, which some readers might have enjoyed while playing the game when it was released way back in 1985.
Not everyone was awestruck by the youngster’s seismic achievement though with Sky News reporter Jayne Secker feeling the need to put down Gibson’s world first.
“As a mother I would just say step away from the screen, go outside, get some fresh air.
“Beating Tetris is not a life goal,” Secker said.
Gaming creator MrDalekJD said of the incident: “The smugness just makes my blood boil. Not understanding it is one thing, but to undermine a a 13-year-old for achieving a world record on a video game and present it in that way on national TV is just downright embarrassing.”
Games journalist Chris Scullion added “‘It is the Year of Our Lord 2024 and SkyNews is still telling people who play video games to go outside and get some fresh air, notably on the same day they’re praising a 16-year-old darts player.”
“Willis Gibson should absolutely be proud of what he achieved. The act of ‘beating’ Tetris by forcing a kill screen had only been done by AI bots before. He also dedicated his win to his late father, who passed away last month. For Sky News to belittle him is just pathetic,” said Twitch streamer WadeBox
Created by software engineer Alexey Pajitnov and launched on the original Nintendo Entertainment System in 1989, Tetris presents continuous streams of shapes descending on the player’s screen.
The goal is to prevent the blocks from accumulating. Players have the ability to rotate and position the blocks strategically to create solid lines, leading to the clearance of those rows.
Tetris stands as one of the most enduring and acclaimed video games in history.