4,906 miles.
That’s how far one individual travelled.
Jani Herlevi from Helsinki, Finland made the long trek to Portland, Oregon for the 4th Annual Tetris World Championships; in hopes of making his first trip to America one that would end in victory.
News spread fast at qualifications that ‘this Finland guy’ was there. No one could believe that someone would travel half way around the world to play Tetris. It could only mean one thing… he must be really good.
I had to have the concept totally mapped out to me. Someone from Finland… came here… to play Tetris… I couldn’t wrap my brain around the idea that someone would travel THAT far for this game. It’s just Tetris.
Everyone was saddened to find out that Jani was unaware of the difference between NTSC (American) and PAL (European) game play. Just like Jani, I was completely naïve to the face that there was anything other than one version of Tetris.
Alright, time for another Tetris lesson…
For every game made, a European version had to be created. PAL Tetris has a faster drop speed on higher levels but the player is able to move from left to right quicker. Due to the variances in American and European power supplies, Nintendo attempted to offset these differences. The overall strategy of Tetris is similar but the speeds are much different. In NTSC (American) Tetris, Level 29 is viewed as the ‘kill screen’ this is not the case with PAL. In PAL, Level 19 has similar drop speed as Level 29 of NTSC (American). This level is semi-playable with the increase in side to side movement ability.
Jani sat down to play NTSC (American) Tetris for the first time at qualifications.
That’s how far one individual travelled.
Jani Herlevi from Helsinki, Finland made the long trek to Portland, Oregon for the 4th Annual Tetris World Championships; in hopes of making his first trip to America one that would end in victory.
News spread fast at qualifications that ‘this Finland guy’ was there. No one could believe that someone would travel half way around the world to play Tetris. It could only mean one thing… he must be really good.
I had to have the concept totally mapped out to me. Someone from Finland… came here… to play Tetris… I couldn’t wrap my brain around the idea that someone would travel THAT far for this game. It’s just Tetris.
Everyone was saddened to find out that Jani was unaware of the difference between NTSC (American) and PAL (European) game play. Just like Jani, I was completely naïve to the face that there was anything other than one version of Tetris.
Alright, time for another Tetris lesson…
For every game made, a European version had to be created. PAL Tetris has a faster drop speed on higher levels but the player is able to move from left to right quicker. Due to the variances in American and European power supplies, Nintendo attempted to offset these differences. The overall strategy of Tetris is similar but the speeds are much different. In NTSC (American) Tetris, Level 29 is viewed as the ‘kill screen’ this is not the case with PAL. In PAL, Level 19 has similar drop speed as Level 29 of NTSC (American). This level is semi-playable with the increase in side to side movement ability.
Jani sat down to play NTSC (American) Tetris for the first time at qualifications.
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