Normal
0
false
false
false
EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
June 2, 2009 (from
www.tetris.com)
Tetris 25th Anniversary
ON 25th ANNIVERSARY, TETRIS® MORE POPULAR THAN EVER!
Over 125 million TETRIS® products sold with strong growth in
mobile phones and online Plans underway for new TETRIS tournaments and “smart”
products
Electronic Entertainment Expo, Los Angeles—June 2, 2009—
Video game industry legends Henk Rogers and Alexey Pajitnov today announced the
kickoff of the 25th anniversary celebration for TETRIS®. TETRIS is one of the
world’s most popular casual computer games with over 125 million products sold
on more than 30 platforms and available in more than 50 countries.
“TETRIS has driven
the entire casual computer gaming industry,” said Rogers, President & CEO
of Blue Planet Software, the company that manages the exclusive licensing
rights to TETRIS. “One reason why TETRIS is so enduring is that it transcends
culture. It is beyond language. It is part of a universal desire for order.
Ultimately, it’s a mental sport – a mix of fun and mental stimulation.”
In June 1984, Pajitnov, a Russian-born mathematician wrote
the program for TETRIS in his spare time. His love of puzzles inspired him to
create a game where players arranged distinctive puzzle pieces in real time
along the bottom of the rectangular playing field or “matrix” in order to clear
lines. “For a short time, I was the best TETRIS player in the world,” he said.
Rogers and Pajitnov said TETRIS is not resting on its
laurels. “We have exciting plans for the future of TETRIS,” said Pajitnov. “We
want to make TETRIS more accessible to kids, boomers, and busy moms – everyone
who enjoys a fun, stimulating and even meditative short escape from the daily
grind.”
Said Rogers, “The best is yet to come. We’re working on
versions of TETRIS that will make it possible to have ‘international’ games
similar to the Olympics, or the World Cup. The next generation of TETRIS games
will align themselves to the user – so they can always be exactly what best
fits any specific individual – ‘smart’ TETRIS games that quickly ‘learn their
partner’ and adjust to give maximum game play satisfaction.
“We have a vision of
the future where people all over the world can meet and become friends without
speaking the same language. TETRIS players can better understand each other
through mutual game play and create a new world fabric of ‘likenesses’ instead of
differences by being connected through the universal language of Tetriminos –
the distinctive world-famous playing pieces of TETRIS.”
The popularity of TETRIS has grown every year since its
inception with the game’s greatest growth occurring on mobile phones. EA
Mobile™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. holds the exclusive license for
TETRIS on mobile devices and has sold over 75 million TETRIS® products on the
mobile platform. Since debuting TETRIS on the Apple App Store in July of 2008,
the game has become one of the top 10 game Apps of all time. AT&T, the
exclusive carrier of the Apple iPhone™, named TETRIS as the highest selling
game for the first quarter of 2009. Because of this special relationship,
TETRIS is holding 25th anniversary celebrations at the Electronic Arts Inc.
booth #1501 at E3.
“TETRIS is the
best-selling mobile phone game of all time, showing continued growth year after
year all around the world,” said Adam Sussman, Vice President Worldwide
Publishing for EA Mobile. “We are proud to join The Tetris Company in
celebrating the 25th Anniversary of TETRIS; a product that has had such a
significant impact on the entire video game industry.”
TETRIS is also growing online. In March 2009, Rogers and
Pajitnov teamed up with Minoru Arakawa to announce the launch of Tetris Friends
Online Games (www.tetrisfriends.com), the first and only official Web-based
TETRIS game destination in North America. The Website is home to seven
single-player and multiplayer games, with more TETRIS games in the pipeline.
Even though Tetris Friends is just a few months old, over 1 million TETRIS
games are played per day on the Website.
Licensees of TETRIS have reported strong and steady sales
because of the game’s universal appeal and enduring popularity. TETRIS is
licensed to many of the most important consumer companies in the world,
including: Electronic Arts Inc., Tetris Online, Inc., Tetris Online Japan, NHN
Corporation, Mattel/Radica, Sega, DTI Software, Inc., THQ, Inc., Hallmark,
Epoch Co., Ltd., Four Winds, Hand Held Co., Ltd., Kaon Media, TAG Networks, Sky
Interactive, Imagination, and Men in Back.
About TETRIS®:
TETRIS® is one of the leading and most distinctive video
game brands and franchises in the world. Loved globally by people of all ages
and all cultures, TETRIS continues to be one of the most widely recognized
video games of all time. Tetris Holding, LLC is the owner of TETRIS worldwide
and The Tetris Company, LLC is its exclusive licensee. The Tetris Company,
through its agent Blue Planet Software, Inc., licenses and manages the TETRIS
intellectual property and franchise worldwide. Today, Blue Planet Software
continues to work with licensees to deliver top quality TETRIS products that
are relevant, fun and challenging for its millions of players. For the latest
information about TETRIS and TETRIS products, please visit www.tetris.com.
Contact Information:
Curtis Sparrer
Connecting Point Communications
Phone: (415) 442-4034
Email: csparrer@cpcomm.com
Press Release