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Why Are Humans Suddenly Getting Better at Tetris?

2018-10-23 · explainer · John · 3:50 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Pop culture (also: Internet & YouTube) · mode: Explainer · tags: self promotion

John explains why top players of 1989 NES Tetris have suddenly improved, with max-outs and level 30 now within reach: a small, tightly knit community of enthusiasts connected online and off, the Classic Tetris World Championship and live streaming; he concludes that there is no single internet, only each person's own, which he wants to make better.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Tetris's arrival in the US in 1989; why are humans suddenly better at it

  • ★★ Tetris, developed by Alexey Pajitnov, arrived in the United States in 1989 for the Game Boy and the Nintendo Entertainment System. — 00:00:03 · United States
  • ★★ Tetris became a phenomenon and is still the best-selling video game of all time. — 00:00:15
  • ★★★ John has lately been wondering why humans are suddenly getting much better at Tetris. — 00:00:20

00:00:29 — Max-outs and level 30; Thor Aackerlund; a smaller but connected community; strategies, the championship and live streaming

  • ★★ NES Tetris has two white whales: a max-out score of 999,999 points, beyond which the game cannot count, and level 30, since from level 29 blocks fall almost too fast to move. — 00:00:29
  • ★★ Back then only Thor Aackerlund claimed a max-out score at level 30; many thought he was lying, but he was not. — 00:00:44
  • ★★★ Oddly, far fewer people played NES Tetris in 2008 than in 1990, when hundreds of millions were trying to reach level 30, though a larger player base should mean higher top scores. — 00:00:58
    • check: hundreds of millions — doubtful
  • ★★ A few people never stopped playing NES Tetris and, after 20 years, got pretty good at it. — 00:01:14
  • ★★★ By 2008 Tetris players were far better connected than in 1990, because the internet connects us and smaller communities can be more tightly knit; among a hundred million, it's all noise. — 00:01:27
  • ★★ Players learned from each other: build the well on the right, except in the middle near level 29; some developed a new piece-moving technique called hypertapping. — 00:01:40
  • ★★★ In 2010 the Classic Tetris World Championship began, bringing top players together in person and motivating them to improve through competition. — 00:01:56
  • ★★★ Play at the tournament improves every year: this year (2018) several players maxed out in qualifying, and champion Joseph became the first to reach level 30 before a live audience. — 00:02:05
  • ★★ Live streaming on Twitch and YouTube lets players learn from each other; even decades-long top players are changing their style to reflect new discoveries. — 00:02:16 · YouTube

00:02:26 — Why humanity got better: enthusiast spaces and small passionate groups; Life's Library open; the internet is more than toxicity

  • ★★★ As a result dozens of people have now maxed out, and Joseph recently reached level 31, previously visited only by the legendary Thor. — 00:02:29
  • ★ A max-out is still ridiculously hard, but possible. — 00:02:37
  • ★★★ Humanity is better at Tetris because enthusiasts built spaces online and off that connect people over a usually solitary hobby. — 00:02:44
  • ★★★ Small groups of deeply passionate people can often be more productive than large groups of casually interested people. — 00:02:56
  • ★★ That idea is one reason John and Rosianna started the Life's Library Book Club, which thanks to viewers' overwhelming response is now open for enrollment. — 00:03:01 · Rosianna Halse Rojas
  • ★★★ It is fashionable to call the internet a festering cesspool of toxicity, and it is, but it is also many other things, including a main driver of Tetris performance. — 00:03:11

00:03:24 — No 'the Internet', only our Internet; making his own internet better; sign-off and Pizzamas P.S.

  • ★★★ There is no 'the Internet', especially with personalized feeds: there is only each person's own Internet. — 00:03:24 · recommender system

    “There is only for each of us our Internet.”

  • ★★★ John does not believe he can make the Internet better, but he wants to make his Internet better, and he thinks Tetris has a lot to teach him there. (hedged) — 00:03:33

  • ★★ In a P.S. John announces that Pizzamas is coming next week (week of 29 October 2018). — 00:03:45 · Pizzamas

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description recommends the dramatic Classic Tetris World Championships YouTube channel to learn more about Tetris. — video description · YouTube
  • ★ The players featured include seven-time champion Jonas Neubauer, new world champion Joseph, and hypertapper extraordinaire Koryan, shown playing Jonas. — video description
  • ★★ John calls Joseph's video of reaching level 31 one of the single most beautiful things he has ever seen on YouTube. — video description · YouTube
  • ★★ John is a huge Tetris fan and calls it the most perfect video game ever made: don't @ him. (playful) — video description

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Internet · Tetris

Also: People: Joseph Saelee · Thor Aackerlund

Projects: Life's Library · Pizzamas

Organizations: Twitch · YouTube

Concepts: Hypertapping · online community · recommender system

Places: United States

Events: Classic Tetris World Championship

Products: Game Boy · Nintendo Entertainment System

Only in the description or credits: Alexey Pajitnov · Jonas Neubauer · Koryan · Rosianna Halse Rojas

Also centred on Internet: Watermelon Internet Trolls · WE WON! Net Neutrality and Re-Thinking Cynicism · 19 Ways to Not Suck on the Internet · Is YouTube Good for Humanity? · Logging Off · History Is Happening

Also centred on Tetris: Tetris Day! · Tetris Day! · get your game on · Breaking News: Complexly Signs Major Tetris Athlete

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