Tetris

From Russia with fun!

Trivia

According to intensive research from Dr. Michael Crane and Dr. Richard Haier, et al. prolonged Tetris activity can also lead to more efficient brain activity during play. When first playing Tetris, brain function and activity increases, along with greater cerebral energy consumption, measured by glucose metabolic rate. As Tetris players become more proficient, their brains show a reduced consumption of glucose, indicating more efficient brain activity for this task. The game can also cause a repetitive stress symptom in that the brain will involuntarily picture tetris combinations even when the player is not playing the game (the Tetris effect), although this can occur with any computer game showcasing repeated images or scenarios.

Author David Sheff's book, "Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and Enslaved Your Children", has revealed that Tetris was one of the dastardly instruments with which Nintendo used to zap an American industry, capture your dollars, and enslave your children.

The record holder for the world's largest fully functional game of Tetris is given to a group of Dutch students who, in 1995, lit up all 15 floors of the Electrical Engineering department of their university. A similar effort (though of lesser scale) was more recently performed by students at Brown University.