A 13-year-old competitive Tetris player became the first known human to beat the game on the original NES by forcing it into a kill screen. The player, Willis Gibson, at the same time broke world records for overall score, level achieved, and total numbers of lines in the 34-year-old game. Previously, only an AI had been able to “break” Tetris.
From Sofia Ferreira Santos writing for the BBC:
In 2010, professional competitive gamer Thor Aackerlund managed to reach level 30 by using a technique called hypertapping, where a player vibrates their fingers in a way which moves the controller faster than the in-game speed.
This led to other gamers adopting hypertapping and other techniques to see how far they could go — but as of last month, only AI had been able to reach the game’s true kill screen.
A kill screen happens when a player reaches a level which causes the game to crash.
At the end of his 38-minute run, Willis’ screen crashes and blocks no longer come down as he beats the game.
The teenager — who goes by the name of Blue Scuti on YouTube — has played the game since he was 11, and has competed in several gaming tournaments.
Whether or not you care about Tetris, don’t miss his reaction at the end of this video.
(via Waxy)