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[img width=442 height=595]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a136/DarkTheThief/tengen_tetris_nes_main.jpg[/img]
A long, long time ago, a game called Tetris was released to the public. Created by Russian Game Designer Alexey Pajitnov, this game became a worldwide success and phenomenon. The object of the game was to drop blocks to form a line, thus getting rid of the line and making more space in the playing area, and also making the blocks fall faster in the process. It was easy to pick up, but really hard to finish. It's been released on most, if not EVERY console, and to this day, remains popular.
However, one such version of Tetris, titled "TETRIS: The Soviet Mind Game", was lost to time. Why? Here's the story...
Back during the Golden Age of Gaming (The NES Days), a Company called Tengen existed. At this time, the NES had lockout technology to prevent unlicensed games from running on it. Tengen found a way around it, and released several unlicensed games for the console. At some point, Atari Games created TETRIS: The Soviet Mind Game, and Tengen published it. An immediate hit, the game was expected to sell hundreds of thousands of copies...
Unfortunately, Nintendo's own version Tetris was released, and they got pissed at Tengen, sued them, and won. 100,000 Copies of Tengen's Version sold, the game was recalled, and all the copies were destroyed.
As for how many copies exist today, I don't know. I do know, however, that this game is one of the Holy Grails of the NES. Complete copies sell for really high prices.
As for *why* Nintendo got mad, I personally think they were jealous of Tengen's possible chances of success, and didn't want anyone interfering.
The game was only on the shelf for a month before being pulled.
Well, that's it for this sad story. Tengen and it's version of Tetris has since been forgotten by many. If you own a copy of this game, cherish it. It's a really special game, and I would love to own it.
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I havnt been followed this one super closely, but it seems to have dropped in price quite a bit over the last year. If its still trending down or at least staying put, it might be time to grab one soon.
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It's been trending down for a few years because of the initial hype around that it only a few copies existed. It was later found out to only be semi-rare and not horrendously rare, but prices on it had been driven through the roof ($500+ at one point, I believe).
I saw a loose copy at the flea market for $25 and a complete copy for $60.
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The way I remember reading the story was that Nintendo secured licensing for the home console market and Atari only had licensing for arcades. Nintendo sued, and won, and Tengen Tetris was pulled from the shelves.
Either way, I was able to find this grail last year as a loose copy for only $5. I think their system had the game tagged at the Nintendo version. Good news for me!
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After reading this, I took another look at the photo and said to myself, "Is this really as rare as he claims? 'Cuz I'd have sworn I've seen it many a time at garage sales and flea markets."
Then I realized I'd been seeing the PC releases all over the place.
Live and learn...
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I'm pretty sure Bickman is right about the licensing thing. That, and the fact that Nintendo dominated anyone who stepped in their way, were the reasons why the "illegal" Tengen carts were pulled from the shelves.
Tengen eventually released licensed titles for Nintendo, but I'm sure it was an uneasy relationship there, what with the suing and such.
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@blcklblskt: I thought Tengen releases were all licensed before they started making the black carts. The black carts were after they had cracked the NES10 code, which is what caused all of the lawsuits because someone illegally got a copy of the patent after engineering already cracked it.
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Ahhh, I see. I thought that the black cartridges had come first. Thanks for the info!
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I found my CIB copy for $7, at a FuncoLand. Definitely one of my more thrilling moments while I was still actively collecting.
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I have a copy for sale in pristine condition if anyone is still looking
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I still need to get this one CIB someday.
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@Nenaeh: Please message me about your copy of this game, I would be very interested!
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I also thought the unlicensed games came first.
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