[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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