The Tetris Effect: The Game that Hypnotized the World

Dan Ackerman

Sep 2016 · Hachette Audio · Narrated by Dan Ackerman

About this audiobook

Tetris is perhaps the most instantly recognizable, popular video game ever made. But the fascinating story of its origins is lesser known. How did an obscure Soviet programmer, working on frail, antiquated computers, create a product that has earned nearly $1 billion in sales? How did an inspired, makeshift game turn into a worldwide sensation, which has been displayed at the Museum of Modern Art, inspired a Hollywood movie, and been played in outer space?
In this surprising, trivia-filled audiobook, tech reporter Dan Ackerman describes how, as a teenager behind the Iron Curtain, Alexey Pajitnov was struck with inspiration, then meticulously worked for years to bring the game he had envisioned to life. Ackerman shows how Tetris worked its way first through Pajitnov's office and then out into the world, entrancing player after player with its hypnotic shapes. Then, tracing the stories of the British, American, and Japanese moguls who raced each other for the rights, Ackerman recounts the game's complex and improbable path to global success. The Tetris Effect is an homage to both creator and creation, and a perfect gift for anyone who's ever played the game-which is to say everyone.

About the author

Dan Ackerman is a former radio DJ turned journalist. An editor at the leading technology news website CNET, he writes about hot-button consumer technology topics, from virtual reality to cybersecurity, and appears regularly as the in-house tech expert on CBS This Morning. He lives in Brooklyn with his family and a large collection of vinyl records.