Being a Tetris addict, my eyes were immediately drawn to the Tetris Tower 3-D game shown in this month’s (July 07, issue 15.07) edition of Wired Magazine. By the way, I just love this magazine! I look forward to receiving it each month and always go straight to the “Play” section where they pick “What’s Wired This Month” - usually consisting of some of the latest gadgets, games, dvds, music, tv…you get the idea.
Anyway, number 9 on July’s “Playlist” was the Tetris Tower 3-D game, in which they commented about Tetris finally getting into “meatspace.” Ok, Wikipedia time for me - this term is totally foreign to me. According to Wikipedia, the term “meatspace” is defined as, “a dysphemism for real life or the physical world and conceived as the opposite of cyberspace or virtual reality.” That’s your vocabulary lesson of the day. Look for yourself… (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meatspace)
The little blurb went on to describe the game as playing like the old connect four game, where you drop the plastic game pieces down into the top of the game and try not to leave any empty spaces. It did not mention anything more about it, so I had to do some searching to learn more - and to get my hands on a game! I have no idea how long the game has been out and to this date, still have no clue as to whether it is a brand new game, or a few years old, but to make a long story short, I could not find a game locally and ended up winning a bid on a used game through ebay. Twenty bucks later, and a few bumps and bruises from shipping, I had my game!
Now that I have it, I can give you a little more info. It is made by Radica Games which the box says is from Dallas, TX and appears to be dated in 2004, but I am not sure if that is the original date for this game. It requires two AA batteries for the sound effects and flashing lights. Basically the game is played by picking a particular piece which is lit up and shown on the player’s side of the game, and manipulating it into the position you want before dropping it into the game. When the piece is dropped, it is guided down by rails, along the line of connect 4. Another “piece indicator” light will be flashing during your turn - that is the piece your opponent will have to play (ooohhh, strategy!). The electronics are for sound, play levels, piece indicators and turn indicators. In order to keep track of how many lines each player has cleared, there are levers on the side of the game, which the individual player would pull towards them as they clear each line. The winner (of course) would be the player who cleared the most lines after the pieces have been stacked to the top of the tower.
Do I like it? Well, it definitely takes you back to the “old days” of playing boxed games. I guess if the power went out (and with summer storms in the south - that can happen often) or battery supply for my handheld gamer got low - I might play it again.