Michael Artiaga: Tetris: Old game, young legend

When the classic video game “Tetris” came onto the market in the USA more than 35 years ago, Michael Kanh Artiaga was far from being born. Nevertheless, the 16-year-old Texan achieved a so-called “rebirth” last weekend after successfully completing 255 levels in a live stream. In the technical jargon of the classic video game, this refers to the game crashing and then automatically starting over again.

For a long time, this process was considered unattainable. Normally, from level 29 onwards, the game assumed speeds that were simply too fast for human reflexes. In addition, developer Nintendo apparently did not expect that a player would ever achieve such progress. Usually the game would just crash at higher levels. It wasn’t until the end of 2023 that another teenager from the USA set the previous record. At level 157 his run through the so-called “kill screen” (frozen screen) came to an end.

But Artiaga not only made use of new techniques, but also a modification of the game. This meant he was able to delay the collapse of the game. So after he had mastered the officially last and 255th level, the game simply jumped back to 0 – a first in gaming history.

The newly crowned Tetris legend is by no means an unknown quantity. Since childhood, he has successfully participated in Tetris tournaments with his brother, who is three years older than him. In 2020, the then 13-year-old was named Youngest Tetris World Champion by Guinness World Records. After his recent success, Artiaga jokingly told his viewers that he “never wanted to play Tetris again.”

Subscribe to the “nd”

Being left is complicated.
We keep track!

With our digital promotional subscription you can read all issues of »nd« digitally (nd.App or nd.Epaper) for little money at home or on the go.
Subscribe now!