Editing Tetris (section)

===Creation (1984–1985)===
[[File:Alexey Pajitnov GDC 2024 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|left|Alexey Pajitnov (pictured in 2024), the creator of ''Tetris'']]
[[Alexey Pajitnov]] was a [[speech recognition]] and [[artificial intelligence]] researcher for the [[Dorodnitsyn Computing Center of the Academy of Sciences]].{{sfn|Ackerman|2016|pp=30–31}} Pajitnov developed several puzzle games on the institute's [[Elektronika 60]],{{sfn|Sheff|Eddy|1999|p=298}} an archaic Russian clone of the [[PDP-11]] computer.{{sfn|Kent|2001|p=377}} In June 1984, he became inspired to convert [[pentomino]] tiling puzzles to the computer<ref name="guardian2014"/><ref>{{Cite interview |url=https://archive.org/details/oh-x-1989-08-hires-scans/Oh%21X%201989%208/page/90/mode/1up |magazine=Oh!X |last=Pajitnov |first=Alexey |author-link=Alexey Pajitnov |title=The Softouch: Software Information |volume=8 |issue=8 |date=August 1989 |page=90 |language=Japanese |access-date=February 1, 2025 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> after he bought a pentomino puzzle set from a store and played with it in his office.{{sfn|Ackerman|2016|p=32}}

Pajitnov wrote ''Tetris'' using [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]] for the [[RT-11]] operating system on the Elektronika 60{{sfn|Pajitnov|Rogers|2023|loc=1:50}} and experimented with different versions.{{sfn|Sheff|Eddy|1999|p=299}} Because the Elektronika 60 had no [[Graphical user interface|graphical interface]], Pajitnov modeled the field and pieces using spaces and brackets.{{sfn|Sheff|Eddy|1999|page=299}} He felt that the game would be needlessly complicated with the twelve different shape variations of pentominoes, so he scaled the concept down to [[tetromino]]es, of which there are seven variants.<ref name="guardian2014">{{cite news |last=Hoad |first=Phil |date=June 2, 2014 |title=''Tetris'': How We Made the Addictive Computer Game |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jun/02/how-we-made-tetris |access-date=July 5, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621140034/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jun/02/how-we-made-tetris |archive-date=June 21, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Afterward, he programmed the basic mechanics, including the ability to flip tetrominoes as they fell in a vertical screen and the clearing of lines.<ref name="guardian2014" />{{sfn|Ackerman|2016|pp=33–34}} The name ''Tetris'' was a combination of "tetra" (meaning "four") and Pajitnov's favorite sport, [[tennis]].{{sfn|Loguidice|2009|p=293}}{{sfn|Pajitnov|Rogers|2023|loc=1:20}} Pajitnov completed the first version of ''Tetris'' {{Circa}} 1985.{{efn|[[The Tetris Company]] celebrates ''Tetris''{{'s}} anniversary based on its apparent creation date on June 6, 1984, though various sources, including copyright records, indicate that the original version was completed in 1985.<ref name="timeextension">{{cite web|url=https://www.timeextension.com/news/2024/06/anniversary-is-tetris-really-40-this-year|work=[[Time Extension]]|title=Anniversary: Is ''Tetris'' Really 40 This Year?|last1=McFerran|first1=Damien|last2=Yarwood|first2=Jack|date=June 24, 2024|accessdate=November 18, 2024|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240717140506/https://www.timeextension.com/news/2024/06/anniversary-is-tetris-really-40-this-year|archivedate=July 17, 2024}}</ref>}} This version had no scoring system and no levels<ref name="guardian020609">{{cite web |last=Johnson |first=Bobbie |website=[[The Guardian]] |date=June 1, 2009 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2009/jun/02/tetris-25anniversary-alexey-pajitnov |title=How ''Tetris'' Conquered the World, Block by Block |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329135242/http://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2009/jun/02/tetris-25anniversary-alexey-pajitnov |archive-date=March 29, 2015 |url-status=live |access-date=February 7, 2025}}</ref> but Pajitnov's peers were captivated.{{sfn|Temple|2004|loc=6:32–7:02}}{{sfn|Ackerman|2016|pp=35–36}}

Pajitnov sought to [[Porting|port]] ''Tetris'' to the [[IBM Personal Computer]] (IBM PC), which had a higher-quality display than the Elektronika 60. He recruited his colleague Dmitry Pavlovsky and the 16-year-old computer prodigy [[Vadim Gerasimov]].{{sfn|Sheff|Eddy|1999|page=300}}{{sfn|Ackerman|2016|pp=54–56}} Using [[Turbo Pascal]],{{sfn|Pajitnov|Rogers|2023|loc=1:50}} the three adapted ''Tetris'' to the IBM PC over two months, with Gerasimov incorporating color and Pavlovsky incorporating a scoreboard.{{sfn|Sheff|Eddy|1999|page=300}}{{sfn|Ackerman|2016|pp=63–65}} Floppy disk copies of this version were distributed freely throughout the Dorodnitsyn Computing Center, before spreading quickly among Moscow computer circles.{{sfn|Sheff|Eddy|1999|page=300–301}} Pajitnov kept note of second-hand accounts of ''Tetris''{{'s}} spread during this time.{{sfn|Ackerman|2016|p=70}} ''Tetris'' reportedly won second place in a [[Zelenodolsk, Republic of Tatarstan|Zelenodolsk]] computer game competition in November 1985,{{sfn|Sheff|Eddy|1999|page=300}} and by 1986, nearly everyone with an IBM computer in Moscow and similar cities had played ''Tetris''.{{sfn|Ackerman|2016|p=89}}