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Bring a friend to the latest Tetris Party tournament

by JC Fletcher { Jan 27th 2009 at 7:30PM }

Tetris Online is gearing up for a Tetris Party ... party. It's announced the second in its series of tournaments, this time featuring the WiiWare puzzler's co-op mode. Between February 1 and 15, registered teams of two will be able to compete to get the highest score and fastest time to 150 lines. The top 100 teams will receive 1200 Wii Points, just enough to get that copy of Tetris Party they clearly already have.

These tournaments finally justify all that time and effort most of us have put into Tetris. Extreme line-clearing skill always seemed like the kind of thing that should help people get ahead in life, but until these tournaments, it just hasn't.

Gallery: Tetris Party

Playing Tetris helps with trauma, study says

by David Hinkle { Jan 7th 2009 at 4:26PM }

We've always been big fans of Tetris, to tell the truth, and now it would seem the game has real health benefits. According to a study done in the UK, the game can help those with post-traumatic stress disorder. The study exposed volunteers to disturbing imagery and, for some, allowed them to play the game after. For those that played the game, stress levels reduced and they suffered from fewer flashbacks of the disturbing imagery.

So, make more time in your busy life to play some games. It's good for you!

Gallery: Tetris Party

[Via /.]

Wii Points up for grabs in Tetris Party tournaments

by Chris Greenhough { Nov 20th 2008 at 10:30PM }

Those online Tetris Party tournaments won't just enhance your fearsome internet reputation -- they'll also offer Wii Points as prizes, a pretty awesome way of keeping player interest high. The first tournament kicks off December 1st, and contains four rounds, each featuring one of Tetris Party's eighteen variations. After you complete a round, the game will give you a rank and confirmation code, which you can register at the official Tetris Party tournament site. Perform strongly over all four rounds, and you could win!

Five hundred prizes are up for grabs (though how many points will be given away isn't known), and we're fairly sure this is a global contest -- there's no mention of regional restrictions in the press release. Skip past the break for start dates, end dates, and other details of the first tournament, then get practicing!

Gallery: Tetris Party

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Wii Warm Up: Living room surfing

by JC Fletcher { Oct 25th 2008 at 10:30AM }

Slowly, games are starting to trickle out that allow the use of the Balance Board, for activities like skiing, tilting a maze (and infuriating yourself), controlling a robot, playing the drums, and even moving puzzle pieces. Oh, and riding a moose down a mountain. The potential for non-fitness-related fun is increasing.

Have you taken part in any non-Wii Fit-related Wii wobbling? What did you think of the experience? Do you look forward to any future Board-compatible games?

Gallery: Raving Rabbids TV Party

VC Friday: Tetris Party drops in PAL regions

by Chris Greenhough { Oct 24th 2008 at 2:27PM }

A port of casual PC title Home Sweet Home (succumb to your IKEA nesting instinct) and The Incredible Maze (succumb to possibly the worst game on WiiWare) would struggle to get noticed in most weeks, but on the day Tetris Party finally lands in Europe and Australia? Poor things don't stand a chance, cos' there ain't no party like a Tetris Party!

Tetris Party -- WiiWare -- 1200 Nintendo Points
Home Sweet Home -- WiiWare -- 1000 Nintendo Points
The Incredible Maze -- WiiWare -- 500 Nintendo Points

Gallery: Tetris Party

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Wii Fanboy Review: Tetris Party

by David Hinkle { Oct 21st 2008 at 3:34PM }

Tetris Party on WiiWare is classic Tetris action. If you're expecting some kind of re-imagining or complete overhaul to the classic game, then you won't find it. What you will find is a very competent installment in the series, complete with several fun and exciting single-player modes and a very streamlined approach to playing online. If you're a fan of Tetris, then you're going to like what's here in Tetris Party.

Gallery: Tetris Party

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Retail and download releases for the week of October 20th

by David Hinkle { Oct 20th 2008 at 12:48PM }

It's a pretty big week for releases. On top of plenty of games available at retail, there's a couple of imports available on the Virtual Console, as well as one awaited WiiWare release (can you guess what it is?). Head past the break and start thinking about cracking open that piggy bank.

Gallery: Tetris Party

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Tetris Party tournaments commence December 1st [update]

by Chris Greenhough { Oct 20th 2008 at 10:00AM }

Tetris Party only reaches the North American WiiWare service today, but already Hudson has started building hype by asking us to bring it in a bunch of tournaments based on the game.

Things kick off on December 1st, when the first of four separate contests will begin, but don't just think being nimble at classic Tetris is good enough -- any of Tetris Party's 18 modes could feature in these, which could be bad news for those not equipped with a Balance Board. No word on prizes yet, though something rare and very limited edition-esque would be lovely thanks, Hudson.

Update 1: A Hudson press release just revealed Tetris Party would drop in Europe and Australia this Friday!

Gallery: Tetris Party

[Via WiiWare World]

The Incredible Maze has a Tetris Party on WiiWare

by Justin McElroy { Oct 20th 2008 at 9:05AM }

Let's not waste time with pleasantries, dear reader. It's Monday, there's WiiWare, this is it:

Tetris Party (Tetris Online, Inc., 1-6 players, 1,200 Wii Points) -- The list of "Types of Party Invitations We Would Decline" is surprisingly short. There's "murder party," "fat person key party," and "Tetris party." That doesn't necessarily mean, however, that we would decline a game based on the subject. Especially when, like this one, it looks really solid.

The Incredible Maze (Digital Leisure Inc., 1 player, 500 Wii Points): According to Nintendo, you navigate mazes in this game with the Wiimote or, if you prefer, the Balance Board. We say "according to Nintendo" because after looking at these actual, real screenshots, we refuse to believe this is being released for a console made in the last ten years.

VC Tuesday: Party time! Excellent!

by JC Fletcher { Oct 14th 2008 at 8:55AM }

How can the Wii have been in stores for two years without a Tetris game? At least Hudson is compensating for the lack of the staple video game with one that is both awesome-looking and cheap. It's being joined on WiiWare by a cheapo darts game and Brain Challenge -- which was actually pretty good on the DS.

On the Virtual Console, a super old sidescroller from Sunsoft that looks like a slowed-down, more awkward Legend of Kage, and a totally cute Taito classic!

Virtual Console releases:

Kanshakudama Nage Kantarou no Toukaidou Gojuusan Tsugi (Famicom, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points)
The New Zealand Story (PC Engine, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)

WiiWare releases:

Darts Wii (1-4 players, 500 Wii Points)
Brain Challenge (1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
Tetris Party (1-6 players, 1,200 Wii Points)

Gallery: Tetris Party

Tetris Party gets physical

by Chris Greenhough { Oct 8th 2008 at 12:42PM }

Tetris Party is out soon, which means we get to dust off our Balance Boards and play Tetris the way Tetris was always supposed to be played: by leaning and squatting. Tetris Party producer and cool hat-wearer Tony Tran has generously demoed the Balance Board mode, which looks straightforward enough: you lean to steer your tetrominoes across the screen, and squat to rotate them. The playing field is drastically reduced to allow for the imprecision of balance-based controls.

It looks quite fun, though this video did miss one thing: footage of Tony playing this mother on level 20. We suspect our own knees, weakened by a lack of exercise due to a life spent blogging, would struggle to get beyond level 5 with all that squatting.

Gallery: Tetris Party

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Joystiq hands-on: Tetris Party (WiiWare)

by Zack Stern { Oct 6th 2008 at 4:00PM }

We've soaked up Tetris on countless platforms. There's a balance to strike between versions that retain enough of the core game to be authentically Tetris, and adding new puzzle elements. Tetris Party for WiiWare nails this demand, providing about a dozen game modes, many of which, are all-new. Call it "yet another Tetris?" Maybe. But this is a Tetris on which we'll gladly spend 1,200 Wii points with its release sometime this month.

Nintendo claims there are 18 modes, 10 of which are new, but we only agree technically; the company counts some modes twice as single- and multi-player games. (Most modes support up to four players on one system, and a few work with up to six online.) We tore into as many as we could before overloading like a kid on a Halloween sugar-high. Here's how they stand up.

Gallery: Tetris Party (WiiWare, 10-06-08)

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Tetris Party: October, 1200 Wii Points, 'Squat Mode'

by James Ransom-Wiley { Oct 3rd 2008 at 12:45PM }

Nintendo has kicked off the second day of its fall media summit with a close look at Tetris Party, a robust addition of the evergreen puzzler for WiiWare. The game's producer has confirmed an October release, priced at 1,200 Wii Points ($12) -- or roughly 67¢ per mode (there are 18 of them!). Included in the bunch is a Balance Board ~~mode~~ exercise that requires squatting to rotate the pieces. Betcha can't beat 10 lines!

Gallery: Tetris Party

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Wii Warm Up: Party favor

by JC Fletcher { Sep 15th 2008 at 8:00AM }

Tetris Party is on the way to WiiWare! (As of the writing of this post, Nintendo hasn't sent out the Wii Shop updates, so it might even be out today, in which case Tetris Party is on WiiWare!)

Tetris has been around for a while, and it's changed in tiny, tiny ways. Except for a few new rules for nerds, it's still basically the same game it was when Alexey Pazhitnov was puttering around with it in his spare time. Tetris Party has some variant modes like the "Shadow" puzzle mode, but you're still dropping the same seven shapes into the same 10-block-wide field.

Has Tetris held up? Will you be ready to go back to the well (though not for Welltris) when Party hits? Ah, of course you will, so let's just talk about how amazingly wonderful Tetris continues to be!

Gallery: Tetris Party

Hudson doles out invitations to Tetris Party

by Chris Greenhough { Sep 12th 2008 at 10:00PM }

Tetris Party, the Hudson-developed, Balance Board-supporting Tetris game with more modes than you could shake an inverted L tetramino at, will be out on Japan's WiiWare store at some point next month. Unlike most Tetris games, Hudson seems to be putting some real effort into Tetris Party, coming up with some obscure (but fun-looking) variations on just dropping some blocks.

Be prepared to pay, though: at 1,200 Wii Points, this will be one of the most expensive WiiWare titles on the market. One day, we'll sit down and calculate how much money we've spent over the past 20-odd years on different Tetris games. This will probably be followed by incessant sobbing.