CarrieVS wrote: Although I do also kind of like Tetris, I certainly wouldn't call it my favourite and indeed I barely call it a video game.
Nope. I can't let this one slide. I mean you were probably joking, but... Look. Tetris is THE video game. It's a singularly brilliant, elegantly executed diversion that simply doesn't work in any other format. A tabletop version of Tetris is just weird. And there have been card games that sort of attempt to mimic some of the mechanics, but it's just impossible. So many factors play into how Tetris works, from gravity to instant destruction to the randomness of the pieces coming (although I maintain there's somebody in there who keeps giving me those effing Z-blocks when I need a damn line) that out and out require a computer, however basic, keeping track of all the variables in real time. Not to mention, the original game for the 8-bit Nintendo looked good, sounded better, and played effortlessly. The first time I ever watched somebody play Tetris for an extended period of time, it was somebody's mom, and that seems like nothing today when everyone in the world plays some sort of electronic game, but back then it was wild to have grownups enjoy a video game. It's because with a game like Tetris, you can figure out how to play it within a minute, even if you never read the accompanying instruction manual (remember those?).
I agree with you in that Tetris isn't my favorite favorite game of all time. It's sort of like how the Beatles aren't my favorite band. Every other band on my list owes something to the Beatles, but in different ways they all do something just a little bit better and that something appeals to me. But Tetris is my desert island game, bar none. It has enough replayability just from the randomness of the falling blocks and the different strategies involved between the two modes that even if I got super burned out on it, I could set it aside for a couple weeks and come back to it and it would probably feel very comfy again, like my favorite hoodie, or homemade tacos. No matter how expansive a world is that your games occupy, at some point you come to the invisible wall because they're games made up of limited space. To me, personally, Tetris approaches the problem of the infinite universe, so it's definitely high up on my list.
Not a video game! Kids these days.