On 03/27/2022 at 04:02 PM,
by
SanAndreas
In the late 80s, I started seeing Tetris in computer stores. Created by Russian engineer Alexey Pajitnov while in the employ of the Soviet state agency Elektronorgtechnica (ELORG), the first version of Tetris to hit the US was published by Spectrum Holobyte for the Mac, under license from ELORG. As such, Pajitnov never saw a penny of royalties, these going straight to the Soviet government (he finally gained legal rights, and therefore royalties, to his creation in 1995, after the USSR collapsed and Pajitnov himself had moved to the United States.) A rather bare-bones version of the game, it nevertheless set the standard for the series going forward, including copious Russian imagery and music. It was kind of interesting seeing this blatanty Russian game in computer stores, it being five years since the infamous Able Archer 83 incident and two years since Gorbachev instituted the glasnost policy.