俄罗斯方块凭什么火了30年？

    位居世界上首批视频游戏之列的俄罗斯方块(Tetris)已经迈入而立之年，但它的品牌一点也不显老。

    为了庆祝它的三十岁生日，世界各地正在举行一系列主题标签为 #WeAllFitTogether（意为我们严丝合缝）的玩家聚会。今年4月份，德雷塞尔大学(Drexel University)一栋建筑物的外墙在LED灯的帮助下，化身为世界上最大的俄罗斯方块游戏，规模打破了世界纪录。

    但自从这款游戏于1984年在前苏联诞生以来，究竟是什么让人们移动手指，不停地点击，以确保每一行方块保持一致，然后消失在虚拟以太之中？答案：这是新平台和令人着迷的心理诉求相结合的结果。

    俄罗斯方块品牌独家代理商、蓝色星球软件公司(Blue Planet Software)CEO玛雅•罗杰斯表示，过去三十年来，这款游戏一直精心保护着它的核心玩法，进而成就了长盛不衰的传奇。她说：“它对所有年龄，所有人群都有吸引力。”

    现如今，虽然移动和社交已经成为最大的两个游戏来源，但俄罗斯方块的吸引力并没有显露出任何衰减迹象。从1983年的任天堂娱乐系统(NES)到智能手机，俄罗斯方块目前出现在50多种不同的游戏平台之上，超过4.25亿移动设备用户购买了这款游戏。Facebook用户也已经玩了超过200亿盘俄罗斯方块对战版游戏(Tetris Battle)。

    此外，俄罗斯方块已经平稳地过渡到了智能手机，目前已跻身苹果公司(Apple)iTunes应用商店付费应用排行榜前100名。罗杰斯说：“我们一直确保出现在每一个平台上面。”

    但这款游戏也有一种摄人心魄的魅力，让人们连续多年不知倦怠地沉溺其中。罗杰斯说：“玩一盘俄罗斯方块游戏，能够满足你在混乱中创造秩序的渴望。”

    当今之世，还没有出现比乔纳斯•纽鲍尔更好的俄罗斯方块玩家。纽鲍尔四度加冕NES游戏系统俄罗斯方块世界锦标赛冠军。自这项赛事于2010年创建以来，他还没有被击败过，而且还没有退出江湖的打算。他说：“一定得坚持下去，不能满足于四个冠军头衔，”他说。

    身为独立研究和咨询公司Saibus Research高级分析师，纽鲍尔每年都努力地在竞争激烈的俄罗斯方块世界和他的工作之间维持一种平衡。虽然他说他对俄罗斯方块的热爱和他的日常工作并没有许多共同点，但为了精益求精，纽鲍尔确实会花一些时间来分析这款游戏。

    他已经玩了大半辈子俄罗斯方块，但年复一年，这款游戏总是吸引他继续玩下去。“它备受不同年龄组人群的欢迎，”他说。“它的简单性几乎有催眠作用。”

    另外，玩俄罗斯方块还有额外的特性：你永远都不会觉得完全满足。“从来没有什么正确的步骤，”纽鲍尔说。“对完美步骤的追求永远也不会结束。”

    One of the world’s first videogames, Tetris, has hit the big three-oh today, and its brand is anything but old school.

    To celebrate, there’s a series of Meet Up events being conducted around the world using the hashtag #WeAllFitTogether. In April, the world’s largest game of Tetris was played on the side of a building at Drexel University using LED lights, breaking a world record.

    But what’s kept people swiping and clicking to ensure each row of blocks stays aligned and disappears into the virtual ether since its development in 1984 Soviet Russia? A combination of new platforms and a mesmerizing psychological appeal.

    Maya Rogers, the CEO of Blue Planet Software, the sole agent of the Tetris brand, said the protection of the game’s core over the last three decades has aided its longevity. “It appeals to people from all ages and all demographics,” she said.

    As mobile and social become two of the largest sources for gaming these days, Tetris isn’t showing any signs of losing its appeal. Currently appearing on over 50 different gaming platforms, from the 1983 Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) to smartphones, Tetris is sold on over 425 million mobile devices. More than 20 billion games of Tetris Battle have been played on Facebook, too.

    Tetris has also had a smooth transition on to mobiles phones and appears inside the top 100 paid applications on the Apple AAPL -0.28% iTunes App store. “We’ve always made sure that we’re on every platform,” said Rogers.

    But there’s something psychologically entrancing about the game, too, that’s kept people hooked through the years. “Play a game of Tetris,” said Rogers, “and satisfy your craving to create order out of chaos.”

    One man who’s been able to do that better than anyone else in the world is Jonas Neubauer, the four-time Tetris world champion on the NES gaming system. He’s gone undefeated since the event started in 2010 and doesn’t plan on calling it quits any time soon. “You have to keep going,” he said. “You don’t stop at four.“

    Neubauer juggles his yearly foray into the competitive world of Tetris with his job as a senior analyst at Saibus Research, an independent research and advisory firm. Although he says his passion for Tetris and his day job don’t have much in common, he does take the time to analyze his game for the sake of improvement.

    Tetris, which he’s been playing for nearly his whole life, draws him back for more, year after year. “It’s so pervasive among so many age groups,” he said. “Its simplicity is almost hypnotic.”

    Plus, there’s the added quality of playing Tetris and never feeling wholly fulfilled. “There’s no correct move that you can make,” said Neubauer. “The quest for the perfect move never ends.”