The Story of Tetris

This is what capitalism is: intermediation, rent-seeking and creating a regulatory moat around a monopoly. Some time ago I watched this excellent video on the history of Tetris [1]. The only "innovation" of capitalism in this entire story are layers of licensing agreements. Again: intermediation, rent-seeking and regulatory moats (through intellectual property). A domain is nothing more than a digital record. The cost of providing that service is essentially zero. The cost should be pretty much zero. You'd have to do something about squatting but, hey, that's already an unaddressed problem. [1]: ▶ this video

in “9% price increase for .COM and .XYZ domains starting Sept 1, 2023” · View on HN

The creator, Alexey Pajitnov, was eventually able to see some money from his creation after emigrating to the US and cofounding The Tetris Company. The Gaming Historian channel has a great documentary video on it here: ▶ this video

in “Made in the USSR: 6 video games Soviets went crazy over” · View on HN

[1] is an excellent and fascinating documentary on the history of Tetris, how it came about and the different business struggles in the West to license the game, which was challenging given that it originated in the USSR [1] ▶ this video

in “Made in the USSR: 6 video games Soviets went crazy over” · View on HN

A lot of the story regarding the Tetris split between Nintendo and Tengen is covered in the great Gaming Historian video [The Story of Tetris]( ▶ this video ).

in “The games Nintendo didn't want you to play: Tengen” · View on HN