A 13-year-old boy from Oklahoma in the US is believed to be the first (human or machine) to ever beat Tetris since the game’s release in 1984.
Willis Gibson reached level 157 in the game on the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) console, surpassing the achievements of artificial intelligence bots that had previously reached the game’s “kill screen” where blocks fall so rapidly the game cannot continue.
He live-streamed the entire thing where he played for over two hours and reached the infamous level 157 where the game freezes and stops generating new pieces.
“I’m going to pass out, I can’t feel my fingers,” he said after causing the game to crash.
“It’s never been done by a human before,” Vince Clemente, the president of the Classic Tetris World Championship, told the New York Times (NYT).
In an interview with the NYT, Willis said he practices roughly 20 hours a week.
He dedicated the win to his late father, Adam, who passed away last month.
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