14 DAY TRIAL // Tetris had its 30th anniversary back on June 6, and a video game enthusiast has decided to celebrate the timeless game by creating a T-shirt that plays it. Definitely a step up from the sound-activated LED T-shirts that some people are wearing at parties.
While some computer games come and go, others leave their mark on us in a way that never fades. Such is the case of the first video game to ever get into space, Tetris, which continues to defy the incredible advancements in the graphics that computers are able to render nowadays and in the raw power that processors gain year after year, and at the same time manages to garner gamer attention like it's the hottest thing.
In order to celebrate Tetris' 30th anniversary, Louxembourg-based game enthusiast Marc Kerger has decided to put his engineering skills to good use, manufacturing something that seems like the ultimate tribute to the game that has managed to endure through the decades: a wearable version of it, a T-shirt that plays Tetris.
Kerger cites an earlier LED hack of a pumpkin as inspiration for his project, making use of 128 LEDs, an Arduino Uno microcontroller board, 3D-printed housing, and materials for the buttons, as well as two Adafruit Matrix controllers.
"Here is a project I just finished, just in time for the 30th anniversary of Tetris. a T-Shirt you can play. with an Arduino Uno, 4 AA batteries and 128 LEDs. I always wanted a playable T-shirt, well now I made one myself. Based on the pumpktris instructables," he says.
In addition to the actual hardware components, Kerger has also designed the T-shirt to feature visual elements that correspond with the embedded hardware controls and outline the play area.
The T-shirt requires four rechargeable AA batteries in order to power up the game, as can be seen in the video below, showing Kerger playing it in real time on his torso.
After he finishes a level, the "screen" even displays the level number and his score, in a nod to old-time arcade games.
The only remaining question is whether Kerger has also implemented soft drops, the move that allows you to slide pieces into place once they hit the bottom in the small interval before the piece attaches to the rest.
In case you're jonesin' for a bit more Tetris-related stuff, you can check out this metal cover of the Tetris theme, from the video game cover band Critical Hit, a group that includes World of Warcraft composer Jason Hayes, among others.
