Oklahoma Teenager Achieves Historic Feat: First Human to Beat Tetris

In a groundbreaking accomplishment, a 13-year-old from Oklahoma, known as Blue Scuti online and by his legal name, Willis Gibson, has emerged as the first person ever to conquer the classic video game Tetris, a milestone that had eluded gamers for over three decades.

Until now, the game's elusive "kill screen" had only been reached by bots powered by artificial intelligence. The "kill screen" is a point in the game where Tetris becomes unplayable due to the rapid descent of blocks, leaving players with no chance of continuing. However, Willis Gibson managed to achieve a different kind of victory by freezing the game with a perfect score of 999999.

Documented in a video posted on Tuesday, Willis's journey unfolded over approximately 38 minutes of intense gameplay. Reaching an impressive level 157, he momentarily believed a misplaced block had thwarted his attempt. With resilience and determination, he continued playing, uttering, "Please crash," as he completed another line of blocks. The moment of triumph arrived as the game froze, and Willis exclaimed, "Oh my God! Yes! I’m going to pass out. I can’t feel my hands."

Vince Clemente, the president of the Classic Tetris World Championship, expressed the significance of this achievement, stating, "It’s never been done by a human before. It’s basically something that everyone thought was impossible until a couple of years ago." Tetris was originally released in 1989.

Willis, who dedicates his win to his late father, Adam, demonstrated exceptional dedication and skill. Playing on a cathode-ray tube television, he practises roughly 20 hours a week, showcasing his commitment to mastering the game. Despite only starting to play Tetris two years ago, Willis has rapidly ascended to become one of the country's top competitive players, employing a popular technique called "rolling," as reported by 404 Media. Willis first encountered the game on YouTube, where he later shared the video of his triumphant achievement with the world.