Farewell Facebook Tetris Friends

larrytetris · August 31, 2012, 04:36:26 AM

I remember Facebook Tetris Friends reigniting my Tetris hobby. It was the first Tetris game I had played on PC. I started at around 1:50 Sprint when I first got Facebook... I've come a long ways. I've since got a couple of friends and even a teacher hooked, and played in front of an entire class because that teacher wanted to show off his "students' unique talents." Hmmm...

I also remember kicking ass at Tetris Holiday, the Facebook version of Survival, and that got me hooked on invisible tetris. The all time high scores list as of its closing:
[!--ImageUrlBegin--][a href=\\\"http://i45.tinypic.com/20qjsqr.png\\\" target=\\\"_new\\\"][!--ImageUrlEBegin--][img width=\\\"400\\\" class=\\\"attach\\\" src=\\\"http://i45.tinypic.com/20qjsqr.png\\\" border=\\\'0\\\' alt=\\\"IPB Image\\\" /][!--ImageUrlEnd--][/a][!--ImageUrlEEnd--]

Since it's closing Aug. 31 2012 (today), I thought I'd revisit it just to see how much I had improved since I last touched it (more than a year ago, I think). I easily beat my old time by a good 6 seconds.

[!--ImageUrlBegin--][a href=\\\"http://i48.tinypic.com/35buuf8.jpg\\\" target=\\\"_new\\\"][!--ImageUrlEBegin--][img width=\\\"400\\\" class=\\\"attach\\\" src=\\\"http://i48.tinypic.com/35buuf8.jpg\\\" border=\\\'0\\\' alt=\\\"IPB Image\\\" /][!--ImageUrlEnd--][/a][!--ImageUrlEEnd--]

Anyway, yay nostalgia!

crzy242 · August 31, 2012, 05:05:14 AM

tetris friends facebook was where i first discovered the magnificent world of tetris

Paul676 · August 31, 2012, 07:00:51 AM

same here

When I started out, I was 3 minutes plus on Sprint. I remember how happy I was to get 1:20s, and then 1:09.

Rosti_LFC · August 31, 2012, 07:02:38 AM

Bunch of newbies, the lot of ya... :|

benmullen · August 31, 2012, 07:15:54 AM

Go alex... number 2!!

myndzi · August 31, 2012, 09:41:48 AM

The reason the screen goes blank is that Kitaru is clearing YOUR lines too!

I never played Facebook TF, but TF, Blockbox, and TC are what introduced me to "modern" Tetris

Blink · August 31, 2012, 01:36:01 PM

Rest In Pieces TF.

I remember back when the game was Java instead of Flash I would learn how to improvise T-spins from playing countless hours of Ultra mode.

Paul676 · August 31, 2012, 01:37:51 PM

Facebook Tetris Friends - when Blink's profile pic was this

and I couldn't follow how fast he was playing and would have laughed in your face if you told me I'd one day be faster than the 37 seconds he had.

larrytetris · August 31, 2012, 06:34:16 PM

Quote from: Blink
Rest In Pieces TF.

Ahahhaa icwutudidthar.

Quote from: Paul676
Facebook Tetris Friends - when Blink's profile pic was this

and I couldn't follow how fast he was playing and would have laughed in your face if you told me I'd one day be faster than the 37 seconds he had.

Totally remember both of these.

Blink · August 31, 2012, 06:38:05 PM

Quote from: larrytetris
Ahahhaa icwutudidthar.
Totally remember both of these.

Hey! those 37 seconds were back when TF had really slow DAS with no unlocks.
Also, that picture is damn sexy don't hate.

Paul676 · August 31, 2012, 06:48:26 PM

yes but I honestly thought you were 12 from that pic

ohitsstef · August 31, 2012, 07:36:50 PM

Quote from: Paul676
yes but I honestly thought you were 12 from that pic

he was 12.. lawlawlawl

Okey_Dokey · April 15, 2019, 04:09:36 PM

This deserves an own thread but I will post it here nonetheless:

Tetris Friends and Tetris Battle will be shut down on May 31st, 2019.

[!--ImageUrlBegin--][!--ImageUrlEBegin--][img width=\\\"500\\\" class=\\\"attach\\\" src=\\\"https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D4N9lnyUUAAKHQ5.png\\\" border=\\\'0\\\' alt=\\\"IPB Image\\\" /][!--ImageUrlEnd--][/a][!--ImageUrlEEnd--]

This may sound like bad news but it's the opposite. Flash player will be discontinued at the end of 2020 and The Tetris Company decided to not wait so long to replace its flash games with a HTML5 one. Tetris' (fake) 35th anniversary is in June 2019 - there will be a new browser client for sure. There's even the speculation that this client is eSports-ready (pretty much lagless, a competitive rule for 1vs1 and a good spectator mode), see this Japanese [a href=\\\"https://jp.ign.com/tetris-effect/30800/interview/vre35]interview with Maya and Henk Rogers from late 2018 (scroll to bottom and use google translate).

PS: I assume that Blink will run a last Tetris Friends tournament pretty soon.

edit: Oh, it's bigger than I thought. Tetris Online will cease to exist. Tetris Online was the subdiary of The Tetris Company that made small browser games, games that were only distributed digitally and games for unusual platforms (e.g. Amazon Fire TV). There were mass layoffs in 2013, and Tetris Online rather tried to maintain its games (especially Tetris Battle) instead of creating new big clients. This probably means that The Tetris Company gave those online rights to an external company that is now making a new online game. This company has for sure more know-how and resources than The Tetris Company itself. However, there's also the possibility that the company doesn't care about the long-term success and just makes a money-grab title. So, not sure anymore, if this is good news.

edit2: I've made a Reddit post. Let's see if people want to discuss my assumption that there will be a new PC game with online focus by a 3rd party developer (who got a license from TTC). Also: Chat has been disabled in Tetris Friends. This is probably, so that players don't find out about non-official clients like Jstris, TOP or Cultris before the new official client is released in June.

Okey_Dokey · April 17, 2019, 01:36:53 PM

Tweet. The Tetris Company announced a partnership with Sanrio (Hello Kitty) today, starting with a new online game on June 3.

[!--quoteo--][div class=\\\'quotetop\\\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\\\'quotemain\\\'][!--quotec--]Sanrio [...] and Tetris [...] announced a multi-year partnership to collaborate on games and merchandise. Their first entry brings Tetris and many of the Sanrio characters together in a new online game that will debut for fans on June 3.[/quote]
Online game could mean many things. It could be just a small game like the ones at tetris.com, or it could mean a standalone website with different modes, community features and multiplayer. I hope that's not the Tetris Friends replacement. Imagine the following downgrade: Tetris Online Japan -> Tetris Friends -> Hello Kitty Tetris.

edit: In case it's really the Tetris Friends replacement:

kb1900 · April 17, 2019, 01:46:20 PM

Quote from: Okey_Dokey
The Tetris Company announced a partnership with Sanrio (Hello Kitty) today, starting with a new online game on June 3.

[!--quoteo--][div class=\\\'quotetop\\\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\\\'quotemain\\\'][!--quotec--]Sanrio [...] and Tetris [...] announced a multi-year partnership to collaborate on games and merchandise. Their first entry brings Tetris and many of the Sanrio characters together in a new online game that will debut for fans on June 3.

Online game could mean many things. It could be just a small game like the ones at tetris.com, or it could mean a standalone website with different modes, community features and multiplayer. I hope that's not the Tetris Friends replacement. Imagine the following downgrade: Tetris Online Japan -> Tetris Friends -> Hello Kitty Tetris.
[/quote]

I am thoroughly ready to be disappointed tbh.