A signed copy of the original NES version of influential puzzle classic Tetris is to be auctioned off to support a trans charity.
Per Alyssa Mercante on X (formerly Twitter), the cartridge has been signed by Alexey Pajitnov and Henk Rogers, the creator and original licenser of Tetris respectively. It also bears the rather amusing legend "PLAY TETRIS!". As if you could stop yourself.
The game will be up for grabs during the Firefall Firesale Get Rich or DEI Trying Stream-a-Thon, which is being held on August 3rd to support trans charity Trans Lifeline, a "peer support and crisis hotline" organization that supports the trans community.
Pajitnov, who currently resides in the US, is known as the original designer of Tetris, which was based in part on the game of pentominoes he used to play in his childhood.
Tetris was originally released in 1985, but perhaps its most famous port is the Game Boy version, which was released in 1989. A version for the NES followed shortly afterwards, and that's the cartridge you'd be buying if you bid at the aforementioned auction.
Henk Rogers, meanwhile, is the person who originally acquired the rights to Tetris and subsequently negotiated with Nintendo for its inclusion on the Game Boy. Alongside Pajitnov, he'd later found The Tetris Company, an organization that remains active today and that still holds the exclusive rights to Tetris in all its forms.
In essence, what all of this means is that these signatures are from people extremely important to the Tetris lineage, so this is a pretty swanky piece of history to own.
If you want to know more about the history of Tetris, you can check out the movie of the same name, which is available on Apple TV+ and which stars Rocketman actor Taron Egerton. It's a surprisingly fascinating story.
It's a good time to be a fan of retro gaming curiosities right now; yesterday, a super-rare gold Nintendo World Championships NES cartridge went up for auction, and at time of writing, its most recent bid is an eye-watering $67,000.
Given that the Tetris auction is for charity, let's hope it reaches similar heights. Stay tuned for more.
