Tetris IS a Life Goal

gamesreviews.com:

For the first time ever, the NES version of Tetris has been beaten. It’s been done by a 13-year-old teen from Oklahoma. And that is a hell of an achievement.

Unless you ask Sky News’ Jayne Secker, who ended a segment on the lad, Willis Gibson, by saying “Tetris is not a life goal”.

“Go outside, get some fresh air,” she said.

Ignoring that in the current day, being really good at video games can open a lot of doors it wouldn’t have when I was 13, this attitude stinks. The idea that the pure enjoyment of something isn’t enough to give it space in our life is toxic. He is one of the best in the world at something. Verifiably. How many of us can say that?

If he’s gone outside, got some fresh air, played for some local sports teams, you know what would’ve happened? Well, he wouldn’t have been on Sky News for a start.

I’ve been a journalist for a long time, and one of the things that happens is the people you cover end up, by default, being more interesting than you. They wouldn’t get in the newspaper or in the telly otherwise. They might not be interesting for good reasons. More often than not, you wouldn’t want to trade places with them. But at the very least, they are doing something newsworthy. You are simply observing.

Willis Gibson might be something of a novelty. Hell, any teenager playing NES games is probably something of a novelty (as are most adults). But he takes it seriously enough to get really damn good at it. Imagine mocking that passion. It’ll be a mixed bag – a trial by fire as people from all over the world weigh in. Look at this, I’m guilty too.

So for Jayne Secker, here are a few thoughts on why Tetris might beat out fresh air for this boy.

Tetris is an interesting game. Simple on the surface, it is