22
votes
The revolution in classic Tetris - A younger generation is utilizing the internet to master the NES game in months, surpassing milestones that previously took decades
Link information
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- Title
- The Revolution in Classic Tetris
- Authors
- The New Yorker
- Word count
- 2079 words
I wonder if retro games naturally produce healthier communities.
There's a filter right away when the community grows from nothing, since it's mostly people coming back to a game for nostalgia rather than competition. The initial draw isn't that strong, so if the community isn't pleasant and constructive, people will just leave and it'll fizzle. The tone is kind of naturally selected from the start.
Also it's really easy to hide a game on your school laptop that's a browser extension. Teacher walks over and it'll pause itself when you close, and no tab to expose you were slacking off.
Speaking from experience: button mashing is pretty difficult to hide :P
Yeah as a teacher it's pretty obvious based on where your hand is on the keyboard when someone is playing a game, and swiping to a different desktop or alt tabbing every time I get close is also jokingly obvious. I've given up on being strict about it, though, because the two options seem to be to either spend a lot of energy watching for it and admonishing or not letting them use computers and neither of those seem good. Plus I teach high school, when they'll have to deal with the temptation in college anyways, so I just give gentle reminders in class and then when grades come up and they're disappointed I remind them again.
Same. It’s particularly bad for remote learning.
When I’ve taught remote lessons this year, I can see my students on their webcams looking at their phones, watching YouTube on another screen, or playing PS4 while holding their controller off camera. I began the year by diligently attempting to police it, but I’ve stopped as constant breaks from instruction for redirects or privately messaging students to get them back on track breaks instructional flow really badly. Remote lessons are already hard enough to follow without that, and most students don’t really correct the behavior so much as they pause it for maybe a minute before going back to it.
Awesome article. Very inspiring, too.