cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/7643915

As always in capitalism, video games have largely deformed from an art form into just another means to generate profit for large corporations

  • Bernie Ecclestoned@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    You know that copyright export was illegal under the Soviets though yeah? So it only got released because a UK software sales guy faxed them a contract and they didn’t realise it was binding

    Robert Stein, an international software salesman for the London-based firm Andromeda Software, saw the game’s commercial potential during a visit to Hungary in June 1986.[18]: 302 [25]: 11 min  After an indifferent response from the Academy,[25]: 12 min  Stein contacted Pajitnov and Brjabrin by fax to obtain the license rights.[25]: 11 min  The researchers expressed interest in forming an agreement with Stein via fax, but they were unaware that this fax communication could be considered a legal contract in the Western world;[26] Stein began to approach other companies to produce the game.[17]: 89–90

    Stein approached publishers at the 1987 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Gary Carlston, co-founder of Broderbund, retrieved a copy and brought it to California. Despite enthusiasm amongst its employees, Broderbund remained skeptical because of the game’s Soviet origins. Likewise, Mastertronic co-founder Martin Alper declared that “no Soviet product will ever work in the Western world”.[17]: 90

    Stein ultimately signed two agreements: he sold the European rights to the publisher Mirrorsoft,[17]: 90 [27] and the American rights to sister company Spectrum HoloByte.[28] The latter obtained the rights after a visit to Mirrorsoft by Spectrum HoloByte president Phil Adam in which he played Tetris for two hours.[17]: 90 [25]: 15 min  At that time, Stein had not yet signed a contract with the Soviet Union.[27] Nevertheless, he sold the rights to the two companies for £3,000 and a royalty of 7.5 to 15% on sales

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris

    Would be kind of hard to play a game that didn’t get published by the evil capitalist lol

    • TimeSquirrel@kbin.social
      8·
      1 year ago

      Would be kind of hard to play a game that didn’t get published by the evil capitalist lol

      I’ve played about a dozen versions of Tetris over the last 30 years, a lot of which were written by just one dude and released to the world without the expectation of compensation. There are literally hundreds of ports/clones that run on everything from a Nokia phone to a Unix/Linux text mode interface.

      Were it not for western publishers, I’m pretty sure it would have spread anyway just due to its addictive nature and it being an excellent time sink. Just like chess and checkers didn’t need a capitalist to spread around the globe.

      I’m literally using an entire operating system right now that not one capitalist controls. It runs most of the internet’s infrastructure. Sure, the capitalists can use it and even contribute, but they don’t get to dictate how you run your system.

        • RoosterBoy@lemm.ee
          3·
          1 year ago

          1. You moved the goalposts

          2. How did the soviets make Tetris if technology only exists under capitalism?

        • TimeSquirrel@kbin.social
          3·
          1 year ago

          Oh, funny you mention that, because in my country, my government paid to have fiber laid but the useless bloodsucking capitalist ISPs didn’t do absolutely jack shit with the money and pocketed it. That’s why were having to do stupid shit like Starlink now to connect the people out in the sticks.

          My electricity is also provided by a co-op.

    • Even_Adder@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      6·
      1 year ago

      No it wouldn’t. Tetris was going to get played by millions whether someone licensed it or not. That’s why there was such a mad scramble to land a deal.