Oklahoma boy becomes first person ever to ‘beat’ Tetris

CNN

By Samson Tamijani, Jennifer Maupin

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    STILLWATER, Oklahoma (KJRH) — Nearly 34 years after its Nintendo debut, a 13-year-old boy from Stillwater became the first person ever to beat the video game Tetris, NBC reported on Jan. 3.

Willis Gibson was live-streaming when he scored 999,999 points on Level 157, causing the game to crash.

It only took Gibson 38 minutes to beat the game.

Humans have only managed to beat the game using artificial intelligence in the past, but Gibson showed there is nothing artificial about his wits.

“It’s like a hobby and just a game I play,” Gibson told 2 News.

That’s an understatement for the Stillwater Junior High Student. The excitement in his video is understandable for the 13-year-old conquering the unconquerable 1989 game in the middle of a live stream, less than three years after discovering it.

Gibson’s mom, Karin Fox, regularly travels with him to competitive tournaments with cash prizes.

“I got third place in the (Tetris) World Championships in October. I think that was $1500,” Gibson said.

“At first, I was like, ‘How interested is he going to be in this, and is he going to lose interest as soon as I get everything for him?'” Fox said. “And he just kept going.”

Gibson’s account on the game streaming platform Twitch actually got disabled because it thought he was under 13.

He then posted the video on YouTube and has amassed more than 625,000 views a day later.

Gibson said he’s not celebrating the milestone too hard because he’s getting ready for another regional Tetris tournament in Waco.

“I wanna win some more tournaments,” Gibson said.

Gibson said he uses his reward money for just two things: his college fund and an occasional bag of candy.

He added he dedicated the feat to his supportive late father, Adam Michael Gibson, who passed away in December.

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