On December 21, Willis Gibson, a 13-year-old from Stillwater, Oklahoma, became the first person to push Tetris to its absolute limit. Around the 38:20 mark of the video above, Gibson advances to Level 157 and soon encounters Tetris’ “kill screen.” Realizing that he’s broken Tetris for the first time (Alexey Pajitnov designed the game in 1985), the youngster nearly hyperventilates. Eventually catching his breath, he declares, “I can’t feel my fingers.”
On YouTube, Gibson adds: “When I started playing this game I never expected to ever crash the game, or beat it.” According to The Oklahoman, Gibson “dedicated his win to his dad, who died last month.”
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Bless him, he’s a delightful child. Hopefully he won’t be exploited for his achievements. It’s certainly not a childhood I would recommend.
‘I can’t feel my fingers.’ ‘I can’t feel my hands.’ Is extremely disconcerting.