Stop the presses: Tetris is coming to the next-gen!
Ubisoft has today announced a deal with The Tetris Company that will deliver everyone's favorite puzzle game to next-gen platform. The partnership couldn't come at a better time either, as Tetris will be celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
Both The Tetris Company and Ubisoft shared their enthusiasm over a next-gen Tetris game with Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot saying, "We’re very excited to start working with this world-renowned brand, and can’t wait to combine Ubisoft’s expertise and all the capacities of next-gen consoles to create an exciting new Tetris experience for fans."
Unfortunately, no official details regarding this forthcoming Tetris title were shared. It's safe to assume that the game will hit both the PS4 and Xbox One, but we don't know much beyond that.
Obivously, it's not hard to guess as to the core gameplay of this next-gen Tetris, but a basic puzzle experience likely won't cut it for Sony and Microsoft's new consoles. Ubisoft will presumably have to evolve the game's core concepts to make it replayable and dynamic, so that both casual and hardcore gamers will find something to enjoy. Pac-Man: Championship Edition DX, for example, took that idea to heart, and ending up being one of the best Pac Man games in years.
An additional next-gen Tetris question worth considering is how best to deploy said game. Downloadable seems to be the best route for reboots of classic arcade games, but that's only if Ubisoft plans to develop a very basic version of Tetris. We can't imagine they partnered with The Tetris Company just to make a high-res port, although we wouldn't mind that as a stopgap before the full-blown Tetris game hits.
With Assassin's Creed, Ubisoft has shown they can take an annual franchise and make it feel fresh year-to-year, so they should have no problem updating a classic. This is Tetris after all - a concept that's very hard to screw up.
What would you like to see out of a next-gen version of Tetris? Do you think Ubisoft should release a robust retail package or a basic downloadable Tetris offering?
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