13-Year-Old From Oklahoma Becomes First Person To Beat Tetris, Gamers React

Willis Gibson was live streaming when he did something that no person has ever done before. After 38 minutes, he became the first known person to beat 1988's Tetris video game for the original Nintendo.

Wednesday, January 3rd 2024, 10:26 pm

By: David Prock, News On 6, Chloe Abbott


A 13-year-old boy broke a world record this week after he became the first known person to beat 1988's Tetris video game for the original Nintendo.

Willis Gibson was live streaming when he achieved a 'True Killerscreen' in 38 minutes. The True Killscreen is what happens when a player reaches the point at which it's impossible to continue due to a glitch in the game's code.

When Gibson, aka Blue Scuti, reached level 157, already a new record high, made a move that forced the game to crash. Previously, this feat had only been accomplished by AI.

According to a report in the Stillwater Press, Gibson has been playing Tetris and competing at national competitions since he was 11. Gibson's score on the screen read the maxed out figure 999,999. Gibson says his actual final score was 6.8 million.

"I didn't know that had 999,999, oh so that's what he did, just completely broke it to the kill screen, that's incredible," Nintendo expert Jace Hyman said while watching the video for the first time.

Hyman has never seen anything like it.

"I've never seen a maxed-out score before so that's kind of incredible,” Hyman said. “That's why it stops and beeps because that's the kill screen, so that's really cool, they didn't expect anyone to do that, and this kid did it."

Gibsons story has caught international attention. 

The video of his win posted on YouTube has had more than 680,000 views.

He says his next move is competing in the Philadelphia Qualifiers.

The Classic Tetris World Championship is held at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo each year and organizers say it draws around 10,000 attendees each year.

Chloe Abbott

Chloe Abbott joined News On 6 as a multimedia journalist in October 2023. Before joining the News On 6 team, she worked in Shreveport, Louisiana for two years as an anchor/MMJ for the ABC affiliate, KTBS. Chloe has covered severe weather, crime, sports, and Mardi Gras. 

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