Winner Crowned in Tetris Challenge
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
The exciting competition concluded on June 3rd at Windward Mall in Kane‘ohe, Hawaii. The final day saw 12 men and 2 women battle for the title of best Tetris player in the state. 24-year old Taieya Goda took home an Xbox 360 and a copy of Tetris Evolution after besting her opponent 3 games to 1 in the finals.
The following is a question and answer session with Taieya:
Q. How long have you been playing Tetris?
A. I started playing Tetris on the original Game Boy, which was about 17 years ago. Then after many years of not playing, I started playing it again about a year ago when it came out on the DS.
Q. Which version of Tetris do you like best?
A. I like the DS version of Tetris best because there is a ranking system associated with the skill level, there are more people online to challenge, and the controls are smooth.
Q. Do you play Tetris a lot, if so, roughly how long do you spend playing?
A. I go through phases of playing Tetris. When I do play, it’s usually for about 1-2 hours at a time. Then I end up taking a break from the game for weeks or even months.
Q. What was your first impression on entering the Tetris Challenge at Windward Mall?
A. When I first saw the opportunity to enter the Tetris Challenge, I was so excited. My first thought was that it was about time somebody had a Tetris tournament. Tetris is one of my favorite games and I couldn’t believe that Hawaii had something like this.
Q. Did you think you would be the best (the winner of the tournament)?
A. I never thought that I’d be the winner of the tournament. When I challenge people online, there are so many skilled players. I knew the competition would be tough on the day of the finals. I’m just really glad that Hawaii Tetris players had the opportunity to play each other and see the skill level that we have locally.
Q. Now that you are the current best Tetris player on the Island, how do you feel?
A. I still can’t believe I won because the entire experience was unreal. I know there are far better players than me so I’m going to keep playing to improve my game.
Q. What were your thoughts as you were playing in the final tournament?
A. While playing in the final tournament, I was really nervous. My strategy was to take it one game at a time and not to watch the other players. I didn’t want my nerves to get the best of me.
Q. What were your thoughts when you were playing and won the finals?
A. While playing in the final round, I can honestly say that all I was thinking about was winning the Xbox 360. When the score was 1-1, I started to feel the pressure a little more. I kept telling myself to relax and imagine I was playing at home. I was so relieved and happy when I won because all the pressure was gone and I would finally have an Xbox.
Q. Any other comments or shout-outs?
A. Comments: I’d like to see Hawaii have more Tetris tournaments in the near future. Hopefully it can develop to the point where local players can compete at a national and international level. Shout-outs: I want to tell my family thanks for letting me play those many hours of online Tetris without any interruption, especially when I said I really needed to win the game. I also want to thank my boyfriend, Ka‘a, for keeping me calm during the entire tournament. I wouldn’t have been able to get through those games without you.
The following is a question and answer session with Taieya:
Q. How long have you been playing Tetris?
A. I started playing Tetris on the original Game Boy, which was about 17 years ago. Then after many years of not playing, I started playing it again about a year ago when it came out on the DS.
Q. Which version of Tetris do you like best?
A. I like the DS version of Tetris best because there is a ranking system associated with the skill level, there are more people online to challenge, and the controls are smooth.
Q. Do you play Tetris a lot, if so, roughly how long do you spend playing?
A. I go through phases of playing Tetris. When I do play, it’s usually for about 1-2 hours at a time. Then I end up taking a break from the game for weeks or even months.
Q. What was your first impression on entering the Tetris Challenge at Windward Mall?
A. When I first saw the opportunity to enter the Tetris Challenge, I was so excited. My first thought was that it was about time somebody had a Tetris tournament. Tetris is one of my favorite games and I couldn’t believe that Hawaii had something like this.
Q. Did you think you would be the best (the winner of the tournament)?
A. I never thought that I’d be the winner of the tournament. When I challenge people online, there are so many skilled players. I knew the competition would be tough on the day of the finals. I’m just really glad that Hawaii Tetris players had the opportunity to play each other and see the skill level that we have locally.
Q. Now that you are the current best Tetris player on the Island, how do you feel?
A. I still can’t believe I won because the entire experience was unreal. I know there are far better players than me so I’m going to keep playing to improve my game.
Q. What were your thoughts as you were playing in the final tournament?
A. While playing in the final tournament, I was really nervous. My strategy was to take it one game at a time and not to watch the other players. I didn’t want my nerves to get the best of me.
Q. What were your thoughts when you were playing and won the finals?
A. While playing in the final round, I can honestly say that all I was thinking about was winning the Xbox 360. When the score was 1-1, I started to feel the pressure a little more. I kept telling myself to relax and imagine I was playing at home. I was so relieved and happy when I won because all the pressure was gone and I would finally have an Xbox.
Q. Any other comments or shout-outs?
A. Comments: I’d like to see Hawaii have more Tetris tournaments in the near future. Hopefully it can develop to the point where local players can compete at a national and international level. Shout-outs: I want to tell my family thanks for letting me play those many hours of online Tetris without any interruption, especially when I said I really needed to win the game. I also want to thank my boyfriend, Ka‘a, for keeping me calm during the entire tournament. I wouldn’t have been able to get through those games without you.
