Tetris Comes To 3DS, Prepares For Licensed Product Blitz

The Tetris Company is heading into E3 with a brand new Hudson-developed edition of Tetris for Nintendo's 3DS, ahead of a planned licensing blitz that could see Tetris-themed furniture and slot machines. The company also announced that mobile versions of Tetris have been sold 132 million times across all platforms worldwide, which it says is more than any other game. "While there have been recent announcements about other titles selling more games, those numbers include both paid and free games. But no title has been able to sell more paid downloads on mobile than Tetris," a representative told Gamasutra, allegedly referring to the recent announcement that Rovio's Angry Birds has been downloaded 200 million times. The new 3DS game, simply called Tetris, is being developed by Hudson and is expected to be released this October. The game was previously announced as Tetris Axis, but its name has since been simplified. It will be on display at Nintendo of America's booth next week. Following E3, the company is set to unveil the first round of products in a large Tetris licensing spree. At the Licensing International Expo in Las Vegas later this month, The Tetris Company will unveil products that include board, card and dice games, T-shirts, wall graphics, mugs, and Tetris-branded lottery tickets. Future products either planned or in negotiation include "puzzles, Halloween costumes, headwear, accessories, candy and other consumables, watches, slot machines and furniture that nests together like the pieces of the Tetris game," a representative told Gamasutra. Hawaii-based The Tetris Company, LLC is the sole trademark owner of Tetris, the puzzle game giant that has a long, storied history of licensing and legal disputes. One of the company's principles is series creator Alexey Pajitnov, who discussed his involvement with the company at length in this Gamasutra interview.