Effect of computor games has many aspects. It is a good pass time but it has addictive side too. Many addicts of the computer game have experienced what is known as the ‘Tetris effect’ or the ‘Tetris syndrome’.
In their dreams, many of the Tetris ‘victims’ see falling blocks or buildings moving together in the street. Next month, those suffering from ‘tetrisitis’ can literally see the game being played on a skyscraper in Philadelphia, with blocks falling down a 29-storeyed building.
Frank Lee, a professor of computer science at Drexel University, and his team will put up an array of LED panels on a 60,000 sq ft façade of the Cira Centre, converting it into a gigantic display screen. Thousands of Tetris fans can then watch experts play out the game on the 437-ft tall building.
The event is part of the Philly Tech week, a weeklong “celebration of technology and innovation” that will be held in “the city of brotherly love”, between April 4 and 12. Last year, Lee, who co-founded the Drexel Game Design Program, set a Guinness world record for the ‘largest architectural video game display’ by staging a Pong on the side of the Cira Centre.
Psychologists are increasingly looking at Tetris, a game created by Alexey Pajitnov, a Russian computer expert way back in 1986, as a tool to wean people away from more harmful addictions including over-eating, smoking and drinking. The huge worldwide popularity of Tetris, described as one of the most potent pharmatronics — an electronic drug, or a software programme having a drug-like effect on users — has led psychologists to deploy it against other addictions.
Prof Jackie Andrade from Plymouth University’s Cognition Institute recently conducted research (published in Appetite journal), which said that playing Tetris for just three minutes can reduce the strength of cravings for food, cigarettes or alcohol. Visual stimulation provided by the game could reduce naturally occurring cravings for long enough to ward them off, says the study.
The researchers aver that Tetris could provide a quick and manageable fix for people struggling to stick to diets, or trying to give up smoking or alcohol, providing an essential boost for willpower. Episodes of craving usually last for only a few minutes and by distracting the brain, by for instance dabbling in a game of Tetris, individuals addicted to over-eating, tobacco or alcohol can be weaned away from such addictions.
