Check the 3DS eShop or DSi Shop and you'll notice that Tetris Party Live is no longer available to buy, either in North America or European regions. We reached out to the publisher, Tetris Online Inc., for an explanation.
Casey Pelkey, vice president of marketing, had this to say:
I can confirm that Tetris Party Live is no longer available for sale within the 3DS eShop, effective 3/31/2012. Tetris Online Inc.’s license from The Tetris Company expired at the end of March and there are no plans to renew it.
As one of the few DSiWare games with online play, Tetris Party Live was a solid buy for many puzzle fans, but now 3DS owners' only digital option is the original Tetris on Virtual Console, sadly.
Update: WiiWare title Tetris Party will be available "for the foreseeable future" according to Pelkey.
Comments (62)
wow this sucks (for people who dont bought it already)
i own it and it is great. still play it. so addictive
I agree - this was the best portable version of Tetris for me because it didn't require a cartridge to play, offered different game modes and various configurable settings, and included online play with voice chat. All for $5 and you can download it at your leisure? Score!
Very glad I purchased the game recently, before it got dropped from the eShop. Too bad that it's no longer available as I had been recommending the game to all of my friends.
That's a shame.
Good thing I already have it.
It's almost as if Nintendo wanted it that way...
Looks at GB Tetris
This is your fault isnt it!
Wait, no plans to renew it? What's a company named "Tetris Online Inc" going to do without the Tetris license, aside from going out of business? Or am I missing something?
Eh, nothing wrong with looking for Tetris DS in bargain bins.
Does online gameplay still work?
I already have it of course. Still a great game.
At least I got the Wiiware version. Shadow mode is too much fun!
@chaosjay My thoughts exactly.I'm wondering too if the online still works?
meh, i dont see why the dsiware version is superior over the 3DS version, which has online multiplayer too
@Retro_Hype Maybe because the DSiWare version was about $5
Oddly enough, this was the only Tetris game that never caught my eye. I actually got Tetris Party Deluxe for DS. This had many modes, including the ones from Tetris Party. It also had co-op multiplayer.
Was The Tetris Company a subsidiary of Hudson?
Will Tetris for Gameboy's review change, because of this news?
This cements the fact that downloading of retail games is not going to be the future.
I already own this game. I just have to find my flame red 3ds. Although I do have tetris axis too.
Everyone should read this if they want to know about the confusing history of Tetris: http://www.atarihq.com/tsr/special/tetrishist.html
Maybe if they'd said something ahead of time I would have bought it. I have Tetris DS and Tetris Axis, but it would have been nice to have one on the 3DS home menu for when I didn't have the cartridge.
@Retro_Hype :
James is right that the $5 price is appealing, but there is also the fact that you don't need to carry a cartridge to play this version. For a game like Tetris, being always available from the home menu (regardless of what retail game you are currently playing) is a tremendous advantage.
So while Tetris DS and Tetris Axis are both more "complete" versions, the low price and unbeatable convenience made Tetris Party Live the best option for me.
@Koops3 the text will change to reflect that there's no more Tetris Party Live but the score will remain unchanged. Also, please use the edit button
What's weird about this situation is that Tetris Online is, according to its website, "the exclusive online licensee of The Tetris Company, LLC of all rights to the world-famous Tetris® game in North America and Europe."
What an absolute shame. I'm glad I already have it but I feel bad for those who don't. It would have been nice if they had given some warning like a month in advance so anyone putting it off could at least have it.
It would be nice if I could just download tetris axis. I'd like to have a new tetris game, but it would be really convienient to just always have it and not need to swap cartridges. It's a good "on the fly" game.
This is why licensing laws are so idiotic.
If you produce a game (or book, or movie) while in possession of a license, you should be able to continue to sell that creation even after the license has moved on — so long as you don't alter it in any way, since of course the license stakeholders are now out of the picture. It's idiotic and kills part of our cultural history when the sale of a license suddenly shuts down created works and makes them permanently dead to the market.
ah thats bull,such a good game,its main music(tetris) was my fav version and correct me if im wrong but its the second game to leave the dsiware(legend of zelda 4 swords and this,and the origon trail is not on the eshop but is on the dsi shop)ah well at least i have it
PS:it beats the other download tetris by a long shot for me,its more easier and all the turns you can do to fit blocks in holes
That's one of the really annoying things Nintendo does: We finally got Nintendo into announcing removed Wii Shop games, so why don't they just announce removed eShop games as well? Do we have to repeat ourselves all the time??
ANNOUNCE REMOVALS BEFORE THEY HAPPEN!! THANK YOU!!!
WHATTT??
I agree with #25
Now you have to wonder any time you want to download a non-Nintendo game will it still be available or mysteriously disappeared. Anyway it gives customers like myself a poor impression of the downloadable services.
I have the retail version in Wii. But how many time will be the wiiware version for purchase?
Curious fact: a Tetris Company without Tetris games because the license expired. Fail!
Come on! This had been on my wish list for months! I planed on picking it up when i cleared some system memory space after beating the games!
Well on the bright side I was wanting to download the GB Tetris anyway...
No download play stopped me from buying this. Maybe they'll make a 3DSWare version of Tetris. I mean, there was already a retail Tetris game, yet this DSiWare version still came out.
This is what I hate about digital download, it could be a great feature to have in the future but expect games to come and go like this.
@Knuckles could of moved memory to a sd card
Well that sucks. Kind of wanted it just never talked myself enough into it. Isn't it like 10 bucks for the wiiware version though?
Darn it! I was going to get this last time I got something from the Eshop but I got Pushmo instead. Oh well.
@James I do most my comments on the iPad, and I see no edit option when commenting.
Thats a shame another game pulled from the download services. I wish they would give us a warning before they pulled the games in case we wanted to get it.
Dammit, the eShop games should include in their info a date for when the license is going to end, so I can put a priority on my purchases.
Oh, well, I guess I'll have to hunt a copy of Tetris Axis.
@Koops3
Yeah, the "Edit" option appears when you mouseover your comment. Is there such a thing in iPads or other similar devices?
Well I'm shocked, well it narrows down my Tetris choices
Oh well, I already have GB Tetris on my 3DS, so it doesn't seem like much of a loss (for me personally, I can't, and won't speak on the behalf of other readers). Sure, it lacks color and online, but it has the core Tetris gameplay, which is all I personally want from a Tetris game.
It's possible they let the rights expire, let the Tetris Axis rights expire and then you end up with Tetris Party 3D.
Glad I got it last summer.
Yeesh, Tetris, a warning would have been nice. >.>
Wait a sec...VOICE CHAT?!?
Crap...I was already sad because I was going to buy the game, but I could not find it on my wish list, then I see this...
But, the rules do say they can take anything down without notice, so...
@Knuckles Same.
So now it also has begone on Dsiware: The great game exodus!!
What a great blessing those download-systems are, aren't they?!
I had the game with my old DSi but I meant to get this version, now it's about to be too late. Dang it... now I guess I will have to invest in the classic Tetris or Tetris Axis. As many said prior, it would've been nice having that mid-range class Tetris sitting right in the home menu of the 3DS but oh well...
So I will be getting the GB version then. Since I don't want to play it online, then it is not a big loss for me, plus I always wanted to try the incredibly popular 8 bit portable version.
@James
Thank you for following up on this like you said you would.
online?
and how do you use voice chat
If anyone missed out, you can probably get a copy of Tetris Party Deluxe for less than Tetris Axis — I've heard of people finding new copies for as low as $8. That said, I think Tetris Axis looks better on the 3DS screen than any DS version of Tetris does.
Tetris has a history ripe with controversy. I own a copy of the legendary Tengen Tetris black cart for NES. Between the Tengen and Licensed versions, the Tengen version gets about 90% of my Tetris playtime on NES. The best modern version of Tetris is Tetris DS (the original version with 8-bit inspired retro goodness, not the cash-in "Party" version). Expect to pay 50 bucks for a used copy on Amazon or Ebay.
It was just a month ago when TMNT disappeared from Wii VC, and as well every downloadable Turtles game available was also removed from PSN and Xbox LIVE.
Recalled or discontinued physical media (cart or disc) become highly treasured collectables; whereas recalled or discontinued digital downloads become overnight vaporware.
Still trying to get to the bottom of this removal: the WiiWare version is up for the 'foreseeable future' but I'm trying to find out why the DSiWare one went. Will keep you posted.
this has always been my concern with Nintendos multiplayer, they only support it for short periods. How many full campaigns can I play through ( I have dozens) at once. I have five games that they are already stopping the online servers for the DS(i) games.... that sucks and will greatly change the way I buy games (read how many I buy) this next gen (the 3ds gen) They need to support at lest 2 gens down the road to be fair. Most games only have a shelf life of a few months before they stop serving them...
@Burning_Spear I agree, It would have boosted thier sales.. maybe they're hoping for people to pressure N into another contract? I've used that business tactic with corporate clients before myself in my business...
Easily one of my favorite purchases from a year or two ago, truly wonderful! Tetris: Axis (on the 3DS) is great, too
If more Tetris licenses expires how can we call "Tetris Company"? Maybe "Expired Company"? Just kidding. Why a "Tetris Company" needs to buy licenses to do "Tetris" games? It sounds ironical for me.
The long and the short of it is: the company's focusing on Facebook Tetris. The DSiWare one didn't sell well enough to make renewing the licence (and server costs) worthwhile, so it's dropped off for now.
The funny part of all this is I've been told the way to show your support for games is to buy them. How we can do that when the games aren't available is anyone's guess...
A bit of a nonsensical situation. How does a company that pretty much lives off of Tetris have an old license that disallows it to sell the game they own? Besides a stupid trademark/copyright issue, I see no point in this.
I already have Tetris Party Live for my DSi XL, but this really stinks. :/ Well...good a time as any to look into Tetris Axis or transfer Live to my 3DS.
Madness, should still be on the dsiware service. Already have it.
well, so much for that purchase...u know what would be nice? for these companies to at least tell us that there dropping there games so ppl can get them while they can.
I'm glad I got it awhile back then!
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