Hamster Corporation is bringing Tetris: The Grand Master to Switch and PS4 this December.
Tetris: The Grand Master, a game originally available exclusively in Japan, appears to finally be getting a western release as outlined in a recent article from Famitsu. The upcoming release comes courtesy of Hamster Corporation which ports retro arcade games to Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 consoles as part of its Arcade Archives series.
To celebrate Hamster’s 300th consecutive week of retro releases, the company revealed two “special commemorative titles” set to drop within the next two months. These include Galaxian and Tetris: The Grand Master which are set to be released in November and December respectively.
While the upcoming release of Galaxian on November 24 is exciting in and of itself, the console release for Tetris: The Grand Master on December 1 is especially noteworthy given how this marks the first time the game will seemingly be available outside of Japan.
The Nintendo Switch and PS4 console release for Tetris: The Grand Master was also confirmed on Twitter by its developer, Arika. With that being said, it’s worth noting that neither the Famitsu article nor the tweet from Arika explicitly state that the game will be available outside of Japan. However, out of the 340 titles released by Hamster as part of its Arcade Archives series, only two have failed to see a western release.
The release of Tetris: The Grand Master outside of Japan, and on home consoles to boot, is also something that many Tetris fans have been clamoring for and see as being long overdue. For those who may be unfamiliar with Tetris: The Grand Master, it’s touted as one of the most difficult Tetris titles.
The first Tetris: The Grand Master title was released in arcades in Japan back in 1998 with two sequels following shortly thereafter including Tetris: The Absolute – The Grand Master 2 in 2000, and Tetris: The Grand Master 3 – Terror‑Instinct in 2005.
The only time a Tetris Grand Master game has been made available outside of arcades prior to the upcoming release from Hamster was in the form of Tetris: The Grand Master Ace for Xbox 360, though this like others in the TGM series was one that was only released in Japan.
株式会社ハムスター様に「TETRIS THE GRAND MASTER」のNintendoSwitch及びPlaystation4への移植許諾した事をお知らせします。
We are pleased to announce that we have licensed “TETRIS THE GRAND MASTER” to Hamster Inc. for porting to NintendoSwitch and Playstation4.
— 株式会社アリカ公式アカウント (@arika_co_jp) November 22, 2022
All in all, it’s exciting to hear that Tetris: The Grand Master is finally coming to home consoles including Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 on December 1, and that it’ll most likely be available outside of Japan as well. For more on this, check out the full article from Famitsu.
And for other Tetris-related news, be sure to read through some of our previous coverage including how a NES Tetris player smashed previous score records and captured the first ever instance of glitched colors, and how studies show that Tetris can be used as EMDR therapy for trauma victims.
