WI: "Tetris" based Moral Panic?

Sparta4042

Tetris as many people would know was made in the Soviet Union and marketed as such in various commercial releases, called the "Soviet Mind Game".

What if a conspiracy theory began to spread the the game had brainwashing techniques programmed in to convert the unwitting young people of America to Communism, gaining traction amongst the wider populace to the point it became National level news?

Assume this is around the late 80's, before the beginning of the Collapse of the Soviet Union.

What would the effect on popular culture be?
Political ramifications if politicians start jumping on?
Cold War tensions?
 

overoceans

While I would not want to underestimate the capacity of the average American to absorb stupid ideas, I can' t see this becoming as widespread as demanded by the OP. Because how could a siignificant number of people think a geometric game is brainwashing kids ideologically?

That said, I could see one or two rump-district congressmen trying to make some sort of issue of it, while remaining generally vague about what the alleged evils of the game were. Probably wouldn't rise quite to the level of the Satanic Panic, but might get a slot on the nightly news for a week or so.
 

overoceans

The fact that they marketed it as "the Soviet mind game" probably shows that there was little potential for a moral panic. Customers were presumably supposed to be drawn to the idea of doing something dangerous or forbidden.

Granted, the advertising itself possibly had a neutralizing effect on any negative connotations: a genuine Communist brainwashing tool would likely not announce its intentions.
 

Arkenfolm

Wasn't this actually was a conspiracy theory back in the day, but it was on the level of (sorry for the modern example) "reptilians building 5G towers to spread coronavirus for the sake of world domination" and not the sort of conspiracy theory anyone takes remotely seriously.

I guess you'd need some kid with severe mental illness, probably epilepsy (remember the epilepsy warnings in video game manuals?) and schizophrenia, to have a seizure playing Tetris and psychotic break and start ranting about the superiority of Russians and communism. And then the kid's very concerned parents call the local news and some sensationalist story airs within a few days. Maybe have another kid with epilepsy suffer a seizure playing Tetris right after to take the story national.

You'd probably get the advertising for Tetris changed, the game possibly renamed (but more or less stay the same), and the iconic music replaced. Meanwhile, Alexey Pajitnov is shaking his head in disbelief and most people in the USSR are laughing.
 

Meordal

OTL :

Before releasing Tetris in the United States, Spectrum HoloByte CEO Gilman Louie asked for an overhaul of the game's graphics and music. The Russian spirit was preserved, with fields illustrating Russian parks and buildings as well as melodies anchored in Russian folklore of the time. The company's goal was to make people want to buy a Russian product; the game came complete with a red package and Cyrillic text, an unusual approach on the other side of the Berlin Wall. The Mirrorsoft version was released for the IBM PC in November 1987, while the Spectrum HoloByte version was released for the same platform in January 1988.

Tetris musics are :

Type-A (v1.1) : Korobeiniki (peddlers) by Nikolaï Nekrassov (1861)
Type-B : Unknown (some think it may be Katyusha by Matveï Blanter.)
Type-C : Suite française n° 3 en si mineur, BWV 814 : Menuet by Johann Sebastian Bach

en.wikipedia.org

Tetris - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

If you consider the original Game version, after completing a particular height, the player is treated to a cutscene of a rocket of various types being launched, eventually capping off with Russians dancing and the Buran shuttle being launched. I think the games sold in USA had no Buran shuttle...

POD : Soviet Union and not Russia

Let’s imagine if Spectrum HoloByte chose to sovietize the game, instead of using Russian imagery : a bad rendition of the Soviet anthem is now one of the music. If you wish to move further, screens displaying random facts about Soviet Union or random (fake) quotes from Marx, Engel, Lenin or Stalin are shown when you win a level.

I think you can also release a version in USA with Sputnik, the Buran shuttle. missiles and a Soviet World Domination at the end.

Tetris is a Soviet game after all.

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overoceans

Looking at a sample of Tetris on YouTube, I think it would have been more precisely called The Soviet Eye-Hand Co-ordination Game. But that wouldn't have sounded as tantalizingly sinister as "The Soviet Mind Game."
 
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