Red Bull Media House Unveils Playable Tetris Magazine Cover
Red Bull Media House, in partnership with The Tetris Company, has launched a remarkable limited edition of its "The Red Bulletin" magazine. This special edition features a fully playable Tetris game directly on its cover, an initiative that coincided with a Red Bull-sponsored Tetris gaming tournament.
The project successfully merges the tactile experience of print media with interactive digital entertainment.
Kevin Bates, widely recognized for his pioneering work on ultra-thin gaming devices, including a Tetris-playing business card and the Arduboy handhelds, led the development of this innovative cover. Officially named the GamePop GP-1 Playable Magazine System, its creation involved a significant portion of the previous year's development efforts.
Technical Specifications: Engineering the Playable Cover
The game's display is intricately constructed from 180 2mm RGB LEDs, all mounted on a flexible circuit board measuring a mere 0.1mm in thickness. While the device's overall thickness reaches nearly 5mm in certain areas due to embedded coin-cell batteries and other components, the design masterfully retains a flexible, paper-like feel. These flexible circuits are meticulously integrated between two sheets of paper, forming the magazine's sleeve.
Durability was a key consideration, with the display undergoing and successfully withstanding impact testing. Rather than traditional physical buttons, the GamePop GP-1 utilizes seven capacitive touch sensors printed directly onto the copper layer of the board. These sensors were precisely calibrated to adapt to the specific thickness of the paper and the glues employed during production.
A thin, rigid printed circuit board (PCB), strategically located near the magazine's spine, houses the device's core electronics. This includes an ARM-based 32-bit microprocessor and four rechargeable LIR2016 3V coin cell batteries. For convenient recharging, a deconstructed USB-C port is seamlessly embedded along the bottom edge of the cover.
Gameplay Features and Exclusive Distribution
The GamePop GP-1 is equipped to save high scores, encouraging replayability. However, it intentionally omits modern Tetris gameplay features, such as previews of upcoming pieces or the ability to save tetrominoes for later use, offering a more classic experience.
Sound effects are incorporated into the game. To conserve battery life, only a brief snippet of the iconic Tetris theme plays at the start of a game, as the piezo speaker consumes significant energy. The device provides an estimated 1-2 hours of playtime and can maintain its battery charge for several months in standby mode.
Approximately 1,000 copies of this special edition magazine were produced. However, only a highly exclusive 150 copies featured the playable Tetris cover. These particular copies were not made available for public purchase. Instead, they were strategically distributed to Tetris competitors, individuals featured in the magazine, key influencers, and selected media representatives.
The project's primary aim was to demonstrate an innovative and compelling application of existing technology within a unique gaming context.