Apple Built a Tetris Clone For the iPod But Never Released It

Apple once designed a Tetris clone that has been found on a prototype version of the third-generation iPod, indicating the company was experimenting with releasing the game on the music player. From a report: It's called Stacker and, obviously, is controlled via the iPod's scroll wheel. The software was spotted by X user AppleDemoYT, who is known for finding rare prototype devices. The prototype iPod is a "DVT" device, meaning it was a mid-stage device that was still in "Design Validation Testing." It has a model number of A1023, which is not a known model number of any iPod version.

The device runs a prototype version of iPodOS 2.0, which is where Stacker comes from. The pieces are moved from left to right using the scroll wheel and they fall when the middle button is pressed. The goal is to clear lines and score points. You know the deal. It's Tetris. It's not the only game found on the prototype iPod. There's something called Block0, which is likely an early version of Brick. The device also features a game called Klondike, which is likely an early version of Solitaire. The music player did eventually get some games, including the aforementioned Solitaire and Brick. AppleDemoYT asked former Apple VP Tony Fadell why Stacker was never released and he said it was because games didn't show up until a "later software release."

DAMN YOU APPLE

[Osgeld]

DAMN YOU TO HELL!

Re:

[jonadab]

Yes, it's such a tragedy, because the world doesn't have anywhere near enough Tetris implementations, and nobody else has any idea how to make them.

upgrade your player already

[pitch2cv]

... to https://www.rockbox.org/ [rockbox.org] for all that Tetris and so much more.

Re:

[tlhIngan]

Back when iPods could run games, there was an official Tetris of it as well.

No, I don't mean the iPod Touch, I meant the iPod Classic, I think the ability to run games was something from the 5th generation (with video) and up. Though the games section was removed before the iPod classic was discontinued. There are hacked firmware and torrents that let you install the entire games library.

What a Trade!

[organgtool]

And instead they later opted to give their users a free copy of a U2 album.

Snek

[dohzer]

I would have been too busy playing snake on the 3310 back when MP3 players were a thing.

Re:

[tessaevans]

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