History Trivia / TetrisTheGrandMaster

** ''Tetris: The Grand Master ACE''. The Tetris Guideline, a series of rules that games carrying the "Tetris" name must abide by, forced significant changes to the gameplay mechanics. On top of that, Microsoft wanted Arika to hurry the game to make it a launch title for the UsefulNotes/Xbox360 and incorporate downloadable content; as a result, proper ARS can only be unlocked if you have an XBL Gold account.

* LateExportForYou: ''[=TGM1=]'' would finally get a proper international release in December of 2022, with an Arcade Archives version on UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch and UsefulNotes/Playstation4 starting off a series of 32-bit games for the line, as well as being the first official home console version of the first ''[=TGM=]''. ''TAP'' would receive the same treatment in June of 2023.
* NoExportForYou: Most of the games in the series have never been released outside Japan. Most players outside of Japan use clones or emulators to play, and a few are lucky enough to live near an actual TGM machine (such as Pittsburgh, PA), and even fewer are able to find and afford to ''own the actual hardware.'' Mihara, the director of the series, openly hating Western players for pirating the game so heavily (never mind that they have literally no other options to play it), doesn't help. When the website tetrisconcept.net decided to enforce a clone and emulator discussion ban, [[https://tetrisconcept.net/threads/tetrisconcept-no-longer-condones-tetris-clones.1628/page-8#post-39965 he called out the members for not deleting their own existing videos of emulators and clones.]] After ''Tetris the Grandmaster 3 Omega'' and ''TGM 2015'' were teased for a Western release before falling prey to becoming VaporWare, a port of the first ''TGM'' was released on the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch and UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 worldwide in 2022, followed by ''TAP'' in 2023, averting this trope.

** The series has had various home ports cancelled while in development, including ports of [=TGM1=] to the first UsefulNotes/PlayStation and of [=TGM2=] to the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2. In 2020 Mihara [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3WlNOjyqEg posted some footage]] of the [=PS2=] port of [=TGM2=].

* NoExportForYou: Most of the games in the series have never been released outside Japan. Most players outside of Japan use clones or emulators to play, and a few are lucky enough to live near an actual TGM machine (such as Pittsburgh, PA), and even fewer are able to find and afford to ''own the actual hardware.'' Mihara, the director of the series, openly hating Western players for pirating the game so heavily (never mind that they have literally no other options to play it), doesn't help. When an American player got GM grade on a legitimate [=TGM1=] board and showed it off on Twitter, [[https://tetrisconcept.net/threads/tetrisconcept-no-longer-condones-tetris-clones.1628/page-8#post-39965 he replied that he's no better since he's not doing anything to stop piracy and cloning of his games.]] After ''Tetris the Grandmaster 3 Omega'' and ''TGM 2015'' were teased for a Western release before falling prey to becoming VaporWare, a port of the first ''TGM'' was released on the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch and UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 worldwide in 2022, followed by ''TAP'' in 2023, averting this trope.

** For the same reason, Mihara has been unable to get a fourth ''TGM'' game published, as the TTC would probably look at it, notice its various Guideline violations, and say "no." Even barring that, the multi-platform exclusivity deal with Creator/{{Ubisoft}} means that ''TGM'' won't be possible on most mainstream platforms.

* KeepCirculatingtheTapes: With TGM 1 And TGM 2+ finally averting this trope after two decades thanks to their Arcade Archives releases, only time will tell wether or not if a port of the third instalement will be possible. But as for now, TGM 3 is an arcade exclusive release, and cabinet of this game are extremely rare outside japan.
* LateExportForYou: [=TGM1=] would finally get a proper international release in December of 2022, with an Arcade Archives version on UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch and UsefulNotes/Playstation4 starting off a series of 32-bit games for the line, as well as being the first official home console version of the first [=TGM=].
* NoExportForYou: Most of the games in the series have never been released outside Japan. Most players outside of Japan use clones or emulators to play, and a few are lucky enough to live near an actual TGM machine (such as Pittsburgh, PA), and even fewer are able to find and afford to ''own the actual hardware.'' Mihara, the director of the series, openly hating Western players for pirating the game so heavily (never mind that they have literally no other options to play it), doesn't help. When an American player got GM grade on a legitimate [=TGM1=] board and showed it off on Twitter, [[https://tetrisconcept.net/threads/tetrisconcept-no-longer-condones-tetris-clones.1628/page-8#post-39965 he replied that he's no better since he's not doing anything to stop piracy and cloning of his games.]] After ''Tetris the Grandmaster 3 Omega'' and ''TGM 2015'' were teased for a Western release before falling prey to becoming VaporWare, a port of the first ''TGM'' was released on the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch and UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 worldwide in 2022, averting this trope.

* NoPortForYou: An extremely sore point about the series is that none of the arcade games have ever been ported to consumer platforms. ''TGM ACE'' doesn't count, due to being so heavily tweaked to fit the Tetris Guideline that it is effectively a GaidenGame. The [=PS2=] port of ''[=TGM2=]+'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3WlNOjyqEg seems to have been developed to a pretty polished state]] but [[TheShelfOfMovieLanguishment ended up getting cancelled]]. This would finally be averted in 2022, when it was [[https://twitter.com/famitsu/status/1594963972838797313?s=61&t=Lhx0gtLmCao45mNs5BSW6g announced]] that the first game would be ported to the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch and the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 by Hamster as part of their Arcade Archives collection.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Good luck trying to get any of the games past the first [=TGM=] legitimately. None of the TGM games had console ports until the first game’s Arcade Archives version in 2022, forcing players to resort to purchasing arcade boards (not very cheap, especially when $100 for [=TGM1=] is considered ''fair''), visit an arcade with TGM (extremely rare outside of Japan; there is exactly one arcade in the entire United States with a TGM 3 cabinet), or pirate. ''TGM ACE'' is more of a Guideline-compliant spinoff of ''TGM'' than a proper ''TGM'' game.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Good luck trying to get any of the games legitimately. None of the TGM games have had console ports, forcing players to resort to purchasing arcade boards (not very cheap, especially when $100 for [=TGM1=] is considered ''fair''), visit an arcade with TGM (extremely rare outside of Japan; there is exactly one arcade in the entire United States with a TGM 3 cabinet), or pirate. ''TGM ACE'' is more of a Guideline-compliant spinoff of ''TGM'' than a proper ''TGM'' game.

* ArtistDisillusionment: Ichiro Mihara, the designer of the series, hates the Western TGM community for using emulators and clones rather than legitimate hardware, and is [[https://twitter.com/miharasan/statuses/460852633209561088 very vocal about it]]. This is despite the series being [[NoExportForYou Japan-only]] and having no rereleases or consumer ports, thereby [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes making playing the series in a form that doesn't violate copyright nearly impossible without spending copious amounts of cash on hardware that is not as mass-produced as consumer games]]. This seems to have changed in 2014, with Arika holding a location test of ''[=TGM2015=]'' in the United States ''before doing the same in Japan''; Mihara has since changed his mind about Western ''TGM'' players and would be fine with bringing ''TGM'' to the West, but can't due to ExecutiveMeddling on The Tetris Company's part.

* NoExportForYou: The entire series, pretty much. Most players outside of Japan use clones or emulators to play, and a few are lucky enough to live near an actual TGM machine (such as Pittsburgh, PA), and even fewer are able to find and afford to ''own the actual hardware.'' Mihara, the director of the series, openly hating Western players for pirating the game so heavily (never mind that they have literally no other options to play it), doesn't help. When an American player got GM grade on a legitimate TGM1 board and showed it off on Twitter, [[https://tetrisconcept.net/threads/tetrisconcept-no-longer-condones-tetris-clones.1628/page-8#post-39965 he replied that he's no better since he's not doing anything to stop piracy and cloning of his games.]]
** This may finally be averted [[http://tetrisconcept.net/threads/potential-new-tgm-codename-tgm3o.2551/ with the announcement of "Tetris The Grandmaster 3 Omega" for North America.]].. except it's looking to turn out to be {{Vaporware}}.

* NoPortForYou: An extremely sore point about the series is that none of the arcade games have ever been ported to consumer platforms. ''TGM ACE'' doesn't count, due to being so heavily tweaked to fit the Tetris Guideline that it is effectively a GaidenGame. The [=PS2=] port of ''[=TGM2=]+'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3WlNOjyqEg seems to have been developed to a pretty polished state]] but [[TheShelfOfMovieLanguishment ended up getting cancelled]].