* 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 not had any rereleases or consumer ports for the longest while, 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, with the first game eventually seeing an Arcade Archives port in late 2022.
* ChannelHop: The three entries were published respectively by Creator/{{Capcom}}, Creator/{{Psikyo}}, and Creator/{{Taito}}.
* CreatorDrivenSuccessor: To Sega's ''Tetris'' games.
* DevelopmentHell: ''[=TGM4=]''. It's been over a year and there's been very little word of its release in months, culminating with announcement of cancellation. It seemed to have been SavedFromDevelopmentHell with ''[=TGM2015=]'', which is ''[=TGM4=]'' in all but name, but ''that'' also suffered the same problem.
* DummiedOut: The original TGM has English text for the game demonstrations (which are in Japanese) buried somewhere in the game's memory, suggesting that TGM was going to have an overseas release.
* ExecutiveMeddling:
** ''[=TGM3=]'' has Super Rotation System available, but not by the developers' choice; The Tetris Company mandated it.
** ''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 Platform/Xbox360 and incorporate downloadable content; as a result, proper ARS can only be unlocked if you have an XBL Gold account.
** 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." The multi-platform exclusivity deal between Creator/{{Ubisoft}} and TTC between 2014 and 2019 would further delay any home console versions of the games.
** Arika has, on two occasions, had videos of TGM clones (such as ''Heboris'' and ''Texmaster'') removed from Website/YouTube. In the case of the second wave of removals, Arika denied doing so of their own volition, claiming that The Tetris Company made them do it. Since then, most, if not all, videos of TGM clones have been put back up, with no further action from Arika or TTC.
** In November 2018, notable U.S. player [=KevinDDR=] announced that he would be deleting all of his ''TGM''-related videos, [[https://twitter.com/KevinDDR/status/1058857631568154624 citing that Arika was about to go on a major crackdown]] (including takedown notices) on ''any'' video uploads of the game which do not adhere to new and onerous terms.
* FanworkBan: A variation. Arika declared that, effective January 1, 2019, [[https://youtu.be/9UrQHMj1DKI?t=297 they will start enforcing their TGM YouTube video guidelines and shooting down any non-compliant videos with DMCA takedowns]] (and 3 copyright strikes will result in a loss of the affected YT account). Their guidelines include, among other things, a ban on videos of ''TGM'' clones/simulators such as ''VideoGame/NullpoMino''.
* GodDoesNotOwnThisWorld: Arika has been unable to print or release ''TGM'' games since 2006; the last "proper" ''TGM'' game was ''Tetris: The Grand Master 3'' in 2005, with the 2006 ''Tetris: The Grand Master ACE'' being stripped of a lot of the iconic ''TGM'' mechanics due to The Tetris Company's growing control over the ''Tetris'' brand and guidelines dictating what a ''Tetris'' game must have, with ''TGM'' violating many of those guidelines. A fourth ''TGM'' game was to be released in 2010, suggesting that the TTC issues were somehow worked out but cancelled for reasons unknown, with the most common theories being that SEGA was to publish the game but they were already releasing ''Giant Tetris'' within the same year and they did not want to publish two arcade ''Tetris'' games within the same year, so they decided to just [[TheShelfOfMovieLanguishment nix]] ''[=TGM4=]''. When ''[=TGM4=]'' was rebranted as ''TGM 2015'' in the eponymous year, it saw a few location tests but never got released; Mihara stated that the problem is finding a publisher.
* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: With ''[=TGM1=]'' And ''TAP'' finally averting this trope after two decades thanks to their Arcade Archives releases, only time will tell whether or not a port of the third installment will be possible. But as for now, ''[=TGM3=]'' is an arcade exclusive release, and cabinets 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 Platform/NintendoSwitch and Platform/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 Platform/NintendoSwitch and Platform/PlayStation4 worldwide in 2022, followed by ''TAP'' in 2023, averting this trope.
* NoPortForYou: The original, non-''PLUS'' version of ''[=TGM2=]'', as well as ''[=TGM3=]'', have yet to be ported to consumer platforms.
* RevivalByCommercialization: Although the memetically popular "Invisible Tetris" video and the like have been floating around since 2006, the series hit a second popularity spike amongst Westerners when it was streamed on [[WebVideo/GamesDoneQuick Awesome Games Done Quick]] in 2015. Having the game be demonstrated by and explained by Westerners certainly helped a lot.
* ScrewedByTheNetwork: It's widely speculated that [=TGM4=] was cancelled because it was to be released alongside ''Tetris Giant'' and SEGA, the publisher, didn't want to release two ''Tetris'' games in one year.
* UrbanLegendOfZelda: WordOfGod alleges that there is a way to surpass level 1300 in [=TGM3=]'s Shirase mode, but leaked data confirmed that [[LyingCreator those extra levels don't exist]].
* VaporWare: In summer 2015, [[HopeSpot it looked as if the lack of international releases]] [[NoExportForYou that has plagued the series since the beginning]] would finally end with the announcement and location tests of remakes of [=TGM3=] and [=TGM4=] in the United States... except those limited location tests in very specific places were the ''only'' thing to ever come of them. Mihara stated that one of the problems is finding a publisher for the game.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** ''TGM 1'' was going to have a US release, as hinted in DummiedOut English-language text and manual. For whatever reason, the game ended up never leaving Japan.
** The series has had various home ports cancelled while in development, including ports of [=TGM1=] to the first Platform/PlayStation and of [=TGM2=] to the Platform/PlayStation2. In 2020 Mihara [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3WlNOjyqEg posted some footage]] of the [=PS2=] port of [=TGM2=].
* WordOfGod: The original ''TAP'' runs at 61.68 Hz, which is slightly faster than the NTSC standard of 60 Hz. However, the ''Arcade Archives'' versions run at 60 Hz. Mihara [[https://twitter.com/miharasan/status/1664172910876172288 explained]] that the reason for this change is to avoid the visual problems that arise when attempting to run the game at its original speed.
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