![[PSX Mod Chips]](http://www.svatopluk.com/banners/mod-chip.png)
For many people, this is what they think of when they hear Columns.
The first generation of Columns games, nearly all of them
non-commercial, all of them on typically brainy
platforms,
are more or less forgotten: Jay Geertsen's vanished X Window
original, Nathan Meyers's Columns for DOS,
Chris Christensen's Mac Columns (the
only shareware game in the bunch), John Rotenstein's
Columns for Windows, P. C. M. van der
Arend's Columns for monochrome Atari ST.
The image of Columns was shaped by Sega.
Columns had started out as a typical geek game. The platforms to which it was ported were expensive, usually used more for work than play. On the Atari ST it ran on the monochrome monitor, again typically the choice of those who wanted to get things done and not play games. The graphics were simple, simpler than those of some contemporary Tetris clones.
Sega changed all that. They had shown that with its emphasis on colors and matching, Columns was a good vehicle for opulent graphics. It could be the less cerebral, more sensual game compared with Tetris. The jewel theme stuck and is found again and again in later shareware versions. Tetris, that had started out as a commercial game, became the realm of hobby programmers and enthusiasts. Columns became the favorite of those who wanted to make money.
Besides, Columns became the favorite of Eastern Asia. Dr. Mario, Nintendo's own Tetris clone, while it is a cross of both, is unfluenced far more by Columns than by Tetris. There are a few Windows Tetris clones from Japan; but if it's from Korea or Taiwan, it will usually be Columns.
