Tetris 99's Maximus Cup Offers A Shot At eShop Currency

How good are you at Tetris 99? Good enough to be one of the top 999 players in the world? If so, the game's upcoming Maximus Cup might be a fine place to test your skills. You could even get some eShop currency out of the deal.

According to the Nintendo Switch's on-console news channel, the second-ever Maximus Cup will kick off this Friday, April 12 at 6 a.m. PT and run until Sunday, April 14 at 11:59 p.m. PT. During that time, you can play Tetris 99 as you normally would, the difference being that you'll receive points for each match you complete. The higher you place in a Tetris 99 match, the more points you'll obtain.

And hopefully — if you stack your blocks and distribute your garbage right — you'll be sitting somewhere in between the 1st and 999th-best players in the world. That'll net you 999 My Nintendo Gold Points, which you can then spend in the eShop on whatever your heart desires.

For those unfamiliar with the eShop: 999 Gold Points is equal to $9.99. That's enough to buy yourself a nice little indie game, at least, or take ten bucks off of something bigger.

We have to say: this is mega cool. We've not really seen Sony or Microsoft host any tournaments on PSN or Xbox Live — at least, not for prizes. The fact that Nintendo is doing it, and Nintendo is notoriously bad at all things online, is all the more amazing. And it shows that Tetris 99 has some legs. This is a game that is, for all intents and purposes, a free-to-play title for those who subscribe to Nintendo Switch Online. Nintendo hasn't just thrown it out there and forgotten about it — the company is actively promoting it and creating events around it.

Maybe Nintendo isn't so bad at online stuff after all. Now, let's do away with that voice chat app and put it on the system. Sound good?