Photo: Gamestop.com
THE NORDIC
GAME SUCCESS With games such as Minecraft, Battlefield, Candy Crush Saga, Angry Birds and Clash of Clans, Nordic games developers have conquered the world. One in ten people worldwide has played a Swedish game. With export sales of over 900 million euros, games have become Sweden’s biggest cultural export. This is largely due to the success of games such as Minecraft, Battlefield and Candy Crush Saga from the companies Mojang, Dice and King. According to the trade association Swedish Games Industry, the games industry is continuing to grow in Sweden. Clear evidence of this is the US games company Activision Blizzard’s purchase of King for a phenomenal 5 billion euros in February 2016. Finland also stands out internationally, with successful games such as Angry Birds and Clash of Clans. When earnings for games giant Rovio began to fall last year, some feared that the Finnish games bubble was about to burst. However, the trade association Neogames sees no such signs. Ilkka Hietala, the new Service Manager at HiQ Finland, comes from a successful career with one of Finland’s biggest games companies. He believes the future is bright for the Finnish games industry. “Major investments are being made in games, and interest in working in the games industry is growing,” he says. How come we are so good at designing games in the Nordic region? “Both Sweden and Finland were quick to start offering courses in game programming and development. Our education systems are generally good and we have a culture of working hard. We’ve also been blessed with many very gifted, skilled individuals who are passionate about games and games development. And, of course, it’s not the first time we’ve been successful in developing mobile solutions,” says Ilkka Hietala.
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NINTENDO GAME BOY
A Nintendo Game Boy console cost 90 US dollars when it was launched in 1989. The first 300,000 units sold out in two weeks in Japan. All in all, nearly 119 million of the consoles have been sold worldwide. Game Boy was also the first console to be used in space. The Russian astronaut Aleksandr Serebrov took his Game Boy with him and played Tetris whenever he got bored.
LJUSA UPP/KONTRAST