Danish video game history & industry research

[Victoria_Wlm]

Hi everyone !

My name is Victoria Wilhelm and I'm a french student in Game Design in Paris. My Game Studies teacher asked my class to do researches about the video game industry and history in a country of our choice. I actually work on Sweden, but my teacher entrusted me with the Denmark part as well.
So I was wondering if someone here would have any information about the danish video game history and industry, or know anyone who could learn me things about it. I also need someone to answer some some questions as a person taking part in the video game industry (for example a journalist or a developer), or even as a player : it would help me a lot too. I would be extremely grateful to have some help !

Have a nice evening,


Victoria W.


P.S.: Here's my school website : http://www.ican-design.fr/ecole-infographie.html. My class' work will be published if it's good enough !

[timgarbos]

Hello Victoria

It would be a lot easier to answer if you asked us some questions

You can find all (or most) danish developed games on this list: http://www.spiludvikling.dk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1560 It goes back to 1963, but the more recent history is probably more interesting.

[Victoria_Wlm]

Hi !
I actually already saw this list, it was extremely useful !

Some of my questions are about global informations about the video game industry : what is the approximate number of employees in this part of the danish industry (I found 615 but I'm really not sure about it), what are the most important national publishers and console manufacturers ?

Here are other questions, about how people play in Denmark :

- Do Danish people play video games since the very beginning, or is it recent to play in your country ?

- The consoles generaly used in Denmark have always been Nintendo's, Microsoft's or Sony's, or do they used to be counterfeits from China, Taiwan or anywere ele like it was the case in some other countries ?

- Do Danish players prefer consoles or PCs ?

- What are the most popular games and types of games in Denmark ?

- Do you remember a particular game that can be considered as a phenomenon in your country ?

- Is there just a particular social class that play video games (the richest ones, the poorest ones ?), or is it a media affecting basicaly everyone in Denmark ?


And if by any chance you knew a journalist knowing about video games who would accept to answer some questions as well, I would be very grateful !
Thank you in advance !


Victoria W.

[Vigild]

Hi Victoria - great questions, and I would love to help you out - I´ve been working in the Danish game industry for quite a while - do mail me at vigild at gmail - generally easier to answer your questions via Skype.

[vonknut]

- Do Danish people play video games since the very beginning, or is it recent to play in your country ?

Pretty similar to UK history (read "history of video gaming" http://www.amazon.com/The-Ultimate-Hist ... 0761536434 to get the picture).
In Denmark it more started with the C64 and the Amiga though (with amstrad battling for position).
-in the early 80'ties
So the consoles got a bit of a slow start in Denmark.


- The consoles generaly used in Denmark have always been Nintendo's, Microsoft's or Sony's, or do they used to be counterfeits from China, Taiwan or anywere ele like it was the case in some other countries ?

Due to housing and living habits, personnnal computers (for your room) have been more dominant than consoles (living room).
So PC's are more dominant than on other markets.


- Do Danish players prefer consoles or PCs ?

See above, but a lot of consoles still....


- What are the most popular games and types of games in Denmark ?

Duh?


- Do you remember a particular game that can be considered as a phenomenon in your country ?

Hugo.... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_%28video_game%29)
-embarrassing but true.
And Snake for Nokia phones


- Is there just a particular social class that play video games (the richest ones, the poorest ones ?), or is it a media affecting basicaly everyone in Denmark ?

In denmark everybody (almost) can afford a console / computer / smartphone.
But I guess the smartphones got the "poor ones" invited to "the party"


And if by any chance you knew a journalist knowing about video games who would accept to answer some questions as well, I would be very grateful !
Thank you in advance !

-what Vigild wrote, he is "the one".

[Victoria_Wlm]

Vigild- Thanks, I send you some questions right away !

Vonknut- Thanks a lot for those quick answers, they are very helpful ! If my work is published, I'll credit you for sure

[Vanulla_Ace]

Hi Victoria

I would recommend you to take a look at this report. It contains the latest numbers on the Danish Games Industry from "Producentforeningen". Thats the trade union for film, tv- and computer game companies in Denmark: http://computerspilzonen.dk/sites/compu ... j-2012.pdf

It's in danish, but Google translate should be able to help you along, or you can post here with specific questions.

Regarding the usage og computer games in Denmark, you should check out this report from the Ministry of Culture. "Cultural Habits of the Danes". Again in Danish (and huge), but if you could get som heltp, there's a lot of stuff on computer games in it. http://kum.dk/Documents/Publikationer/2 ... r_pdfa.pdf

One of it's more interesting conclusions is , that usage of computer games, especially console games, is actually overrepresented in some social groups - especially descendants of immigrants.

The report also lists popularity of various game genres within certain age and social groups.

Like Vigild, I've been writing about games, especially the Danish Game Dev Scene, so feel free to get in touch, if you want to know more.

Cheers & Good lUck

[Victoria_Wlm]

Vanulla_Ace - Thanks a lot for the links, and I would love to ask you some questions as well : it's always good to have different point of view about things ! Since I don't have your mail adress, here's mine : v_wilhelm@hotmail.fr