Norway
Norway is a country in northern Europe. As a country Norway tries to market itself as a liberal democracy with ambitions to be at the forefront of many areas such as environmental protection, energy technology and polar science.
From 1969 and onwards Norway has benefited enormously from the oil wealth, even surpassing the resource of fish, which today is the second most important export for Norway.
The nature of Norway is famous, and attracts thousands of tourists every year. Especially famous are the fjords of Norway, with Geirangerfjorden and Nærøyfjorden being on the world heritage list.
As a source of cultural inspiration, Norway has had a huge influence on the English language, due to the Viking invasions. The Norse mythology has also been used a lot as a source of inspiration.
As of 2012 Norway has ca. 5 million inhabitants, making it a tiny country population wise. During WWII, Norway was occupied by German forces. Its strategic position was important, with northern ports such as Narvik, Germany was provided with access to Swedish iron ore from Kiruna.
Games set in Norway
Several games have the action taking place in Norway. The commando raids that took place in Norway are used as inspiration in games such as Commandos, Hidden and Dangerous and Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. In the first Call of Duty Game there is a mission in which you destroy the German Battleship Tirpitz which is laying anchored in a Norwegian fjord. In C&C Tiberian Sun some missions revolve around the destruction of a GDI base in northern Norway.
In addition to this Norway is featured in most recent Football games such as FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer. Norway is also playable in almost every Paradox developed game. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier takes place in northern Europe including Norway.
Norwegian Developers
In comparison to Sweden and Finland there are few game developers in Norway. After Innerloop closed down in 2003 only Funcom and Red Thread Games remains as the mainstream developers. There are however some smaller companies making children's games for the Norwegian market as well as some indie developers.
Beyond the development scene, Norway was a hotbed of demoscene and crack intro development during the microcomputer era. An active Amiga enthusiast community existed in Norway well into the 21st century.
Log in to comment