06-11-2015, 12:42 PM
I know I said there wasn't going to be more but I never thought I'd find any actual proof of this. Well, I did find multiple.
Stavros Fasoulas' Sanxion was the first ever Finnish game to leave the shores of our country and find a place in the global market. If you happen to know anything about Finnish names, "Stavros Fasoulas" isn't exactly one that even remotely sounds like it but he was a Finn, born and raised.
On the site "Game Research" there is an article where it says "The first game to end up on the international market was Stavros Fasoulas' Sanxion, which was published in 1986 by the British Thalamus Software."
On V2, a Finnish gaming and entertainment site, there is an article on Finnish gaming history where it says "The first Finn to get their game out to the world was Stavros Fasoulas", after which the article continues to talk about his games Sanxion ('86) and Delta ('87).
On Tekes' (an innovation fund center) overview of Finland's gaming industry as a whole (written in 2013) it says "In 1986 the first commercial Finnish game targeted at international markets, Stavros Fasoulas' Sanxion, was released."
On Finnish public radio and TV's, YLE, site there is an article on "Sinivalkoinen pelikirja", which is a book detailing the history of Finnish game industry. In the interview the author, Juho Kuorikoski, says in length "The first breakthroughs in domestic game industry were made on Commodore 64. Both Stavros Fasoulas and Jukka Tapanimäki made their games on the 64. Fasoulas' Sanxion from 1986 was the first commercially successful Finnish game release. Sanxion was, apart from its top and side view combining gameplay, a very traditional spaceship shooter but it got Jukka Tapanimäki to try his wings on international markets. Tapanimäki and Fasoulas are the first national pioneers, who got their games in stores outside of Finland's borders. Sanxion was an extremely important game opener for, in addition to Tapanimäki, it must have given hope to many other basement coders."
Sanxion on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanxion
Sanxion on C64 Wiki: https://www.c64-wiki.com/index.php/Sanxion
Stavros Fasoulas on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stavros_Fasoulas
As an added bonus, here's a picture from that study from Tekes:
![[Image: notwork_zpsazojphrq.png]](http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a593/WeaponOfMassDistraction/notwork_zpsazojphrq.png)
The part highlighted: "The first international game, Sanxion"
Since it is from 2013, it still has wrong information on "First commercial releases" set around 1984, as proved by my Finnish Game History #1 post.
Game footage just so this page won't look so bleak.
Gotta love that theme.
Stavros Fasoulas' Sanxion was the first ever Finnish game to leave the shores of our country and find a place in the global market. If you happen to know anything about Finnish names, "Stavros Fasoulas" isn't exactly one that even remotely sounds like it but he was a Finn, born and raised.
On the site "Game Research" there is an article where it says "The first game to end up on the international market was Stavros Fasoulas' Sanxion, which was published in 1986 by the British Thalamus Software."
On V2, a Finnish gaming and entertainment site, there is an article on Finnish gaming history where it says "The first Finn to get their game out to the world was Stavros Fasoulas", after which the article continues to talk about his games Sanxion ('86) and Delta ('87).
On Tekes' (an innovation fund center) overview of Finland's gaming industry as a whole (written in 2013) it says "In 1986 the first commercial Finnish game targeted at international markets, Stavros Fasoulas' Sanxion, was released."
On Finnish public radio and TV's, YLE, site there is an article on "Sinivalkoinen pelikirja", which is a book detailing the history of Finnish game industry. In the interview the author, Juho Kuorikoski, says in length "The first breakthroughs in domestic game industry were made on Commodore 64. Both Stavros Fasoulas and Jukka Tapanimäki made their games on the 64. Fasoulas' Sanxion from 1986 was the first commercially successful Finnish game release. Sanxion was, apart from its top and side view combining gameplay, a very traditional spaceship shooter but it got Jukka Tapanimäki to try his wings on international markets. Tapanimäki and Fasoulas are the first national pioneers, who got their games in stores outside of Finland's borders. Sanxion was an extremely important game opener for, in addition to Tapanimäki, it must have given hope to many other basement coders."
Sanxion on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanxion
Sanxion on C64 Wiki: https://www.c64-wiki.com/index.php/Sanxion
Stavros Fasoulas on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stavros_Fasoulas
As an added bonus, here's a picture from that study from Tekes:
The part highlighted: "The first international game, Sanxion"
Since it is from 2013, it still has wrong information on "First commercial releases" set around 1984, as proved by my Finnish Game History #1 post.
Game footage just so this page won't look so bleak.
Gotta love that theme.