As a Norwegian developer I want to say this is all absolutely true. Except the part where we all wear shirts with our flag on them.

This isn't how Janteloven works in practice. It doesn't hold people back from achieving, it simply instruct people to avoid being cocky or arrogant for doing so. We celebrate our heroes too, but they are usually humble and grateful for their sucess and are capable of recognizing that it's not just them that are the cause of their sucess.

As a Norwegian i agree with almost all points in this video. Janteloven is more about the concept to not be arrogant and cocky, but that was the only part i kinda disagree on. I am happy to see the Norwegian game industry growing, and getting some attention in the rest of the world. Good job with the video!

3:45 the translation of "Hei, hvor er du?" is "Hi, where are you?" if you want, "Hi, how are you?" it's "Hei, hvordan går det?"

I could barely pay attention to the rest of the episode after he said "McDonalds workers make $20 an hour." All I could think was "Move to Norway, move to Norway, move to Norway" Plus I love me some black metal.

3:45 "Hei hvor er du" Means Hey, where are you

Janteloven or the Jante-law is actually from a book written by Aksel Sandemose in 1933. Where he describes this law in the fictional town of Jante. However, people all over Scandinavia, especially Norway, felt like this applied to where they lived. Janteloven is not, nor was it ever a real thing, something that even people from the region seem to forget/don't know. We say we have janteloven as criticism of our society because there is a bit a truth to it.

«Hello how are you?» «Hei HVOR er du?» Wtf

Hey Norway my old buddy :D Love you Denmark

As someone studying game design in Finland, I'd love to see you guys make a video on the Finnish industry!

Come on Norway! Sweden's got Minecraft and BF and Finland got Angry birds. *Don't make us look useless!*

3:46 He is saying hello where are you and not hello how are you.

3:46 I don't know if this was intentional or not, but "Hei hvor er du?" Actually translates to "Hello where are you?" -Norwagian Extra Credits Fan

Norway: games whats that Sweden: I SHALL MAKE MOEE GAMESSSSSSSSSSSS

"hei hvor er du" is actually "hey *where* are you"

2:19 He was so sad his tongue moved to the top of his mouth.

"Janteloven" is more a Danish thing, but I guess Norway has it too. It's not so much about not wanting others to feel bad, but it's a subconscious ingrown resistance to making yourself stand out because of the negative attention something like that will inevitably bring forth. It's also a mostly dead concept. Both Denmark and Norway have X-Factor, Talent, Voice and whatever. There's plenty of people who don't mind peacocking and making fools of themselves for attention, no matter how negative.

3:47 Grammar error. "Hei, hvor er du?" translates to "Hello, where are you?". If you wanted to say "Hello, how are you?" it would be "Hei hvordan har du det?".

You should've gotten a norwegian / scandinavian to correct stuff. ''Hei hvor er du?'' means ''Hey where are you?''. And also nobody really gives a crap about Janteloven. It's something they teach young kids so that they don't go aroun thinking they're better than everyone else.

It would be very interesting to see you do a video like this for Sweden, and perhaps compare the two. Sweden has a large gaming and IT industry in relation to its population (Dice, Paradox, Mojang to name a few developers) and Norway and Sweden are very similar in many ways, so it could be interesting to see how their gaming markets are doing in comparison to each other.

3:45 , how does "Hello how are you?" get translated to "Hei, hvor er du?" "Hei, hvor er du?" Means "Hello, where are you?" 😂😂

Norway looks like a nice country. Maybe I should go there someday?

I know this is a few years old now, but kids, at least since I was a child too, are taught 'anti-janteloven' which basically tells you not to judge anyone for being different from you or the masses (Of course as long as the difference doesnt harm anyone). Tho industries definitely adopt janteloven more because of fear of being outclassed otherwise. Let's hope us who were taught anti-janteloven can change things even more!

3:46 that’s not how norwegian works, he’s saying hello where are you, in Norwegian.

¨hei hvor er du¨ is basically translated to hello where are you. ahah ops? 3:45

3:45 "hei hvor er du?" does not mean "hello how are you?" it means "hi where are you".

Haha. At 3:48 "Hei hvor er du?" doesn't mean "Hey, how are you?" but "Hey, where are you?".

Watching this video kind of makes me want a game where you make games as a company for a certain market (eg. you play as a company in norway, trying to make games for the global market, or you play as a brazilian company trying to make games for the brazilian market, etc)

Love to see my country from another perspective, really well made video!

Norwegian here and I just gotta say, the whole "Janteloven" thing is something we just say as a joke nowadays. Nobody really takes it seriously.

Wow, I had NO idea Extra credits made a video on Norway. I remember a speech he made in Bergen back when I studied at Noroff, it was great! Sadly the current situation has not really changed: FunCom is still the only real AAA game company here, but like so many other companies that actually make money, they get their cash off of MMOs and real money purchases in their games. Often we can apply for some monetary aid from our government to make games, but to be applicable we have to meet 3 out of 4 conditions out of a weird set of "cultural" requirements: - The manuscript must be written in Norwegian or Sami. - The main theme must be connected to Norwegian culture, history, or social conditions. - The setting of the game must be in Norway or other EEA countries. - The Work has to have a sizeable majority of its original workers and artists living in Norway or other EEA countries. I read these rules as of today. Read them here if you want www.nfi.no/sok-tilskudd/spill/kunstnerisk-vurdering. It's in Norwegian, but English option is in the top right. For some reason you do not see the exact same information in English though... These limitations really put a dampener on fledgling developers creativity if they want monetary help, and in my honest opinion should be removed.

Great episode, but I have to bring up Janteloven. The concept was originally meant to parody the attitude often found in small towns, were flock mentality was very prevalent. The concept of Janteloven in modern Norway is an ironic statement. "Don't think your something special", "Don't think you're better than us" etc. Taken at face value, this creates an image of a country very at odds with non-conformity and individual identity. The mistake of taking this "law" (as loven means law) at face value is very common even in Norway, but rest assured it is meant entirely ironic and was crafted to put down and mock those who would literally harbor such opinions as well as inspire others to rise above petty comments of that nature. Growing up in rural surroundings I experienced the reality of this, as did my homosexual (and foreign)friends or basically anyone who wasn't a farmer or a manual laborer. I don't think this is a particularly Norwegian phenomena either. Other than that, great episode! (Was hoping for one of these since James has been in Norway for a bit now. Glad to see it!)

One thing, Janteloven comes from Denmark. With that being said, it has changede since we came up with the concept back in 1933. Essentially, It states that you shouldn't brag excessively about what you have done or accomplished, It's okay to have success as long as you're humble, down to earth and give to the community. The best example of this would be from Denmark, with the old shipping Tycoon who ran Mærsk Shipping, easily once of the richest men in Denmark, or all of scandinavia. But he was beloved by people, he paid out of his own pocket to restore statues and public fountains, even bought a new opera house for the people. To bring it back, Janteloven HAS changede, success is okay, as long as a person is a bit humble about it. You are where you are thanks to society, all that government aid that was mentioned as after all something that everyone pays for, so in a sense, everyone else has help pay to get you where you are, if you spit in a person face after they've done that, and simple say "Screw you, I'm just better than you, deal with it." That's when Janteloven goes into effect.

Hei hvor er du mens hello, where are you. That frame was adorable

As a norwegian, I have to point out and celebrate just how accurate this video is. It's really cool to see a competent breakdown of the video game industry in my country. Well done!

3:45 Im sorry, but as a Norwegian, its not "Hei hvor er du?" its "Hei, hvordan går det?"

3:47 That sentence in Norwegian means «Hi, where are you» but ok lol

Just wanted to point out, (seeing as I am Norwegian), that at 3:45 the text: "Hello, how are you?" actually translates to: "Hei, hvordan går det?", not "Hei, hvor er du?", which actually translates to: "Hello, where are you?". Sorry for the nitpicking. :)

Seems the comments about it has sunk down, but there's this: Janteloven isn't a thing that we're taught anymore, if ever. In fact, we're taught anti-janteloven if anything. Janteloven is OLD.

Hmm... I knew that Swedish game industry was way ahead of our finnish one, but I haven't paid much attention to Norway... I got it! Hey Norwegians! Finland here! Wanna team up against Sweden?

wait, is Fun Run from Norway?! Man I need to check where my games are made, I loved that game and... I'm Norwegian

Wait my country makes games? The only Norwegian games I know of is karlson and a 2007 game from NRK

"Hei hvor er du?" means "Hey where are you?". "Hi, how are you?" is "Hei, hvordan går det?".

What the video says about Janteloven is true, but it seems like a lot of people are misunderstanding what it really is. Janteloven is a concept created by a character in a novel. It satirizes the way small communities police themselves by bullying everyone that's different. The word is never used in a positive sense. Nobody would admit to being an enforcer of the Law of Jante. I found this translation on Wikipeida: 1. You're not to think you are anything special. 2. You're not to think you are as good as we are. 3. You're not to think you are smarter than we are. 4. You're not to convince yourself that you are better than we are. 5. You're not to think you know more than we do. 6. You're not to think you are more important than we are. 7. You're not to think you are good at anything. 8. You're not to laugh at us. 9. You're not to think anyone cares about you. 10. You're not to think you can teach us anything. This is one of the few proofs that we Norwegians are able to poke fun of ourselves.

Thank you so much for making a video on Norway! We are so rarely mentioned. Great episode!

3:45 well ain't that the wrong translation :P He's saying "Hi, where are you"

3:47 should be Hei hvordan går det, the image shown there translates to hi where are you

Why do so many misunderstand Janteloven? It just says that one shouldn't THINK one's better than anyone. It doesn't embrace the thought of holding back from standing out. At it's core, it's more of an opposition to things like snobbiness.

"Hei hvor er du" means "hey where are you", people have probably said this a hundred times but you're looking for "hei hvordan har du det"

3:46 -Hei hvor er du? Means -Hello where are you? -Hello how are you, is -Hei, hvordan har du det?

Janteloven is a concept that's spread throughout all the Scandinavian countries. The correct translation would be "The Law of Jante" Regards, a Danish fan

3:46 "Hei hvor er du?" = "Hello where are you?" And "Hello how are you?" = Hei hvordan går det?" Get your Norweigan right! Great video though, that just bucked me a lot.

You wrote "hei hvor er du" this actually translates to hello where are you, not how are you

My Norwegian soul loved this.

I was waiting for this series to return. Perfect opportunity now that James is in Norway!

I love this series. I hope more Global Games episodes will come

Watching this makes me think of a tablet game called Frostrune that is amazing and spectacular. The art and story are memorable and the gameplay is simple. It is meant to be a historical based game that puts you in the place of a person in that world and setting. I cannot say enough good things about it. Also, it's pretty short. It took me only a few hours to complete and I'm not a fast gamer. I hope that those of you who read this check it out. It's a mystery game with some puzzle elements. And it's completely free. There are no adds, at no time was I asked for money. In the end credits, the game said that it was funded by their local government, which gives me great hope for the possible future of games.

The story of DICE Games from Sweden might make for an inspirational success story for Norway to take lessons from. Battlefield, anyone?

Well done and good research on this topic. You hit it mostly on the head

great video, ill try to remember this for the future and do my very best

I know that someone already pointed out that the Law of Jante has been misunderstood or misrepresented, but I think it should be pointed out that it started in Denmark, as satire of small city mentality and the antithesis of creative people. So unless someone misunderstands the Law of Jante, it should make them more likely to stand out and want to be exceptional.

Interesting that there's no mention of the success of game devs in their neighbour Sweden, considering how similar Norway and Sweden are culturally and economically, and how successful Swedish devs, namely Paradox and Mojang, have been doing.

thank you, i'll make sure to keep this in mind as i do my best

"hei hvor er du?" means "Hello where are you?" and not "Hello how are you?" It made me giggle.

Tusen takk as we say it in Norway.

Thank you for this great episode guys! We appreciate an outside analysis and I agree with all the issues you bring up. It is indeed an exciting situation where we get the opportunity to shape a young industry.

been waiting so long for this

Brilliant analysis! I learned a lot!

The norwegian games industry also has to deal with a lot of talented and dedicated people moving into the swedish games sector which is a lot more developed with studios/ publishers like paradox and DICE and large presence of international publishers like EA. Moving between sweden and norway, and to some extent denmark is so easy, due to mutually understood languages and similar culture, that it in some ways doesn't make much sense to think of those three countries as different markets for games, or for labour.

Hey, great video, only one problem. The picture regarding when norwegians are learning english where he first says "Hei hvor er du" and then "Hi how are you" is translated wrong. "Hei hvor er du" would translate to "hi, where are you", not "hi how are you". You would rather say "Hei, hvordan går det" if you wanted to say "hi how are you" great work otherwise!

Norwegian government offers all this support for small businesses but have higher taxes than places like the USA to fund such programs. When a company is small, the provided support outweighs the extra tax cost, but a large company will end up paying more to the government than they save from provided services. This means that a large corporation would have a cash incentive to leave Norway and move to a place like USA that favors large buissness. If a Norwegian game company strikes it rich (like Mojang did in Sweden) they would have incentive to move or sell out to an American company (once again like Mojang in Sweden)

Love the editing

just outsource all the publishing to paradox, that way sweden can finally diplo-annex norway

Janteloven is more based on material goods rather than preformance.

I like how they say the 'loven' bit in 'Janteloven' as 'loven' rather than 'lowen', thats the best way I can describe how they say it

I study 3D-design in norway at the moment, this episode was much needed :)

"hei, hvor er du" does not equal "Hey, how are you". But instead "Hey, where are you"

btw hei hvor er du means hey where are you not hey how are you

Great episode. I know a couple of people in the industry in Norway and according to them it is hard working there. It's interesting that Janteloven (The Law of Jante), has escaped the fictional Danish town of Jante and has become an actual Scandinavian frame of mind just 81 years after it's conception. Also, hearing Daniel pronounce it Janteluvin' multiple times made this a very worthwhile episode :)

i learnt alot from this and i think it going ot help me cuz i am from Norway and want to start making games

Bring this series back! (if possible)

That picture illustrating Norwegians learning English was a little embarrassing. "Hei, hvor er du?" means "Hey, WHERE are you?", not "Hey, how are you?".. But as a Norwegian aspiring game developer, I think you raised some very solid arguments about what should be done.

Thank you for making this episode! I'd LOVE to see great and unique games from my homecountry get global recognition. Also, talking about janteloven was really spot on when it comes to game developing. I'd never make that connection myself!

As a young Norwegian with an interest in video games I find this video really interesting. Next summer I am starting a 1 year course on game design and I hope to pursue the art, but I have never even considered the idea of working with video games IN NORWAY. I guess that is part of the problem. Thank you for making a video about us, and thank you for pronouncing Janteloven correctly :)

"Hei hvor er du" is hello where are you in english

in Norway the Healthcare system covers absolutely everything except private hospitals and surgeries (i think), broke my leg once and they just took me in for 2 hours and when i was done it came up on a total of 0NOK (it's because the tax you pay covers everything within welfare)

Extra credits! Watched the ww1 series, and you guys are genius! Loved it

This episode could work for all of scandinavia as the/we have the same possibilities and fall groupes. Janteloven is still present in the younger generation but compared to the other generations, it is getting a lot better. Great episode with a lot of good pointers.

I cringed when Daniel said "The upcoming Owlboy". This episode is nearly three years old and that game only came out LAST YEAR. Frig, that's a long time in development.

Damn Norway sounds like a real nice place to live. Too bad it was occupied when I was looking for a country to flee to.

Wow, great episode

3:46 “Hei, hvor er du?” doesn’t mean “Hello, how are you?” “Hei, hvor er du?” translates to “Hey, _where_ are you?” “Hello, how are you?” in Norwegian would be “Hallo, hvordan går det?”-or, a little more formally, “Hallo, hvordan har du det?”

Janteloven is actually Danish, though it is popular in Sweden and Norway as well. Also, you completely misunderstood it. It's pretty simple. Don't ever, EVER think you're special. Cause you're not. You're not better than anyone else, so no matter your successes, never think that you are.

The emerging games industry in Poland could be an interesting topic as well.

Too late now, but you have a major typo in this video. At 3:46 the textbook says "hei hvor er du?". This means "hey/hello where are you?" You translated that into "how are you". Nitpicking aside, I think it is AWESOME that you are putting norwegian games developers out there like this. And thank you (!) for giving any norwegian developers watching this tips on how to be better.

I hope to see one of these about my country, Italy, to see if the situation is dread as I think.

Norway is one of the few countries in the world that has no national debt. It has cash reserves totaling more than 10 times it's GDP as well. After all it has large oil reserves but unlike other nations like Dubai or Saudi-Arabia it doesn't waste that money on grand buildings or on massive military projects. (Saudi-Arabia has a larger military budget than China). Since they don't really use their massive oil wealth it has simply piled up over the decades and Norway has more money than they really know what to do with.

Oil tycoons that's what Norway should make

Glad to see a video about Norway :D It's always remarkable to see our little country come up on the "big screens" ;)

Thanks so much for this, I'd love to make games in Norway some day