Risto J. Hieta (born 1956), also known by the
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
Nordic or Nordic the Incurable, is a
Finn connected with the
role playing and
computer game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
culture.
Early life and career
Hieta was born in 1956 in
Mänttä
Mänttä is a former town and municipality of Finland. It was merged with the municipality of Vilppula to form Mänttä-Vilppula on 1 January 2009.
The place name ''Mänttä'' comes from an old house which Tuomas Niilonpoika Mäntsä (1570–1618 ...
in
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
.
Hieta has designed several role-playing games himself, and he is also known by columns written in game-related magazines. Hieta published his first
Finnish-language
Finnish ( endonym: or ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland (the other being Swedis ...
role playing game, ''
Miekka ja magia'', in 1987. Other games by Hieta include ''Elhendi'' and ''Astra''. He has made the largest number of games produced by
Arctic ranger productions. Hieta has said that he originally found role playing games via a computer game set in the ''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...
'' world. According to Nordic, his designation "the incurable" refers to his feelings about
dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
s. Hieta works in a
Fantasiapelit shop in
Tampere
Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...
.
Hieta became famous by the name "Nordic" as the writer of the "Peliluola" ("The Gaming Den") column in ''
MikroBitti''.
Peliluola
''Ricostar.net''. Hieta had originally contacted the magazine claiming to write better review
A review is an evaluation of a publication, product, service, or company or a critical take on current affairs in literature, politics or culture. In addition to a critical evaluation, the review's author may assign the work a content rating, ...
s than the magazine had at the time. The contact led to him becoming an assistant in the magazine. Nordic had a very personal touch in his column, and he often wrote very freely about his own and his friends' activities with computer and role playing games. "Peliluola" published gameplay hints, viewers' high scores and short reviews. Letters sent by readers played an important part in the column. The column usually started with a story
Story or stories may refer to:
Common uses
* Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events)
** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting
* Story (American English), or storey (British ...
about Nordic's current adventures in his role playing games. The best known figure in the stories was Petrell, a games character created by Pete, a friend of Nordic. Nordic's long-time favourite computer game in the 1980s was ''Boulder Dash
''Boulder Dash'' is a 2D maze-puzzle video game released in 1984 by First Star Software for Atari 8-bit computers. It was created by Canadian developers Peter Liepa and Chris Gray. The player controls Rockford, who collects treasures while ...
''. The first "Peliluola" column was published in ''MikroBitti'' issue 3/1985 and the last in 1998. Especially at the early times of the column, when very little was written about gaming in Finnish magazines, "Peliluola" was an important resource to Finnish computer and role playing games culture.Pelit
''Pelit'' ("Games") is a Finnish video games magazine published in Helsinki, Finland.
History
''Pelit'' dates back to 1987, as an annual extra games-only issue of '' MikroBitti'' and '' C-lehti''. Another annual issue was published in 1988, and in ...
'' magazine.
Publications
* '' Miekka ja magia'' (role playing game), 1987
* ''Astra'' (role playing game, together with Aki Tukiainen), ACE-pelit, 1991
* ''Elhendi'' (role playing game), ACE-pelit, 1993
* ''Roolipeliopas'', Tehokopiointi ky, Tampere, 1994
References
External links
A licentiate thesis about Finnish role playing games culture history
(in Finnish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hieta, Risto
Finnish journalists
Living people
1956 births
Date of birth missing (living people)
Role-playing game designers