Limbo, Minecraft Take Home Nordic Game Awards

Five games primarily developed in Nordic regions walked away with honors at the Nordic Game Awards Wednesday, with Danish studio Playdead taking the top honor for its Xbox Live Arcade title Limbo. Limbo beat out tough big-budget competition that included Alan Wake, Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Just Cause 2 in the nominations for Best Nordic Game. The game was also nominated for Best Artistic Achievement, but lost out to Swedish-developed Minecraft, with the jury explaining that "In a ridiculously simplistic game world the beauty lies in the artistic empowerment of the player." The Best Nordic Children's Game award was given to Southend's Ilomilo for Xbox Live Arcade, and the Best Nordic Handheld Game was awarded to Danish studio Blue Carrot Design's Axe In Face. Finally, the winner of the first-ever Nordic Indie Sensation Award -- the only one of the five to be voted by the public, as opposed to the festival's pre-determined jury -- was Norway's D-Pad Studios (pictured, with award), for Vikings On Trampolines. In addition to the award itself, D-Pad walked away with a license for Unity Pro. The Nordic Game Awards -- now in its fifth year -- is a part of the Nordic Game Conference, which is funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers as part of a Nordic cultural cooperation.