Architect design of classic snake game Bluetooth#

A rare name in Finland, the colleague assumed it was Taneli behind the game it was in fact his nephew. They’re the types of tunes that stick in your mind for days (with numerous reminders now currently up on YouTube).Īt the time, a colleague was exploring the possibilities of gaming applications on mobiles, and had just played a computer game credited to one T. These ringtones might send you back a few years, as I’m sure many can remember scrolling to find the perfect musical accompaniment, opting for the jazzy beeps of Groovy Blue, the high-tempo vibe of Kick, the jumpy energy of Caprice, or the stress-inducing Critter. “So I got to programme the tones in some of the handsets,” he recalls of these first few months.

As Taneli had some previous experience in the music industry, he was interested in how the ringtones were created. He jumped into the application process, got in, and worked on developing the user interfaces of its first handsets. After studying computer science and mathematics at undergraduate level, Taneli left university, serendipitously, as Nokia was expanding its user interface developing group, near his hometown in Finland. Subsequently, Taneli went on to have a flourishing career in computer programming and games design, involving 15 years spent at Nokia. “A bit later, home computers – like Commodore64 – arrived, and I decided that computer programming could be my future job.” Those who were keen or “eager enough” joined a members-only IT group, where each person could learn to programme the computer. “Actually, even today, playing board games is still my hobby.” It was during his teenage years that Taneli first experienced the inner workings of a computer when his school received one (yes, one). “We needed to, and did, play IRL board games,” he tells us. It was on the off-chance that Taneli came to develop this iconic game, but he was the perfect suitor no less.īorn in 1965, growing up there weren’t too many computers, let alone mobile device-based games, for Taneli to play with. In 1997 came the landmark addition of Snake – first published by Finnish company Nokia for monochrome 6110 phones, and programmed by the company’s Taneli Armanto. This game inspired numerous iterations, such as the arcade game Bigfoot Bonkers that year more similar concepts in 1977 by the then-leading video games company Atari a computer-based version called Worm, programmed in 1978 and a single-player arcade game named Nibbler in 1982. To win, the player had to last the longest without hitting anything else. Similar to what would soon become Snake, it involved pressing arrow keys to move each character, wherein players would leave a solid trail behind them wherever they turned. It was first created as a concept in 1976 under the name of Blockage, and was a monochromatic two-player arcade game developed by video games company, Gremlin Interactive.

Snake’s story begins long before it found a mass audience with Nokia. This was the dawn of a new use for the mobile phone, and a game that would instantly turn into a phenomenon. The snake would grow and grow, before bumping into itself and bringing you right back to the start. Like pressing the chunky buttons – “beep beep beep” – as the Nokia would unleash its recognisable chime, while steering the speedy trail of pixels to collect bits of cellular food. Snake was my first real introduction to tech and the world of mobile phones, and it’s one of those ubiquitous games that brings back a flood of nostalgic memories.

I can recall the frustration and enjoyment experienced while gaming with this humble, yet utterly addictive creation. He’d oblige, and in doing so, his phone was given a new use other than its usual work-related SMS texting and phone calls. Before receiving my own (the one that had a blue-ish cover and the flashy lights on the side), I remember tirelessly asking my dad to let me play Snake on his old 6110 “brick”. The following week, it would be another teenage classic from the early 2000s.īut this wasn’t all your Nokia had to offer. I’d set the song up on my Nokia phone, and so did everyone else.

Architect design of classic snake game Bluetooth#

The first takes me back to an afternoon on the school bus, eagerly waiting for my Bluetooth polyphonic ringtone of Akon’s Beautiful to download from a friend a few seats away. There are a couple of moments from my childhood that I’m sure many others can relate to.