作者：Jon Jordan

Peter Vesterbacka是Rovio Mobile的无敌鹰——他创造了大受欢迎的《愤怒的小鸟》以及其它50多款游戏。

他管理着公司的市场营销和业务策略，包括将《愤怒的小鸟》发展成更广泛的娱乐产品。他同时也是Some Bazaar（游戏邦注：即创建并发展新业务的一种新方法）的创造者。

在来到Rovio之前，Vesterbacka曾在HP致力于一些与产业相关的交流工作。

rovio-peter-vesterbacka（from pocketgamer）

在HP期间，Peter创建了HP Mobile E-Services Bazaar，一个面向全球的创新企业合作项目，Booz Allen Hamilton更是将其作为产业基准。

Peter同时还是MobileMonday的联合创始人和最初发起人。

Pocket Gamer：在孩童时期你最喜欢的游戏是什么？

Peter Vesterbacka：我的第一台计算机是Commodore 64。那时候我利用它玩过许多游戏，而最让我印象深刻的是《吃豆人》，《MULE》，《Archon》，《救难直升机》，《禁断森林》，《Pogo Joe》，《Zork》以及一些我不甚至不记得名字的游戏。

这真是包含了各种类型的游戏。

PG：你是何时发现自己想要将游戏创造当成一项职业？

PV：从未如此。

我从未认为这是一项职业。我一直认为我们可以做一些自己真正喜欢的事。就像孔子所说的，知之者不如好之者，好之者不如乐之者。

正因为我喜欢游戏，所以我总是会跟别人说自己在几年前就停止工作了。

PG：最初你在这个产业中扮演着怎样的角色？

PV：我的第一个游戏业务是与中学朋友一起完成的。不像其他美国孩子那样摆摊子卖柠檬汽水，我们卖的是他面向Commodore 64并基于BASIC所创造的一些游戏。

从那以后我们又经历了很长一段时间的发行过程。

PG：你认为自己第一次的巨大成功是什么时候？

PV：我总是很容易因为各种新事物而兴奋不已。在回顾过去几年我所喜欢做的以及真正完成的事中，最让我兴奋的应该是创建知名的全球社区。

最初的成功之一便是1999年我在HP发布的HP Bazaar项目。

Rovio是2003年出现的众多初创企业之一。那时候我也曾与Ilkka（游戏邦注：Supercell的首席执行官）见过面，他刚与好友发行了《Sumea》，所以我才说HP Bazaar令我有机会参与未来最成功的游戏公司的项目。

PG：你是什么时候意识到手机游戏的潜能？

PV：我不记得确切时间了，但应该是在20世纪90年代期间，即在诺基亚创造出Snake之前。我在很早的时候便发现了文本信息的潜能，以及手机能够用于许多当下人们未曾想到的事物中。

当然该潜能花了比我预期更长的时间才变成现实。

Rovio出现在2003年，遭遇iPhone和应用商店问世，现在回想的话似乎它诞生时间过早了。但时机就是一切，就像风险资本家的黄金法则所说的：“不能太早也不能太晚。”

PG：你认为手机游戏中最重要的事件是什么？

PV：自然是App Store的发行。

它让所有人都能更轻松地发行游戏，并更直接地接触到用户。手机游戏业务在一夜间便发生改变。如今真正重要的不再是哪些大型公司创造了最多游戏，而是哪些公司公司（不论大小）创造了最出色的游戏。

这在当前看来再明显不过了，但是在那时却并非如此。

PG：你最自豪的是什么？最后悔的又是什么？

PV：我为自己的两个孩子感到自豪。并且到现在为止还没有什么能让我感到后悔。

PG：最近你最喜欢的手机游戏是什么，为什么？

PV：我真的很喜欢我们还未发行的新游戏，但是我却不能为此透露过多信息，否则玩家就没有新鲜感了。

而除了我们自己的游戏，我也很喜欢像《植物大战僵尸2》和《王国保卫战》等经典游戏，我经常会在长途飞行时玩这些游戏。

PG：你是如何看待手机游戏的未来？

PV：我非常欣赏宫本茂在任天堂所做的以及正在做的一切。我也希望能在主流手机平台上看到更多高质量游戏的出现。

我认为我们将看到更多出色的娱乐品牌出现在手机上，并传向各个地方；因为我们的手机设备已经成为了开发者的首选。从消费来看的话，电视已经变成是第二选择。

PG：你希望未来在哪个领域做出改变？

PV：教育。我希望让各种类型的学习变得更有趣。

我希望全世界人们都能享受到教育。而为了实现这一目标我仍有许多事要做，但是我始终坚信我们最后一定能够获得成功，并真正改变这个世界。

你可能会认为这是一种疯狂的想法，但是我认为只是这是一种正面的疯狂。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Hall of Fame: Peter Vesterbacka

by Jon Jordan

Peter Vesterbacka is the Mighty Eagle of Rovio Mobile, the creator of the wildly successful Angry Birds franchise and over 50 other games.

He manages the company’s marketing and business strategy, including expanding Angry Birds into a broader entertainment franchise. He is also the founder of Some Bazaar, a new approach to building and growing new businesses.

Prior to Rovio, Vesterbacka worked for HP in several communications-industry-related roles.

While at HP, Peter founded the HP Mobile E-Services Bazaar, a global innovation and corporate partnership program that Booz Allen Hamilton declared an industry benchmark.

Peter is also co-founder and the original initiator of MobileMonday.

Pocket Gamer: What were your favourite games as a kid?

Peter Vesterbacka: My first computer was a Commodore 64. I played a lot of games back then, but some that I remember playing quite a lot were Pac-Man, MULE, Archon, Raid on Bungeling Bay, Forbidden Forest, Pogo Joe, Zork and many that I don’t even remember the names of.

It was a wide variety of games and genres, so a pretty healthy diet.

When did you realise you wanted to make games as a career?

Not yet ; )

I haven’t really ever thought about a career. I have always believed that you should do things that you enjoy and love doing. And as Confucius said a long time ago, if you love what you do, you will not have to work a single day in your life.

And as I love games, I always tell people I stopped working years ago.

What was your first role in the industry?

That’s a tough one. I think my first game business was with a high school friends. Instead of a lemonade stand that kids in the US apparently do, we sold the listing of a game in BASIC he made for the Commodore 64.

Distribution has come long way since then.

What do you consider your first significant success?

I tend to get easily excited about a lot of cool new things. When looking back at what I really enjoy doing and have been doing over the years, it’s really around building branded global communities.

One of the first ones was the HP Bazaar that I launched when at HP in 1999.

Rovio is one of the startups that came out of that in 2003. I also met Ilkka [Paananen, Supercell CEO] back then, when he was launching Sumea with his friends, so I could say the HP Bazaar was successful in getting me involved with what were to become some of the most succesful gaming companies on the planet.

When did the potential for mobile games become apparent to you?

I don’t remember the exact time, but sometime in the early 1990s, well before Nokia did Snake. I saw the potential of text messages very early and that phones could be used for lots of stuff that most people didn’t realize at the time.

Of course it took a bit longer than I thought for the potential to become real.

Rovio got started in 2003, way before the iPhone and app stores, way too early when looking back now. But timing is tough, the golden rule of venture capitalist goes something like this: “too early, too early, too late”.

What do you think is the most significant event in mobile gaming?

No doubt, the launch of the App Store.

It gave everybody easy access to distribution, and finally a way to reach the fans directly. The mobile games business changed overnight. No longer was it about which big company made the most games, but which company, big or small, made the best games.

This is all obvious now, but wasn’t at the time.

What are you most proud of? Any regrets?

Most proud of? My two kids. No regrets.

Which mobile games have you most enjoyed recently and why?

I really like our new, unreleased games, but can’t say much about those, as it would spoil the surprise.

Besides our own games I really like classic games such as Plants vs. Zombies 2 and Kingdom Rush on my iPad during long flights.

What are your predictions for the future of mobile games?

I’m a huge fan of what Miyamoto & co have been and are doing at Nintendo. I hope we’ll see more of that quality franchises emerge on mainstream mobile platforms as well.

I think we’ll see more great entertainment brands get started on mobile and then go everywhere; after all it’s very clear that our mobile devices have become the first screen. TVs etc are secondary as far as content consumption is concerned.

In which area do you hope to make a difference in future?

Education. I want to make learning fun – all kinds of learning.

I want to give the world education. There’s a bit of work left to do to achieve that, but I think we will succeed and that it will change the world.

You could say that it’s crazy ambitious, but I think it’s a good kind of crazy ; )(source:pocketgamer)