The Strong Reveals First Video Game Hall of Fame Inductees

[Lizzy Finnegan]

The Strong Reveals First Video Game Hall of Fame Inductees

Earlier this year the Strong National Museum of Play, located in Rochester, NY, established the World Video Game Hall of Fame to honor and celebrate individual games across a variety of platforms, including arcade, console, handheld, computer, and mobile. In a ceremony this morning, The Strong announced its inaugural class.

Nominations for induction were accepted through March 31, with requirements for consideration being: icon status, longevity, geographical reach, and influence.

"The Strong's World Video Game Hall of Fame announced its inaugural class this morning: Pong, Pac-Man, Tetris, Super Mario Bros., DOOM, and World of Warcraft. The games span multiple decades, countries of origin, and gaming platforms, but all have significantly affected the video game industry, popular culture, and society in general," according to a statement by The Strong.

The full list of finalists chosen for consideration for the Hall of Fame's freshman class included Angry Birds, DOOM, FIFA, The Legend of Zelda, Minecraft, The Oregon Trail, Pac-Man, Pokémon, Pong, The Sims, Sonic the Hedgehog, Space Invaders, Super Mario Bros., Tetris, and World of Warcraft.

Share your thoughts with us in the comments!


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[VanQ]

Not a bad selection. I am sad to see Pokemon miss out on the list but otherwise I can understand why they chose these titles. Are unselected finalists disqualified from reaching Hall of Fame status in future?

And now for some thread appropriate music!

 

[McMarbles]

I can't argue with any of these choices. Each one pretty much is either the progenitor or the iconic example of an entire genre.

 

[Made in China]

It's a good starter list. I'm hoping to see more adventure games in the future, because Sierra and LucasArts were a large part of my childhood - which is the common element of almost every game there, aside from Angry Birds, Minecraft and WoW.
Also, Zork.

 

[flying_whimsy]

That is a solid group of games based on their criteria.

I still remember when I heard the story about tetris being chosen to come with the game boy: "If we pack in mario, we'll sell it to every kid in the country. If we pack in tetris, we'll sell to everyone." or something like that (it's been a while).

 

[Yakostovian]

While I don't personally like Minecraft, I'm a tad surprised it wasn't inducted in the inaugural class. The only omissions that disappoint me are the Legend of Zelda and The Oregon Trail.

All games up for consideration will undoubtedly be added at a later date, but Angry Birds is the only one that I would be fine to see omitted entirely.

 

[tzimize]

I gotta say.

Enrolling world of warcraft in a best games of all time list is akin to enrolling heroin in a list of best foodstuffs available of all time.

Addictive doesnt necessarily mean good. It CAN be both addictive and good...but doesnt have to.

 

[doggy go 7]

I gotta say.

Enrolling world of warcraft in a best games of all time list is akin to enrolling heroin in a list of best foodstuffs available of all time.

Addictive doesnt necessarily mean good. It CAN be both addictive and good...but doesnt have to.

In fairness, the list hasn't got much to do with being good, it's about what's important for gaming. WOW has been massively influential in how we understand games and gaming and how gaming is understood in popular culture. It's the one on the list that is most up for debate, and it's got 7 million paying subscribers today (which is, if I remember correctly, lower than its peak). If that game isn't culturally relevant, then I'm not sure what game is.

 

[Rituro]

Good list. As much as I hate even the idea of playing WoW, I can't deny it took the Everquest formula and knocked it out of the park. At its peak, the subscriber base was all the proof you needed that a legendary game was being played.

I am slightly shocked that (a) Minecraft didn't make the first cut, and (b) Angry Birds made the shortlist. I mean, come on - mobile's first killer app gets a nod because, I assume, it was first? By that logic, Halo should get shortlisted, as should Sonic and Mario and ohhhhhhhh.

Still, Minecraft had better be in the second class.

 

[deleted+75193]

DELETED

 

[CrystalShadow]

let's see...
Pong - THE game that started things rolling. Not the first ever game, sure. But the first one widely seen by lots of people.
Pac Man - Iconic character, enemies with more personality than anything before, one of the classics that defined the early arcade era.
Super Mario bros - Still gets played today. Best defines what is arguably the single most recognisable character in gaming. (and arguably just in general). Sort of defined an entirely new game genre.
Doom - while not the first game in it's genre, it was a technological masterpiece that defined many of the elements of it's genre that persist to this day.
World of warcraft. - not the first mmo, but the most successful, and the model everyone seems to want to copy. (for better or worse). And it's influence on gaming culture is not to be underestimated.
Tetris - probably one of the most addictive games ever made, period. Also one of the most frequently blatantly copied. Most people know it, and the music and other elements of the original few versions are quite iconic in their own right...

All in all these games all do seem to deserve their status... XD

 

[Redryhno]

I'd have to say I'm fine with everything up there except WoW. Never understood how it got popular in the first place.

 

[Gorrath]

I would have put Dragon Quest 1 in before WOW, but hey, that's just me. Overall, I approve of the selections.

I can see why Dragon Quest might not have made it in but I feel it certainly should have been on the consideration list.

While I don't personally like Minecraft, I'm a tad surprised it wasn't inducted in the inaugural class. The only omissions that disappoint me are the Legend of Zelda and The Oregon Trail.

All games up for consideration will undoubtedly be added at a later date, but Angry Birds is the only one that I would be fine to see omitted entirely.

I don't think they could really leave Angry Birds out entirely. One could argue that it is the game that made everyone's phone into a gaming machine. Even people who were not at all gamers before getting their smartphone became gamers because of Angry Birds. That's some pretty hefty cultural impact there!

OT: Not disappointed, even by the WoW pick. While I never got into WoW no one can argue that it isn't massively popular and influential in and out of gaming circles.

 

[marioandsonic]

Can't argue with any of the inductees. I know people are down on WoW, but even if you don't like it, you can't deny the impact it has had on the industry.

That said...FIFA? What the hell did FIFA do to be a finalist?

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Can't argue with any of the inductees. I know people are down on WoW, but even if you don't like it, you can't deny the impact it has had on the industry.

That said...FIFA? What the hell did FIFA do to be a finalist?

I'm guessing South African bribes.

 

[Rituro]

Can't argue with any of the inductees. I know people are down on WoW, but even if you don't like it, you can't deny the impact it has had on the industry.

That said...FIFA? What the hell did FIFA do to be a finalist?

I'm guessing South African bribes.

"Half shell steps up... gooooooaaaaaaaaallllllll!" +1 to you sir.

 

[direkiller]

Can't argue with any of the inductees. I know people are down on WoW

Imo they should have just said the entire Warcraft franchise
It's played a major role is 3 genres (RTS,MMO,MOBA)

WC2 contribution to online RTS play and WC3 ties to moba deserve there spot along side wow

 

[tzimize]

I gotta say.

Enrolling world of warcraft in a best games of all time list is akin to enrolling heroin in a list of best foodstuffs available of all time.

Addictive doesnt necessarily mean good. It CAN be both addictive and good...but doesnt have to.

In fairness, the list hasn't got much to do with being good, it's about what's important for gaming. WOW has been massively influential in how we understand games and gaming and how gaming is understood in popular culture. It's the one on the list that is most up for debate, and it's got 7 million paying subscribers today (which is, if I remember correctly, lower than its peak). If that game isn't culturally relevant, then I'm not sure what game is.

It was a list about BEST games was it not? And while I understand, I'd also like to add that Britney Spears was culturally relevant at some point, but I wouldnt say that she was culturally IMPORTANT, and certainly not as culturally important as say Michael Jackson. And even if its culturally relevant...that is NOT the same as being good. Flappy-bird was culturally relevant for a while...

We had MMOs before wow, in fact we had extremely similar MMOs to wow before wow. Wow just happened to be popular. We've had mmos like wow afterwards too. But gaming has not been particularly changed by wow. Other mmos fail, or keep player bases more or less the size mmos used to have before wow.

Personally I dont think Wow has been important for gaming at all. Its ONE game, one KIND of game, catering to a specific type of gamer. I'd say that wow has contributed nothing of value to how anyone understand gaming or gamers. It might have contributed to understanding mmo-players...but they are as often as not, another breed of gamer.

 

[marioandsonic]

Can't argue with any of the inductees. I know people are down on WoW

Imo they should have just said the entire Warcraft franchise
It's played a major role is 3 genres (RTS,MMO,MOBA)

WC2 contribution to online RTS play and WC3 ties to moba deserve there spot along side wow

I don't disagree, but it seems like they're only inducting individual games, not entire franchises.

If it was, I would have put the entire Mario franchise in there.

 

[o_d]

It was a list about BEST games was it not? And while I understand, I'd also like to add that Britney Spears was culturally relevant at some point, but I wouldnt say that she was culturally IMPORTANT, and certainly not as culturally important as say Michael Jackson. And even if its culturally relevant...that is NOT the same as being good. Flappy-bird was culturally relevant for a while...

We had MMOs before wow, in fact we had extremely similar MMOs to wow before wow. Wow just happened to be popular. We've had mmos like wow afterwards too. But gaming has not been particularly changed by wow. Other mmos fail, or keep player bases more or less the size mmos used to have before wow.

Personally I dont think Wow has been important for gaming at all. Its ONE game, one KIND of game, catering to a specific type of gamer. I'd say that wow has contributed nothing of value to how anyone understand gaming or gamers. It might have contributed to understanding mmo-players...but they are as often as not, another breed of gamer.

We had MMOs before WOW, but the boom of MMOs in the late 2000s and their establishment as one of the major genres of that era comes from WOW's popularity.

There were also platformers before Super Mario Bros, but the explosion of platformers in the late 80s to early 90s is attributable to the successes of the Mario games. Platformers aren't particularly common now, but during that period they were the major genre of that era; The same for MMOs in the wake of World of Warcraft.

You also can't deny the influence WOW's success in the MMO market has had on other genres, from influencing the gameplay of non-MMO titles (FFXII, DA:I), setting a new benchmark for the scope of gameworlds in offline RPGs, and forcing developers to consider long-term, continuous player engagement over singular, narrative focused playthroughs.