The Strong Announces 2016 World Video Game Hall of Fame Inductees

[Lizzy Finnegan]

The Strong Announces 2016 World Video Game Hall of Fame Inductees

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The Strong announced today the 2016 inductees to the World Video Game Hall of Fame.

In June of 2015 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/141031-World-Video-Game-Hall-of-Fame-Gets-First-Six-Inductees], The Strong National Museum of Play inducted its inaugural class in its newly established World Video Game Hall of Fame. The games inducted were Pong, Pac-Man, Tetris, Super Mario Bros., DOOM, and World of Warcraft.

Today, The Strong announced a new group of inductees that will join those ranks: Grand Theft Auto III, The Legend of Zelda, The Oregon Trail, The Sims, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Space Invaders were selected from the 15 finalists [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/167060-The-Finalists-Have-Been-Announced-for-the-World-Video-Game-Hall-of-Fame#&gid=gallery_6111&pid=1]. The games that didn't make the cut this year were Elite, Final Fantasy, John Madden Football, Minecraft, Nurburgring, Pokemon Red and Green, Sid Meier's Civilization, Street Fighter II, and Tomb Raider.

Nominations were accepted through February 29, and games were considered based on the following criteria:

Icon-status - the game is widely recognized and remembered
Longevity - the game is more than a passing fad and has enjoyed popularity over time
Geographical reach - the game meets the above criteria across international boundaries
Influence - the game has exerted significant influence on the design and development of other games, on other forms of entertainment, or on popular culture and society in general.

Final selections were made on the advice of journalists, scholars, and other individuals familiar with the history of video games and their role in society.

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[Saelune]

Edit: Whoops.

 

[Gorrath]

Halls of Fame always confuse me cause its always like, "We added new stuff" and its always stuff that you feel like it should have been there forever ago. How does -any- GTA get in before DOOM? Or Tetris.

Tetris and Doom are already in, they were inducted last year.

 

[Saelune]

Halls of Fame always confuse me cause its always like, "We added new stuff" and its always stuff that you feel like it should have been there forever ago. How does -any- GTA get in before DOOM? Or Tetris.

Tetris and Doom are already in, they were inducted last year.

I...misread this article.

 

[Gorrath]

Halls of Fame always confuse me cause its always like, "We added new stuff" and its always stuff that you feel like it should have been there forever ago. How does -any- GTA get in before DOOM? Or Tetris.

Tetris and Doom are already in, they were inducted last year.

I...misread this article.

As have we all! To spark a bit of discussion, should you like, can you think of anything that's not already in that you'd have included?

For me, the lack of either Final Fantasy, King's Quest or Dragon Warrior is an egregious oversight. Even though Final Fantasy has at least gotten a nomination, Dragon Warrior hasn't even been sniffed at and is arguably more deserving.

 

[Saelune]

Halls of Fame always confuse me cause its always like, "We added new stuff" and its always stuff that you feel like it should have been there forever ago. How does -any- GTA get in before DOOM? Or Tetris.

Tetris and Doom are already in, they were inducted last year.

I...misread this article.

As have we all! To spark a bit of discussion, should you like, can you think of anything that's not already in that you'd have included?

For me, the lack of either Final Fantasy, King's Quest or Dragon Warrior is an egregious oversight. Even though Final Fantasy has at least gotten a nomination, Dragon Warrior hasn't even been sniffed at and is arguably more deserving.

Well, since this is a new thing, I feel like there are just tons of games that deserve an automatic in, since they are so part of gaming history. I know WoW, deserves to be in it (don't know if it is yet or not) even though I think its a bad game.

Ignoring what may or may not already be in, Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros, Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time, DOOM, atleast one Call of Duty, Id say 2 but I fear 4 would get picked. Quake, Street Fighter 2, Sonic, preferably Sonic 2, Mortal Kombat, Dragons Lair, Soul Edge...mostly thinking of games that define a genre, advanced a genre, or even defined a gaming age. Games that regardless if you liked it or not can appreciate its relevance.

 

[Gorrath]

Halls of Fame always confuse me cause its always like, "We added new stuff" and its always stuff that you feel like it should have been there forever ago. How does -any- GTA get in before DOOM? Or Tetris.

Tetris and Doom are already in, they were inducted last year.

I...misread this article.

As have we all! To spark a bit of discussion, should you like, can you think of anything that's not already in that you'd have included?

For me, the lack of either Final Fantasy, King's Quest or Dragon Warrior is an egregious oversight. Even though Final Fantasy has at least gotten a nomination, Dragon Warrior hasn't even been sniffed at and is arguably more deserving.

Well, since this is a new thing, I feel like there are just tons of games that deserve an automatic in, since they are so part of gaming history. I know WoW, deserves to be in it (don't know if it is yet or not) even though I think its a bad game.

Ignoring what may or may not already be in, Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros, Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time, DOOM, atleast one Call of Duty, Id say 2 but I fear 4 would get picked. Quake, Street Fighter 2, Sonic, preferably Sonic 2, Mortal Kombat, Dragons Lair, Soul Edge...mostly thinking of games that define a genre, advanced a genre, or even defined a gaming age. Games that regardless if you liked it or not can appreciate its relevance.

You named a bunch that are already in but that's no surprise. The Legend of Zelda question is a tough one for me because while the original is legendary (irony!) and Ocarina of Time really pushed into new territory, none quite has the punch for me that Link to the Past does. I'm right with you on Soul Edge; it was better than all of its contemporary 3d fighter games.

Since we're only in the second year of this and there's so many untapped automatic-ins, I'm sure there's a ton of relevant games we could all agree should and will get in so for now we're just stuck arguing over what should get in before what else. That's why GTA3 gets the side-eye from me; it deserves to be in but not over Final Fantasy or Dragon Warrior.

One genre that's hardly even been touched is the sports game genre, where Madden Football and FIFA are must-haves.

Also, one that's not even been nominated that has to be an automatic-in is Starcraft. How has Starcraft not even been nominated?

 

[Covarr]

Yeah, it'll be a few years before this is really where it needs to be. We do need Final Fantasy (or possibly VII?), Metal Gear Solid, Madden, Minecraft, Resident Evil, Halo, Super Mario 64, and many others. I understand why we can't get them all at once, but it's still frustrating.

P.S. Thanks

 

[Gorrath]

Yeah, it'll be a few years before this is really where it needs to be. We do need Final Fantasy (or possibly VII?), Metal Gear Solid, Madden, Minecraft, Resident Evil, Halo, Super Mario 64, and many others. I understand why we can't get them all at once, but it's still frustrating.

P.S. Thanks

Would you want Resident Evil or one of its successors? Resident Evil is just so... so bad. The voice acting haunts my dreams but then the later games suffer from their own faults.

 

[Covarr]

Would you want Resident Evil or one of its successors? Resident Evil is just so... so bad. The voice acting haunts my dreams but then the later games suffer from their own faults.

The first one. Even though it was kind of a crap game (in every respect; even within the same framework RE2 was just so much better all around), it is significant for being the first survival-horror game to really enter the public mindset. Without it, we almost certainly wouldn't have Silent Hill, P.T., Amnesia, or Slender.

I'm well aware it wasn't the first game in the genre to succeed; Alone in the Dark and Clock Tower both leap to mind. But Resident Evil was a dang phenomenon. It was also, to my knowledge, the first game to use the term "Survival Horror"; older games have only been called that since after RE's release. In my opinion, that's pretty significant, even if I don't think the game is even very good.

P.S. Thanks

 

[flying_whimsy]

I actually disagree with Sonic the Hedgehog being inducted, especially over the likes of final fantasy or pokemon; I just don't think it had the same amount of impact on game design and culture the others have. Although it's kind of funny that what is arguably one of the most epic failing franchises of all time got in before final fantasy or pokemon. Has there ever been an unsuccessful pokemon game?

I'm curious as to what next year's batch of inductees will be.

 

[Gorrath]

Would you want Resident Evil or one of its successors? Resident Evil is just so... so bad. The voice acting haunts my dreams but then the later games suffer from their own faults.

The first one. Even though it was kind of a crap game (in every respect; even within the same framework RE2 was just so much better all around), it is significant for being the first survival-horror game to really enter the public mindset. Without it, we almost certainly wouldn't have Silent Hill, P.T., Amnesia, or Slender.

I'm well aware it wasn't the first game in the genre to succeed; Alone in the Dark and Clock Tower both leap to mind. But Resident Evil was a dang phenomenon. It was also, to my knowledge, the first game to use the term "Survival Horror"; older games have only been called that since after RE's release. In my opinion, that's pretty significant, even if I don't think the game is even very good.

P.S. Thanks

Oh I don't disagree with you by any means and you defend your choice well. RE is always a curiosity to me because it is at once very influential and also kind of terrible. I see people praise RE4 a lot but to me it marked the major change from slow, difficult horror survival to action shoot-em-up. I'd never argue RE shouldn't be included but it's certainly a head-scratcher with regard to which one to pick.

 

[Gorrath]

I actually disagree with Sonic the Hedgehog being inducted, especially over the likes of final fantasy or pokemon; I just don't think it had the same amount of impact on game design and culture the others have. Although it's kind of funny that what is arguably one of the most epic failing franchises of all time got in before final fantasy or pokemon. Has there ever been an unsuccessful pokemon game?

I'm curious as to what next year's batch of inductees will be.

I think it got in because the first and second iterations were amazing and the cultural penetration the game has had is staggering! It's no where near as influential as a game like FF but it sure does blow the doors off it in terms of cultural influence. I would agree it doesn't hold up compared to Pokemon though. Pokemon pretty much maxes out every aspect of their grading criteria so its absence remains a mystery to me.

 

[EbonBehelit]

I actually disagree with Sonic the Hedgehog being inducted, especially over the likes of final fantasy or pokemon; I just don't think it had the same amount of impact on game design and culture the others have. Although it's kind of funny that what is arguably one of the most epic failing franchises of all time got in before final fantasy or pokemon. Has there ever been an unsuccessful pokemon game?

I agree with you wholeheartedly.

The only Sonic game I've ever liked was Sonic Adventure 2, and that's almost pure nostalgia talking: the game is total garbage in hindsight.

Not to be controversial (lol), but the reason why the Sonic series has been floundering so hard trying to make a good 3D game is because they were never good to begin with. Even the original, beloved classics are full of contradictory mechanics and boring level design.

Sonic was designed around a the one thing the Genesis had over the SNES - its faster CPU - and was marketed as such (Blast Processing, anyone?) Even the character of Sonic himself was packaged as a 'hip' alternative to the 'lame' Mario - he was designed to be a mascot, where Mario just sort of became one on his own merits.

So yeah, I don't think Sonic is worthy of acclaim. I may be just a taaaad biased, though.

 

[hentropy]

I know they only want to let a certain amount in each year, but how is Pokemon not on this list yet? The Sims could easily be saved for another year.

 

[Jhereg42]

I know they only want to let a certain amount in each year, but how is Pokemon not on this list yet? The Sims could easily be saved for another year.

The SIMs represents the birth of the casual gamer. People who never played a thing before played the SIMs. If we want to talk cultural penetration, it rates way up there.

 

[hentropy]

I know they only want to let a certain amount in each year, but how is Pokemon not on this list yet? The Sims could easily be saved for another year.

The SIMs represents the birth of the casual gamer. People who never played a thing before played the SIMs. If we want to talk cultural penetration, it rates way up there.

I strongly disagree. The Sims was originally a PC game, unavailable for the more "casual" consoles and long before the mobile market. The Sims is also not a "casual" game by an measure, it's reasonably complex, even if there's no great difficulty or competition in it. The Sims did help grow the gaming market with women, if that's what your alluding to.

But even by that standard, Pokemon has probably done more grow gaming among girls, women, younger and more casual fans years before The Sims did. The Sims certainly deserves to be in there, but the second year?

 

[dohnut king]

I would have replaced Space Invaders and Sonic with Civilization and Madden. Sim City, Ultima, and Half Life should be on the list of finalists.

 

[weirdee]

They're fairly tough and exclude a lot of games based solely on the last one. You could sing the praises of Final Fantasy VII, but did it actually influence anything else? (I'm honestly asking, I don't know)

FF7 was the entry point for many people into the world of JRPGs, even moreso than the Dragon Quest series, which while entertaining and also influential, relies on conventions that haven't aged well and is largely limited to Japan's popularity sphere. Even though the Final Fantasy series in of itself (and JRPGs in general) hasn't fared too well in recent years, people still won't shut up about the FF7 remake.