New World Video Game Hall Of Fame Inducts The Classics
The newly founded “World Video Game Hall of Fame” is now officially official at “The Strong” National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York and they have inducted several games that we all would probably recognize as unquestionable classics and game changers in the field of video gaming.
As you would probably expect, Pong (1972) was the first to be recognized. Joining it were Doom (1993), Super Mario Bros. (1985), Tetris (1984), Pac-Man (1980), and World of Warcraft (2004).
All of these games were revolutionary in their own right and of the 15 finalist games that the panel of judges who included journalists, video game experts, and scholars, you can see why they all were found to be the most notable. Other nominees included Angry Birds, FIFA, Legend of Zelda, Minecraft, and Pokémon. Of course it’s still possible that those games will find their way in in the years to come.
Pong was the game that introduced millions to the electronic game, that one was a no-brainer. Mario was and still is a cultural phenomenon, being a franchise hero for Nintendo since their inception. Doom, though it wasn’t the first time we saw a first person shooter game (Wolfenstein 3D), was wildly popular and really brought the genre into the spotlight, especially with its controversy over video game violence (my, how far we’ve come). Pac-Man was of the first of the “Maze” genre of video games and is often credited as being a landmark in video game history. Finally, World of Warcraft, or WOW as it has come to be known colloquially is also one to transcend a genre. Originally released in 2004 (11 years ago, for those keeping score) it is still the most subscribed MMORPG of all time, with over 7.1 million subscribers as of May, 2015.
According to the website for the World Video Game Hall of Fame, nominations for the 2016 inductees can be submitted by anyone for any category or genre as long as they are in by March 21, 2016.
Do you think this years inductees into the World Video Game Hall of Fame are justified? Would you have made different choices given the chance? Tell us about it in the comment section!