The World Video Game Hall of Fame, which is administered by the International Center for the History of Electronic Games and The Strong in Rochester, New York, has announced its inaugural list of inductees. Drum roll, please.
The 2015 Class of the World Video Game Hall of Fame includes…
- Doom, id Software’s pioneering first person shooter.
- Pac-Man, the dot-eating, ghost-chasing hero of every 80s arcade.
- Pong, one of video gaming’s earliest arcade hits.
- Super Mario Bros., the side-scroller that put the NES on the map and made Mario a household name.
- Tetris, the falling block puzzler that’s surely invaded your dreams at least once.
- World of Warcraft, Blizzard’s MMO made the genre what it is today and is still going strong after a decade.
While all of the games are at least ten years old, it’s amazing how important they still are to video gaming’s current climate. Bethesda will pull the curtain back on the next game in the Doom series at this year’s E3 Expo. Pac-Man recently celebrated his 35th anniversary and will star in a new mobile game this Summer. Super Mario Bros. is also celebrating a big anniversary this year and will influence this September’s Mario Maker. The Tetris Company, and Alexey Pajitnov, continues to license new version of Tetris and the latest, Tetris Ultimate, was released last year. Finally, Blizzard released World of Warcraft’s fifth expansion, Warlords of Draenor, in November and a sixth is already in the works.
These six games represent gaming at its greatest and are excellent choices for the Hall of Fame’s inaugural class. As part of their selection, the inductees will be on permanent view (and in playable form) at The Strong’s “eGameRevolution” exhibit.
Nine other finalists were considered for inclusion by the international committee including Angry Birds, FIFA International Soccer, The Legend of Zelda, Minecraft, The Oregon Trail, Pokemon Red/Blue, The Sims, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Space Invaders. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until all of them are enshrined in the Hall of Fame. But if you want to campaign for your favorite game, nominees for the Class of 2016 are currently being accept at the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s website.
