The World Video Game Hall of Fame has inducted its 10th class of honorees
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The World Video Game Hall of Fame inducted its 10th class of honorees Thursday, recognizing Asteroids, Myst, Resident Evil, SimCity and Ultima for their impact on the video game industry and popular culture.
The rookies debuted over decades, improving the technology along the way and expanding not only the number of players but also the ages and interests of those at the controls, Hall of Fame officials said in unveiling the winners. The Hall of Fame recognizes all types of electronic games – arcade, console, PC, portable and mobile.
The Class of 2024 was chosen by experts from a pool of 12 finalists that also included Elite, Guitar Hero, Metroid, Neopets, Tokimeki Memorial, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and You Don’t Know Jack.
The honor for Atari’s Asteroids comes 45 years after its 1979 debut in arcades, where it was Atari’s best-selling coin-operated game. The game’s dazzling graphics and space-themed sound effects made their way from more than 70,000 arcade units into millions of living rooms when the home version of Asteroids was released on the Atari 2600.
“Through endless variations and remakes on dozens of arcade, home, portable and mobile platforms, Asteroids has made a simple yet challenging rock-blasting game into one of the most played and influential video games of all time,” said Jeremy Saucier, Assistant Vice President of Oral translation and electronic games at The Strong Museum, home to the World Video Game Hall of Fame.
The next debutant was Ultima, not necessarily a household name but a force in the development of the PC RPG genre, director of digital preservation Andrew Borman said in the news release. Designed by Richard Garriott and released in 1981, Utima: The First Age of Darkness inspired eight sequels and is credited with inspiring later RPGs such as Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.
The urban design-inspired SimCity was released by Maxis in 1989 and found an audience with adults as well as children who were challenged to build their own city and solve problems. Among the sequels and spinoffs it inspired was 2016 World Video Game Hall of Fame inductee The Sims.
“At a time when many people thought of video games in terms of arcade shooters or console platformers, SimCity appealed to players who wanted intellectually stimulating entertainment on their newly purchased PCs,” said Ariol Prater, research specialist for Black Game and Culture.
The adventure game Myst has sold more than 6 million copies, making it the best-selling PC game of the 1990s. Broderbund’s 1993 release used early CD-ROM technology and allowed for a level of player immersion not previously available in computer games, the Hall of Famer said.
“Few other games can match Myst’s ability to open up imaginary worlds,” said Collections Manager Christy Hissert. “It was a work of artistic genius that captured the imagination of an entire generation of PC gamers, and its influence can be seen in many of today’s open-world games.”
The latest honoree, Resident Evil’s “cheesy B-movie dialogue, engaging gameplay and chilling suspense” helped popularize the survival horror genre after its release by Capcom in 1996 and offered mature entertainment for older teens and adults, video game curator Lindsay Kurano said. Created by the game’s director, Shinji Mikami, it also inspired a series of action horror films that, as of 2022, have grossed over $1.2 billion, according to the Hall of Fame.
Anyone can nominate a game for the World Video Game Hall of Fame. Members of an international advisory selection committee submit their top three choices from the list of finalists. Fans are also invited to weigh in online. The public at large is treated as one member of the commission.
