The Strong Museum’s “World Video Game Hall of Fame” added four more games to their collection of titles that have made a monumental impact on the industry and have served to influence the games we have today.
To start off, Spacewar!, which many consider the first video game ever to be created, is now part of the Video Game Hall of Fame. This title was initially created at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was playable on the PDP-1 minicomputer, while Spacewar! was never commercially sold, it moved many to consider using computers to create a new type of game that had never been seen before, according to the Strong Museums’ Jon-Paul Dyson. The other inductees include the classic football game John Madden Football; one of the first action-adventure titles, Tomb Raider; and the JRPG loved by many, Final Fantasy VII.
These four games came from a pool of various other considerations for the Video Game Hall of Fame. The other games that were up for a spot were Asteroids, Call of Duty, Dance Dance Revolution, Half-Life, King’s Quest, Metroid, Minecraft, and Ms.Pac-Man.
The games are recognized for a number of different criteria, such as icon-status, longevity, geographical reach, impact on design and development of other games, pop culture, and society. A full list of all the different criteria can be found on the Museum’s website.
This group of games is the fourth installment of inductees that the museum has had. A full list of the existing inductees is available at the bottom of this article. All of the titles are currently on display at The Strong Museum in Rochester, New York.