ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — On Thursday, the World Video Game Hall of Fame added its 10th class of honorees, recognizing Asteroids, Myst, Resident Evil, SimCity and Ultima for their impacts on the video game industry and popular culture.
The inductees were introduced over many years, advancing technologies and expanding not just the number of players, but also the ages and interests of those playing, Hall of Fame authorities revealed. The Hall of Fame acknowledges all kinds of electronic games — arcade, console, computer, handheld, and mobile.
The Class of 2024 was chosen by experts from a group 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 recognition for Atari’s Asteroids comes 45 years after its 1979 premiere in arcades, where it became Atari’s highest-selling coin-operated game. The game’s glowing space-themed graphics and sound effects transitioned from over 70,000 arcade units to millions of living rooms when a home version of Asteroids became available on the Atari 2600.
“Through endless variations and remakes on numerous arcade, home, handheld, and mobile platforms, Asteroids transformed from a simple yet challenging game about blasting rocks into one of the most widely played and influential video games of all time,” said Jeremy Saucier, assistant vice president for interpretation and electronic games at The Strong museum, where the World Video Game Hall of Fame is situated.
The next inductee to debut was Ultima, not exactly a household name but a major force in the development of the computer role-playing genre, according to digital preservation director Andrew Borman. Designed by Richard Garriott and released in 1981, Ultima: The First Age of Darkness inspired eight sequels and is credited with inspiring later role-playing games like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.
The urban design-inspired SimCity was released by Maxis in 1989 and found an audience among adults as well as children who were challenged to build their own city and solve problems. Among the sequels and spin-offs it inspired was the 2016 World Video Game Hall of Fame inductee The Sims.
“At a time when many people thought of video games as arcade shooters or console platformers, SimCity appealed to players who were looking for intellectually stimulating fun on their newly purchased personal computers,” said Aryol Prater, research specialist for Black play and culture.
The adventure game Myst sold over 6 million copies, making it a best-selling computer game in the 1990s. The 1993 Broderbund release utilized early CD-ROM technology and allowed for a level of player immersion that had not previously been available in computer games, the Hall of Fame stated.
“Few other games can compare to Myst’s ability to open up imaginative worlds,” collections manager Kristy Hisert said. “It was a work of artistic genius that captured the imagination of an entire generation of computer game players, and its influence can be seen in many of today’s open-world games.”
The last person or thing being honored, Resident Evil's "cheesy B-movie dialogue, engaging gameplay, and frightening suspense" helped make the "survival horror" genre popular after it was released by Capcom in 1996. It also provided mature entertainment for older teenagers and adults, according to video game curator Lindsey Kurano. Game director Shinji Mikami created it, and it also inspired a series of action horror films that had earned more than $1.2 billion as of 2022, according to the Hall of Fame.
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Anyone can to the World Video Game Hall of Fame. Members of an international selection advisory committee submit their top three choices from the list of finalists. Fans also are invited to weigh in online. The public as a whole is treated as a single committee member. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — The World Video Game Hall of Fame inducted its 10th class of honorees Thursday, recognizing Asteroids, Myst, Resident Evil, SimCity and Ultima for their impacts on the video game industry and popular culture. The inductees debuted across decades, advancing technologies along the way and expanding not only the number of players, […]
