Tag: Asteroids

World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024 Includes Asteroids, Myst, Resident Evil, SimCity, and Ultima

Once you see this year’s crop of inductees to the Strong Museum’s World Video Game Hall of Fame, you might be surprised that they didn’t get the call as part of an earlier vote. But less than four dozen titles have been selected to join this inner circle, so it’s also easy to see how some groundbreaking games could slip through the cracks.

And that’s where we are with the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024, which welcomed Atari’s Asteroids, Cyan’s Myst, Capcom’s Resident Evil, Maxis’s SimCity, and Richard Garriott’s Ultima into the fold during a ceremony earlier today. It’s true… but I can hear the questioning tone in your voice.

Wasn’t Asteroids the game that solidified the space shooter as the dominant style of arcade game in 1979? Yup. Didn’t Richard Garriott practically invent the RPG with Ultima? He did. Wasn’t the CD-ROM-powered Myst more popular than any other PC game in the 1990s? You got that right. And aren’t Resident Evil and SimCity beloved classics that people continue to replay every year? That’s a big yes.

The curators and researchers at the Strong Museum also filled in some gaps and had a few nice things to say about each inductee.

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Here’s the Finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024

Spring is in the air, and that means it’s time for the curators at the World Video Game Hall of Fame to unveil this year’s ballot of possible inductees. The Class of 2024 will be the tenth to be welcomed into the Hall, and this year’s competition will include a grab bag of previous finalists and a eclectic slate of newcomers.

Leading the pack is a trio of two-time finalists, including Capcom’s Resident Evil (previously up for consideration in 2017 and 2022), Harmonix’s Guitar Hero (2020 and 2021), and Cyan’s Myst (2017 and 2019). All three have a strong case for induction, but they’ll be competing against a few other previous finalists, including Elite (which was a finalist in 2016), Asteroids (2018), and Metroid (2018).

But don’t count out the rookies, who come from some of gaming’s less-crowded corners. There’s a browser-based classic from the early 2000s (Neopets), the original city builder (SimCity), an early dating simulation (Tokimeki Memorial), a big name in extreme sports (Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater), Richard Garriott’s groundbreaking RPG (Ultima), and the chaotic trivia game that inspired the Jackbox franchise (You Don’t Know Jack).

“Even ten years in, there’s no shortage of deserving contenders that have had enormous influence on pop culture or the game industry itself,” said Jon-Paul Dyson, the Director of the Hall of Fame’s parent organization, the International Center for the History of Electronic Games at the Strong Museum. “These games span decades. Asteroids is an icon of the late 70s arcade. Myst showed the potential of CD-ROM technology in the 90s. Neopets became a staple of browser-based, free games as we entered the 2000s. And Guitar Hero, which is less than 20 years old, has already proven its staying power.”

As always, the World Video Game Hall of Fame is opening up the voting to the general public between now and March 21. Make your choice at WorldVideoGameHallOfFame.org, and the three games that receive the most votes will be submitted as a Player’s Choice ballot alongside the other ballots from the Hall of Fame’s International Selection Advisory Committee.

The World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024 will be announced on Thursday, May 9, at 10:30 AM (Eastern Time). And if you’re unfamiliar with any of this year’s finalists, you can learn more about them after the break.

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12 Finalists Announced for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018

Curators at the International Center for the History of Electronic Games and the Strong Museum have announced the finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018.

Curators at the International Center for the History of Electronic Games and the Strong Museum have announced the finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018. Eight games will get their first chance to be inducted into gaming’s inner circle this year, including Asteroids, Call of Duty, Dance Dance Revolution, Half-Life, King’s Quest, Metroid, Ms. Pac-Man, and Spacewar!

Two other games, Final Fantasy VII and Tomb Raider, were previously in the finalist pool for the Class of 2017. They’ll get another chance this year alongside John Madden Football and Minecraft, which were previously on the ballot in 2016.

The World Video Game Hall of Fame will announce the inductees for the Class of 2018 on Thursday, May 3, at 10:30 AM. But this year, fans will get a vote in the first-ever Player’s Choice ballot. According to the rules, “the three games that receive the most public votes will form one “Player’s Choice” ballot, which will join the 27 other ballots submitted by members of the International Selection Advisory Committee, a supporting group composed of journalists, scholars, and other individuals familiar with the history of video games and their role in society.” Fans can make their voice heard through the Player’s Choice ballot once a day until April 4th. So vote early and vote often!

If for some reason you’re unfamiliar with this year’s finalists, the World Video Game Hall of Fame put together a helpful cheat sheet…

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