“Wait, there’s a video game hall of fame?” you ask yourself while looking at the headline. There is! It was founded in 2015, so it’s very new, but it most definitely exists, and it just announced its third class of inductees from a pool of 12 potential entrants. Four new members received approval for a place in the hall. The new members will join the likes of Grand Theft Auto III, World of Warcraft, and Tetris and live forever as universally beloved titles — which they already were, anyway.
The 2017 finalists were as follows:
- Pokemon Red and Green (1996)
- Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991)
- Tomb Raider (1996)
- Donkey Kong (1981)
- Final Fantasy VII (1997)
- Halo: Combat Evolved (2001)
- Microsoft Solitaire (1991)
- Mortal Kombat (1992)
- Myst (1993)
- Portal (2007)
- Resident Evil (1996)
- Wii Sports (2006)
Of those titles, Pokemon Red and Green, Street Fighter II, and Tomb Raider were holdovers that had been nominated the previous year but were not chosen. This year’s inductees are:
- Pokemon Red and Green (1996)
- Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991)
- Donkey Kong (1981)
- Halo: Combat Evolved (2001)
The World Video Game Hall of Fame is run by The Strong, a New York-based not-for-profit which manages The National Museum of Play as well as other gaming (both electronic and not) centers which focus on the history of entertainment mediums. The group says it uses four main criteria when considering a property for entrance into the gaming hall, including longevity, geographical reach, influence, and “icon status,” which sounds more like a gut feeling than anything tangible. You can nominate your own favorite games by submitting the nomination form on the group’s website, for a chance of being included in the 2018 class.
