The 2024 finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame feature games from four decades and include nostalgic titles such as Resident Evil, Metroid, and even Neopets.
The video game industry gathers every year during the Game Awards to celebrate the latest and greatest in interactive entertainment. On the other hand, the World Video Game Hall of Fame recognizes old games as the best of the best and considers them to have innovated new possibilities.
World Video Game Hall of Fame
The Hall of Fame was organized by and housed at the Strong National Museum of Play located in Rochester, New York. It recognizes those titles that have had a significant impact and influence on video games and popular culture as a whole. Games that are currently featured in the list include The Last of Us, Wii Sports, and Tetris.
The Strong announced on Mar. 14 its annual list of finalists for potential induction into the World Video Game Hall of Fame. This would allow the public to vote among the 12 nominees, and the top three games with the highest votes will be submitted on a ballot alongside other ballots from the Hall of Fame's selection committee, according to Gizmodo.
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After the initial votes, the final inductees will be revealed on Thursday, May 9, 2024. This year's list of nominees includes Asteroids, a game that is more than 50 years old. This Atari game was released in 1979 and offered gamers extremely challenging gameplay, glowing graphics, and intense sound effects inside an action-packed space environment.
Another popular title on the list is Resident Evil, which was the first to popularize the "survival horror" genre. Capcom released the Shinji Mikami-created game in 1996 and has since spawned a billion-dollar media franchise. Resident Evil also helped demonstrate that video games can offer mature entertainment for older teenagers and adults.
Innovating the Gaming Industry
Nintendo's Metroid, launched in 1986, also made the cut and put players into a futuristic world brimming with innovative adventure and evocative music. This game mixed platformers, such as Super Mario Bros., and non-linear story elements, such as The Legend of Zelda, to offer a brand-new gaming experience.
On top of all the high-profile titles, Neopets comes across as a rather subtle inclusion in the list of nominees. This PC game deserves particular praise for being one of the first major games to use the internet and web browser to connect with other players worldwide, said the Games Hub.
This came during a time when the internet was starting to become more widely available to more people. Neopets' peak was around the 2000s, and it was able to have McDonald's crossover toys and release various plushies and electronic toys.
The director of the International Center for the History of Electronic Games at The Strong, Jon-Paul Dyson, said that there was no shortage of contenders to the Hall of Fame. every year, thousands of nominations come in for electronic games of all types, including arcade, console, computer, handheld, and mobile, according to the Associated Press.
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