The World Video Game Hall of Fame 2016 Inductess

Reader Dave Knott writes: The World Video Game Hall Of Fame has announced its inductees for the year 2016, the second group of games to be so honoured since the award's inception in 2015. The Hall Of Fame "recognizes individual electronic games of all types -- arcade, console, computer, handheld, and mobile -- that have enjoyed popularity over a sustained period and have exerted influence on the video game industry or on popular culture and society in general". This year's six inductees are: Grand Theft Auto III, The Legend of Zelda, The Oregon Trail, The Sims, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Space Invaders.The Sydney Morning Herald has more details.

Comments

PETE ROSE !!

[Anonymous Coward]

Dammit !!

Apologies for the typo in the headline

[Anonymous Coward]

The typo in the headline is on me, not the slashdot editors.
I did mention it in the comments on the submission, but I guess they missed it.

Re:Apologies for the typo in the headline

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe someday they'll accept Bayonetta, then they'll have an inductess.

Re:Apologies for the typo in the headline

[ranton]

The typo in the headline is on me, not the slashdot editors.
I did mention it in the comments on the submission, but I guess they missed it.

If you think proofreading even just the headline of a story isn't the duty of an editor, what do you think is a responsibility of an editor?

Re:Apologies for the typo in the headline

[Hognoxious]

Having one doubt about the needful and reverting the same.

Here lies andy; peperony and chease

[Joe_Dragon]

Here lies andy; peperony and chease

Re:Here lies andy; peperony and chease

[Anonymous Coward]

Get off my lawn! The only real OREGON game was the 1980 version on MECC Elementary Volume 6.

And the winner is....

[Anonymous Coward]

Who Fucking Cares 2016

Seriously... where are these halls of fame? How long are the hallways? Do they keep making them longer each year? These guys have to be spending a ton of money on drywall modifications.

Dwarf Fortress got robbed

[Anonymous Coward]

I blame the elves and their goblin allies.

Re:Dwarf Fortress got robbed

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

Turn-based RPGs in general have been jobbed: no MUDs, Zork or Final Fantasy...yet. But the hall's criteria of "on popular culture and society in general" might keep those classics out until after we see Angry Birds, Candy Crush and that crappy farm game on Facebook who's invites finally drove me off that social platform get in.

Re:Dwarf Fortress got robbed

[Anonymous Coward]

And ISIS

Re:Dwarf Fortress got robbed

[amicusNYCL]

Turn-based RPGs in general have been jobbed: no MUDs, Zork or Final Fantasy...yet.

It's apparently the second year they've done this, and the fact that only 12 games are listed apparently means that they've decided that only 6 get added each year. Why they decided to add World Of Warcraft, The Sims, and GTA 3 before Diablo, SimCity, or Final Fantasy is beyond me, but I suppose they have their reasons.

Re:Dwarf Fortress got robbed

[Anonymous Coward]

Final Fantasy? Please.

Bard's Tale or GTFO.

Re:Dwarf Fortress got robbed

[PortHaven]

Same reason Doom got added instead of Wolfenstein. Wolf3D was the first. But DOOM was a bit more revolutionary. And became a broader household name.

SimCity was the first, but The Sims was a larger commercial success. We nerds played Sim City, all the average folk played The Sims. I can see World of Worldcraft being one of the most successful Multi-User Environment games. But I agree that a few others are critical enough to have come before GTA3 or Diablo.

I would consider the following noteworthy:

- Zork and in mention it being the pre-curser of MUDS/MOOs
- Civilization, was pretty noteworthy in it's mass appeal as an online strategy game.
- Pitfall, this was the super-Mario of it's day. For the resources, this game offered amazing complexity
- Minecraft - this game has altered children's childhood. If you're not a parent, you do NOT understand.
- Gauntlet, this kind of was the go-to 4 playerco-op arcade game. Not sure if it was the 1st 4-player co-op game. But it was the most common one if it wasn't.
- Myst (this brought the Zork text based games into a visual realm on a mainstream level)

- Final Fantasy - mainstream RPG-esque game. This game sold consoles in it's day.
- Angry Birds for the phone platform. This game really made game purchasing on phones common in mainstream, I mean it basically was the commercial for smart phones as game consoles. It opened the door to many of other genres.
- Halo, no not the first person shooter. They were on PCs for ages. But arguably the first first person shooter on a console to replicate the dynamic that was expected on PCs and to become so mainstream, that it essentially foot the bill for the Xbox marketing wise.

Eve, not mainstream enough, but perhaps unique enough for a 3 or 4th round pic

Driving Games, Need for Speed, what? I think no one has held this role for long enough, but it's a key genre. But is there really a best of class entry?

Spy Hunter - Why oh why, but I want this game here. In the day, it was far cooler than so many other games. It was the go to C64 game. Is it noteworthy? But the music...in a day and age when there wasn't music. And let's be honest, who of you reading this is not now hearing the "neeeeeener....neee neee neeeh neh neh neeeeerrrrhhhh" sound in their head. And now cursing and swearing at me for getting it stuck there. So perhaps we could give it credit for most brain sticking 8-bit soundtrack. But let's be honest, what was so unique about Spy Hunter, especially on the C64? I think it was the fact that every C64 featured that game, and no one paid for it. It was like the poster child of cracker groups unlocking games for free (albeit illegal) distribution.

Tom Raider - marketed to girls, I mean to us overweight geeks stuck at home with not friends to hang out with.

Their argument for GTA about games letting you do anything and breaking the mold to say that video games were just for adults. Well gee, Leisure Suit Larry? So really I think their biggest criteria is mainstream, at least in a given era. And I think all of the above were mainstream in their day.

Re:Dwarf Fortress got robbed

[UnknownSoldier]

> Why they decided to add World Of Warcraft, ... before Final Fantasy

Agreed -- these popularity rewards are plain stupid. That's like giving McDonalds a medal for gourmet food. Quantity (popularity) != Quality.

This sucks that turn-based RPGs got completely screwed. Seriously, without:

Final Fantasy -- classic JPRG
Ultima -- set the tone for Western RPGs

There never would have been Ultima Online, Everquest, and ultimately WoW.

Re:Dwarf Fortress got robbed

[Ranbot]

- Halo, no not the first person shooter. They were on PCs for ages. But arguably the first first person shooter on a console to replicate the dynamic that was expected on PCs and to become so mainstream, that it essentially foot the bill for the Xbox marketing wise.

I would give GoldenEye 007 on the N64 a slight edge over Halo. I remember many kids/twenty-something who were not typically gamers, still had a N64 specifically for GoldenEye. IMO It was GoldenEye that opened the door for Halo's acceptance.

When GoldenEye was released I had already been playing PC shooters like Doom, Quake, and Duke Nukem for years so GoldenEye seemed like a huge step back to me, but there was no arguing against how popular it was.

Re:Dwarf Fortress got robbed

[lgw]

Turn-based RPGs in general have been jobbed: no MUDs, Zork or Final Fantasy...yet.

I've just started playing Might and Magic I. 1987. Turn-based, simple first-person moving (one tile at a time), but all-text combat, and no auto-map. I'm enjoying the heck out of it, hand-drawn maps and all.

But that reminds me of what was probably the most popular turn-based RPG in history: Pokemon. A little too new for this year's inductees, but it reminds me that a whole new generation came to love a turn-based RPG with basically all-text combat,

Re:Dwarf Fortress got robbed

[Darinbob]

I'd add Fallout and Baldur's Gate.

Re:Dwarf Fortress got robbed

[Anonymous Coward]

Um, dumb faggot? I'm pretty sure that Telengard set the tone for Ultima. We can sit here and make up shit like this all day but in the end you'll still be a worthless cocksucker and I'll still be right. So shut your faggot mouth.

Re: Dwarf Fortress got robbed

[jmac_the_man]

But that reminds me of what was probably the most popular turn-based RPG in history: Pokemon. A little too new for this year's inductees, but it reminds me that a whole new generation came to love a turn-based RPG with basically all-text combat,

The first generation Pokemon games were nominated, but not selected yet, both years they've done this. They'll get there.

Re:Dwarf Fortress got robbed

[UnknownSoldier]

I really shouldn't feed the trolls ...

Ah, the classic ad hominem attack when you lack intelligence and facts. Stay classy!

> I'm pretty sure that Telengard set the tone for Ultima

BZZT. Thanks for playing! You've just won 1st prize in "You Don't Know WTF you're talking about" (TM).

* Ultima 1: Initial release date: June 1981
* Telengard: Initial release date: 1982
* Ultima 2: Initial release date: August 24, 1982

> We can sit here and make up shit like this all day

You could continue to make shit up but I'll let the facts speak for themselves:

List of Top Sellers (as of 30 June 1982)

* 20,000 Ultima (California Pacific Computer Co., June 1981)

Sales for Telengard are where again for this yet-another-obscure DnD ripoff RPG ??

I guess that's why CGW in 1992 said no cared about it:

Yet in 1992, Computer Gaming World's Gerald Graef wrote that Telengard and Temple of Apshai were "quickly overshadowed" by the Wizardry and Ultima series.

Denial is not just a river in Egypt but then again I wouldn't expect anything else from a coward.

--
Better to remain silent and thought a fool, then to open your mouth and remove all doubt

Re:Simple question

[Calydor]

Same way the Guiness Book of World Records affects you.

Re:LUDDITE games!

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't forget Appy Birds

Sad News.

[will_die]

The dinner had to be canceled everyone who was suppose to attend died of dysentery.

Re:Sad News.

[Anonymous Coward]

Finally some good news, for a change

Re:Simple question

[Anonymous Coward]

How does this affect me or anyone else in any significant way?

It doesn't.

Why should I care about this?

You shouldn't.

I'm sure I'll get modded down to -1 for asking this question

Correct

But can anyone tell me why this matters?

No

I sincerely doubt it.

Me too

Nethack?

[bughunter]

I'll take this Hall of Fame seriously when they induct Nethack.

I mean, really, if *any* game deserves to be in a hall of fame, it's the longest-lived and longest continually maintained game of 'em all... not to mention one of the most complex and hardcore.

Re:Nethack?

[Anonymous Coward]

No, games that deserve to be inducted include: Solitaire, duck-duck-goose, "I Spy", and tic-tac-toe

Re:Nethack?

[Anonymous Coward]

If they ever make sub-categories and include roguelikes, then yes. Otherwise, way too niche and unheard of to the general population.

Re:Nethack?

[bughunter]

"Unheard of"??

Get off my lawn!!

The first inductees in any real gaming HoF should have been Spacewar, Star Trek and Nethack.

Re:Nethack?

[Anonymous Coward]

Very much agreed.

They need Dwarf Fortress in there, too. How many games have fans that empirically determine the solid density of Saguaro wood to make it more realistic?

If anyone doesn't believe me, go look at the raws.

Re:Nethack?

[westlake]

I mean, really, if *any* game deserves to be in a hall of fame, it's the longest-lived and longest continually maintained game of 'em all... not to mention one of the most complex and hardcore.

Which is another way of saying that only those who play the game even know that it exists.

Re:Nethack?

[Anonymous Coward]

So Hall of Fame is about marketing budget? Why does the awareness of non-players matter?

Re:Nethack?

[Anonymous Coward]

Most "hall of fame" lists require the nominee to be "retired" for X number of years, so active maintenance may actually be preventing Nethack from being inducted.

Re:Nethack?

[bloodhawk]

definition of fame : 1.the state of being known by many people:

This Cannot Be Taken Seriously

[cyriustek]

How in the world can they be taken seriously if they did not induct Galaga, Asteroids, and Zork?

Re:This Cannot Be Taken Seriously

[tommeke100]

and E.T.

Re:This Cannot Be Taken Seriously

[Anonymous Coward]

How in the world can they be taken seriously if they did not induct Galaga, Asteroids, and Zork?

This is only the second year they've been handing out awards. Surely you don't expect them to give awards to every deserving candidate up front?

I agree those games are probably worthy of awards, but they had to start somewhere, and I think they mode reasonable choices.

Re:This Cannot Be Taken Seriously

[Anonymous Coward]

Pong and PacMan are already in

Re:Simple question

[Adriax]

It's a troll. The exact same message is getting posted in all the stories.

While these are nice picks for the hall of fame, they do have a 40+ year history to pick inductees from.
I wonder how many years before they exhaust the obvious picks and start scraping the barrel? Like the Guiness Book did with the recent "world record for time spent in VR".

Re:Simple question

[Calydor]

Yeah, I noticed similar posts in other stories after commenting here. Some people have too much time.

As for the longest time in VR, not sure I'd call it scraping the barrel so much as seeing which way the wind is blowing (or at least thinking they do) and getting the records official before it really takes off, so they don't have to sift through hundreds of submissions of, "But I was there for three days two years ago!"

Plese ficks the the heeder of thee artikle, Pleese

[Anonymous Coward]

Collage Grudate no dout..

Re:Simple question

[Hotawa Hawk-eye]

The nice thing about history is that there's more of it each day. Let's say that 40 years from now they've exhausted the list of obvious candidates from 2016 and before. Some worthy candidates will have been released in the intervening 40 years.

Re: Plese ficks the the heeder of thee artikle, Pl

[Anonymous Coward]

Publik edjukashun sistem

Editor drunk again?

[hyades1]

I see from the headline that the World Video Game Hall of Fame now has an Inductess. I imagine next they'll be appointing a Seductee.

Re:Simple question

[Adriax]

If they do 6 a year I don't see them going more than a decade or 2 before exhausting the prime candidates and start having to nominate call of dutys and maddens.

Yeah they have a 40 year backlog, but there were some real blah years there.

Bleh

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll stick with the Top Dogs list from Home of the Underdogs! :P

Re:Simple question

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

But can anyone tell me why this matters?

If you actually belonged here instead of wandering in from the Youtube comments section you'd have the prerequisite knowledge to answer this question on your own.

Hall of Lame

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously, what's with this dorky hall? Why just now did it induct Legend of Zelda? Pretty soon it'll induct some of Molyneux's and Smart's games as "underrated developers".

Oregon Trail would have been inducted last year...

[mbaGeek]

... but kept dying from dysentery on the way ...