Asteroids, Myst, Resident Evil, SimCity and Ultima inducted into World Video Game Hall of Fame
ROCHESTER, NY– The World Video Game Hall of Fame inducted its 10th class of honorees Thursday, recognizing Asteroids, Myst, Resident Evil, SimCity and Ultima for their impact on the video game industry and popular culture.
The inductees debuted for decades, developing technologies along the way and expanding not only the number of players but also the ages and interests of those behind the wheel, Hall of Fame officials said in announcing the winners. The Hall of Fame recognizes all types of electronic games: arcade, console, computer, handheld and mobile.
The Class of 2024 was selected by experts from a field of 12 finalists, which also included Elite, Guitar Hero, Metroid, Neopets, Tokimeki Memorial, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and You Don’t Know Jack.
The honor for Atari’s Asteroids comes 45 years after its arcade debut in 1979, where it was Atari’s best-selling coin-operated game. The stunning space-themed graphics and sound effects made their way from more than 70,000 arcade units to millions of living rooms when a home version of Asteroids became available on the Atari 2600.
“Through endless variants and remakes across dozens of arcade, home, handheld and mobile platforms, Asteroids has created a simple yet challenging brick-blowing game in one of the most played and influential video games of all time,” said Jeremy Saucier, assistant vice president for interpretation and electronic games at The Strong Museum, home of the World Video Game Hall of Fame.
The next debutant was Ultima, not necessarily a household name but a force in the development of the computer role-playing genre, Andrew Borman, director of digital preservation, said in the press release. Designed by Richard Garriott and released in 1981, Utima: The First Age of Darkness inspired eight sequels and is credited with inspiring later role-playing games such as Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.
The urban design-inspired SimCity was released by Maxis in 1989 and found an audience among both adults and children who were challenged to build their own city and respond to problems. One of the sequels and offshoots it inspired was 2016’s World Video Game Hall of Fame inductee The Sims.
“At a time when many people thought of video games in terms of arcade shooters or console platformers, SimCity appealed to players who wanted intellectually stimulating fun on their newly purchased personal computers,” said Aryol Prater, black gaming and culture research specialist.
The adventure game Myst sold more than 6 million copies, making it a best-selling computer game in the 1990s. The 1993 Broderbund release took advantage of early CD-ROM technology and provided a level of player immersion previously unavailable in computer games, the Hall of Fame said.
“Few other games can match Myst’s ability to open up imaginative worlds,” said Collections Manager Kristy Hisert. “It was a work of artistic genius that captured the imagination of a generation of computer game players, and its influence can be seen in many of today’s open-world games.”
The latter honor, Resident Evil’s “cheesy B-movie dialogue, compelling gameplay and hair-raising tension,” helped popularize the “survival horror” genre after its release by Capcom in 1996 and provided mature entertainment for older teens and adults, video game curator Lindsey Kurano said. Created by game director Shinji Mikami, it also inspired a series of action-horror films that the Hall of Fame said had grossed more than $1.2 billion as of 2022.
Anyone can nominate a game for 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 are also invited to contribute their thoughts online. The public as a whole is treated as one committee member.