The 2018 class has been announced. Forgot I had made this thread so I'll just add it here. Final Fantasy VII John Madden Football Spacewar! Tomb Raider The previous inductees: Donkey Kong Doom Grand Theft Auto III Halo: Combat Evolved The Legend of Zelda The Oregon Trail Pac-Man Pokemon Red and Green Pong The Sims Sonic the Hedgehog Space Invaders Street Fighter II Super Mario Bros. Tetris World of Warcraft
The 2019 finalists are: Candy Crush Centipede Colossal Cave Adventure Dance Dance Revolution Half Life Microsoft Windows Solitaire Myst NBA 2K Sid Meier's Civilization Super Mario Kart Super Smash Bros. Melee
Given the list of inductees, I can only assume that Simcity and Microsoft's Flight Simulator lies outside this HoF's definition of "video game."
You know, as far as the nominees go in the OP, I find it odd that Doom was nomimated and not Wolfenstein 3d. While Doom was certainly influential, much of what it did wouldn't have been done without Wolfenstein 3D's success and technical achievements as it's largely seen as the grandfather of first-person shooters.
I understand, I think, on an abstract level how making lists is popular but I really struggle to care it's simply impossible to do this entire industry and its history justice with a "Hall of Fame" (which is not to say one shouldn't attempt this, especially in a context of education/museum-like learning opportunities)
Exactly, and honestly, I also feel these things should be have more of a chronological context to them. It currently seems a little haphazard.
SimCity. All the way. A good list to start with, anyway. Those old Sierra adventure games shouldn't be overlooked. Wasn't it the first hack-and-slash?
I don't know how wide spread it was but that term dates back to the 1980s and Dungeons and Dragons for me. It referred to a type of game play that eschewed roleplaying for dungeons that were about nothing but killing monsters and gathering loot.
Diablo is on there because it was extremely influential in creating an action-heavy experience "inspired by traditional RPGs" that was also heavily focused on loot. Modern subgenres like the loot shooter (your Destinies, The Divisions, Anthems) would not exist in this form without Diablo.
Colossal Cave Adventure should be an inductee. It's the ancestor of all online and MMO games. Runescape should get a nod since it's got the Guiness book award for most accounts (well past 200,000,000 by now)
Ahhhh, the old days of playing those old text adventure games. I remember the huge maps that I made to find my way through those things.