World’s First Video Game Hall of Fame to Open at Rochester Museum

The Strong National Museum of Play.

Move over, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. There’s a new popular culture mecca on its way, and we have a feeling it’s going to capture the hearts of both the young and the young at heart. The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York, will establish a World Video Game Hall of Fame.

The first hall of fame of its kind, it will honor electronic games, including console, handheld, mobile, computer, and classic arcade video games. In order to be inducted, a game needs to have “icon status,” “longevity,” a wide “geographical reach,” and significant “influence” over the design and development of subsequent games.

“There is no other video game award and recognition program such as this, which focuses solely on individual game titles across platforms and their impact over time and across international borders,” said G. Rollie Adams, president and CEO of the museum in a statement. Currently, the institution’s International Center for the History of Electronic Games cares for a collection of over 55,000 video games and related artifacts.

The idea for the new hall of fame was spawned by the museum’s already existing National Toy Hall of Fame, which receives international attention for its yearly induction of toys. Items in the Toy Hall of Fame include Mr. Potato Head, Barbie, and the Frisbee.

The best part? Nominations for the inaugural class of video game hall-of-famers will be accepted online through March 31. Nominees thus far include Super Mario 64, Final Fantasy VI, Tetris, and Space Invaders. Finalists will be determined by an internal committee, and inductees will be selected by a team of journalists, scholars, and people familiar with the history of video games.

The announcement will be made in June, and the inductees will be displayed and interpreted in a section of the museum’s “eGamesRevolution” exhibit before finding their permanent place in the hall of fame.


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