ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — On Thursday, the World Video Game Hall of Fame welcomed four new members, honoring titles that pushed player boundaries and transformed the gaming sector.
Comprising the Class of 2025 is: Defender, the 1981 arcade game known for its high level of difficulty;
Tamagotchi
, the digital pets that connected physical toys with video games; GoldenEye 007, which had a four-player mode that set a precedent for subsequent multiplayer games; and Quake, released in 1996 with a groundbreaking 3D engine that established itself as the new benchmark for the industry.
The victors came from a pool of competitors.
12 finalists
that included Age of Empires, Angry Birds, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Frogger, Golden Tee, Harvest Moon, Mattel Football, and NBA 2K.
Each year, the Hall of Fame honors arcade, console, computer, handheld, and mobile games that have demonstrated lasting impact and significantly affected either the video game sector or popular culture.
Id Software’s 1996 Quake was recognized for its lasting influence, with a game code that “is a literal legacy” and continues to be used in some games after nearly 30 years, electronic games curator Lindsey Kurano said.
Quake co-creator John Romeo, on hand to see his game enshrined, said he and the other developers worked on the game for an exceptionally long time, a year and a half, playing it constantly.
“He mentioned that they understood incorporating a programming language into the game would enhance the experience for players familiar with their earlier release, Doom, making them even more satisfied.”
remarks aired
on RochesterFirst.com.
“We’re genuinely thrilled with the influence Quake had on the world,” he stated.
The best-selling Defender, released by Williams Electronics, proved that players would embrace complex and challenging games in the arcade, the experts said. It combined intense gameplay and a complicated control scheme with a horizontally scrolling shooter.
“Defender’s intense gameplay heightened the competitive spirit in arcades and became one of the initial titles to distinctly differentiate committed gamers from those who played less frequently,” stated Jeremy Saucier, assistant vice president for interpretation and electronic games.
The 1996 launch of Tamagotchi is credited with sparking the popularity of pet simulation video games. The handheld egg-shaped electronic game allowed owners to care for a virtual pet from birth through death, feeding, playing with and cleaning up after it by pressing buttons. Collections manager Kristy Hisert said Tamagotchi offered something different than the popular video game electronics of the time.
“It provided players with feelings of connection, caring, and customization, a respite from competition and fighting games,” she said. Neopets, Nintendogs and other social media and app-based versions of pet simulation games would follow.
GoldenEye 007 was based on the 1995 James Bond spy film “GoldenEye” and was the third best-selling game for the Nintendo 64, behind Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64. The result of a 1997 partnership between Nintendo and Rare, the first-person shooter game was known for its four-person multiplayer mode, which Hall of Fame experts said influenced many multiplayer games that followed.
The World Video Game Hall of Fame is inside The Strong National Museum of Play. Anyone can nominate a video game for consideration. Museum staff name 12 finalists each year and solicit votes from experts and fans before announcing the winners.