Tetris and Doom included in first Video Game Hall of Fame

4 Jun 2015

The International Center for the History of Electronic Games. Image via The Strong

The first of its kind, the World Video Game Hall of Fame has been announced, charting the most influential video games of all time, with Tetris and Doom included, among many others.

The inclusion of Tetris and others was deliberated over by The Strong, a museum based in the US dedicated exclusively to games, and games chosen on the basis that they “significantly affected the video game industry, popular culture, and society in general”.

Chosen along with Tetris and Doom were many familiar names spanning nearly three decades, including: Pong, Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros and World of Warcraft.

To illustrate the timespan, the paddle-board classic Pong was first launched all the way back in 1972, while the newest addition, World of Warcraft, hit the shelves just 11 years ago, in 2004.

While many of the games included could be considered more family friendly than some of the most popular games at the moment, the inclusion of the ultra-violent Doom, which was released in 1993, was because it effectively defined an entire genre.

Doom exploded onto the video game landscape in 1993 and helped shape the course of gaming history by introducing the idea of a game ‘engine’ (separating the game’s basic functions from other aspects, such as artwork), encouraging multiplayer interaction, and popularising the first-person shooter genre, the announcement said.

In total, the six chosen were whittled down from a list of 15 finalists, which included: Angry Birds; FIFA; The Legend of Zelda; Minecraft; The Oregon Trail; Pokémon; The SimsSonic the Hedgehog and Space Invaders.

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

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