The Strong museum inducted six new games, including Space Invaders, Oregon Trail, Sonic the Hedgehog, The Legend of Zelda, The Sims and Grand Theft Auto III to its World Video Game Hall of Fame. The games were selected from a field of 15. They will join 2015 inductees Super Mario Bros., DOOM and World of Warcraft as permanent displays on the museum's second floor.
Photo by Strong Museum
ROCHESTER, N.Y., May 6 (UPI) -- The Strong museum announced the induction of several classic video games into its World Video Game Hall of Fame.
The 2016 class includes Space Invaders, Oregon Trail, Sonic the Hedgehog, The Legend of Zelda, The Sims and Grand Theft Auto III.
"The games in the second class of The Strong's World Video Gamed Hall of Fame span multiple decades, countries of origin, and gaming platforms, but all have significantly affected the video game industry, popular culture, and society in general," the museum said in a statement on Thursday.
In addition to early arcade classics such as Space Invaders 2016 class also contained games that redefined traditional gameplay such as The Sims and Oregon Trail which were designed as a "digital dollhouse" and a tool to teach American History respectively.
The class also represents some of the first mainstream examples of non-linear "sandbox-style" gameplay with The Legend of Zelda and Grand Theft Auto III. It
Established in 2015, the World Video Game Hall of Fame honors video games from all genres and platforms based on their excellence in displaying icon-status, longevity, geographical reach, and influence.
The six games inducted in 2016 were selected on the advice of journalists, scholars and others from a group of 15 games which included other notable titles such as Minecraft, Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy and the original Pokemon games.
They will be placed on permanent view on the museum's second floor alongside 2015's inductees which included Super Mario Bros., DOOM and World of Warcraft.