Strong Museum’s Hall of Fame


by 		Filed under Game trail, Mainstream coverage;
1 comment.

We could debate endlessly over the best Apple II games — such a list remains one of my most popular blog posts to date. From Adventure to Prince of Persia, Choplifter to Lode Runner, the candidates are endless.

So I don’t envy The Strong Museum of Rochester, New York, home of the International Center for the History of Electronic Games. ICHEG recently announced the World Video Game Hall of Fame, into which would be inducted games with an "undeniable impact on popular culture and society in general" and "games [that] have helped shape the way that people across the globe play and relate to one another," wrote ICHEG director Jon-Paul Dyson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7-rCWsqZ5w

Journalists, scholars, and other industry professionals chose the original list of 15 candidate games. I have bolded the six that were ultimately inducted:

  • • Angry Birds (2009)
  • • Doom (1993)
  • • FIFA (1993)
  • • The Legend of Zelda (1986)
  • • Minecraft (2009)
  • • The Oregon Trail (1971)
  • • Pac-Man (1980)
  • • Pokemon (1996)
  • • Pong (1972)
  • • The Sims (2000)
  • • Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
  • • Space Invaders (1978)
  • • Super Mario Bros. (1990)
  • • Tetris (1984)
  • • World of Warcraft (2004)

It’s regrettable that no native Apple II games made the cut — but we are not entirely without representation: Tetris exists for every platform, including the Apple II; and Doom is the infamous brainchild of John Romero, who got his start on the Apple II and regularly revisits his roots, as he did when he delivered KansasFest 2012’s keynote speech.

You may disagree with the ICHEG’s choices, but it’s important those disagreements be founded not in what were the "best" or most fun games of all time, but which were the most important. In that context, which Apple II games would you have nominated for inclusion n the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s first class?

  1. Steven says: August 17th, 2015 5:43 PM

    This is a difficult task and there are many possibilities to choose from. Without having read you other post, this is what I can come up with from memory.

    For the category of “Technology Achievement”, I would consider:
    Airheart – double hires animation with spatial awareness
    Karateka – sprite animation/fluidity
    Wings of Fury – significant full screen animation

    In the “Genre Mix” category:
    Space Rogue – overall quality within each playable genre

    In the “Educational Impact” category:
    Lemonade Stand – probably one of the first edutainment titles played by new Apple // owners
    Microbe – presentation of medical concepts in an easy to understand format
    Robot Odyssey – advances in electronic circuit construction
    The Halley Project – astronomical realism and historical impact
    The Seven Cities of Gold – exploration and historical contributions
    Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego – clever contribution to geography

    In the “Lasting Impact” category:
    Ultima IV – large and successful title that continued a significant series

    In the category “Ahead of its time”:
    Earth Orbit Stations – needed hardware that was very significantly better than what was available at the time or commonly available

    Other significant titles:
    Arctic Fox, Bannercatch, Beyond Castle Wolfenstein, Boulder Dash, Echelon, Lode Runner, Moon Patrol, Portal, Sea Dragon, Sneakers, Stellar 7, Zaxxon