According to Game Informer, the World Video Game Hall of Fame has recently announced its inductees for 2017. The games being accepted into the Hall of Fame this year are Bungie’s Halo: Combat Evolved (released in 2001 for the Xbox), Nintendo’s Donkey Kong (released in 1981 as an arcade game), Game Freak’s Pokémon: Red Version and Pokémon: Green Version (released in 1996 for the Game Boy) and Capcom’s Street Fighter II (released in 1991 as an arcade game). Pokémon: Red and Green are finally being inducted after being nominated twice before, in 2015, when the World Video Game Hall of Fame started, and again in 2016. Street Fighter II was nominated last year, but didn’t make the cut until this year. Both Donkey Kong and Halo: Combat Evolved were nominated for the first time this year.
These newly inducted games will join the likes of Doom, Pac-Man, Pong, Super Mario Bros., Tetris, World of Warcraft, The Legend of Zelda, The Oregon Trail, The Sims, Sonic the Hedgehog, Space Invaders and Grand Theft Auto III. Other games that were nominated this year but didn’t get inducted were Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy VII, Microsoft Solitaire, Mortal Kombat, Myst, Portal, Resident Evil and Wii Sports. Many of these games are likely to be nominated again next year.
According to the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s website, there are four factors that are considered when deciding which games to induct. The first is “Icon-status,” which refers to how well the game is recognized and remembered. Next is “Longevity,” meaning the game has proven the test of time and wasn’t just popular for a few years before being forgotten. Third is “Geographical reach,” which is the game’s ability to be known and popular over a long period of time across the world rather than in just one country. Lastly, “Influence” refers to how influential the game has been on video games in general as well as the rest of popular culture. The website also states that if a game is influential enough, it doesn’t necessarily have to achieve the first three factors to be inducted.