SimCity, Resident Evil among five 2024 Video Game Hall of Fame inductees

The Strong National Museum of Play has announced the five games joining the World Video Game Hall of Fame this year: Asteroids, Myst, Resident Evil, Ultima, and SimCity. These five games beat out other classics, like Neopets, Metroid, and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, to grab a place in the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s 10th class.

Last year, Barbie Fashion Designer, Computer Space, The Last of Us, and Wii Sports made it into the World Video Game Hall of Fame. The 2024 class of inductees will join these titles as part of the Strong Museum’s World Video Game Hall of Fame rotunda, which is part of the ESL Digital Worlds exhibit. A group called the International Selection Advisory Committee, which the Strong Museum said is made up of “journalists and scholars familiar with the history of video games and their roles in society,” votes on the games to be inducted. The public had also been voting, and the top three games voted in by the public were added to a single ballot.

These five games have influenced different parts of the video game industry, with Asteroids making its mark as Atari’s best-selling coin-operated arcade game; Myst in showcasing its iconic, imaginative world; SimCity by defining the city-building simulation genre; Ultima setting the tone for fantasy role-playing games; and Resident Evil putting survival horror on the map. Here’s how the Strong Museum described the games and their impact on the industry:

About Asteroids: Released in 1979, Atari’s Asteroids offered players challenging gameplay, glowing graphics, and intense sound effects in an action-packed space setting. The game quickly supplanted the popular Space Invaders in many arcades and sold more than 70,000 arcade units, becoming Atari’s bestselling coin-operated game. The home version of the game—made available on the Atari 2600—took the game’s popularity to new heights, bringing it into millions of living rooms.

Says Jeremy Saucier, assistant vice president for interpretation and electronic games, “Through endless variants and remakes across dozens of arcade, home, handheld, and mobile platforms, Asteroids made a simple, yet challenging game about blasting rocks into one of the most widely played and influential video games of all time.”

About Myst: Released by Broderbund in 1993, Myst welcomed players to a mesmerizing world of mysterious puzzles and haunting vistas. The game harnessed early CD-ROM technology—which offered high storage capacity but slow loading times. The discs paired well with the slow-paced, contemplative style of the game, though, and allowed for a level of player immersion never before experienced in computer games. Myst became the best-selling computer game in the 1990s, selling more than six million copies.

Says Kristy Hisert, collections manager, “Few other games can match Myst’s ability to open imaginative worlds. It was a work of artistic genius that captured the imagination of an entire generation of computer game players, and its influence can be seen in many of today’s open-world games.”

About Resident Evil: Although it wasn’t the first horror video game, Resident Evil (or Biohazard as it was known in Japan) was the first game to popularize the “survival horror” genre. Created by game director Shinji Mikami and released by Capcom in 1996, Resident Evil spawned a billion-dollar media franchise while it helped demonstrate that video games could offer mature entertainment for older teenagers and adults. As of 2022, films based on the Resident Evil franchise have collective grossed more than $1.2 billion.

Says Lindsey Kurano, video game curator, “Resident Evil’s combination of cheesy B-movie dialogue, engrossing gameplay, and chilling suspense made it a favorite of gamers searching for more mature video games, and it helped establish one of gaming’s most enduring franchises.”

About SimCity: Released by Maxis in 1989, SimCity helped expand the audience for video games by offering a city building simulator that appealed to adults as much as children. Drawing from real-life principles of urban design, it allowed players to build their own city and respond to ever-changing problems. The game generated numerous sequels and offshoots — such as 2016 World Video Game Hall of Fame inductee The Sims — and influenced the development of many city-building simulation games and even real-time strategy games, like Command & Conquer and Age of Empires.

Says Aryol Prater, research specialist for Black play and culture, “Simulations are some of the oldest forms of video games, but few have had the popularity, influence, or staying power of SimCity. At a time when many people thought of video games in terms of arcade shooters or console platformers, SimCity appealed to players who wanted intellectually stimulating fun on their newly bought personal computers.”

About Ultima: Ultima: The First Age of Darkness helped define the computer role-playing genre. Designed by Richard Garriott and released in 1981, Ultima combined role-playing mechanics, a massive fictional world, and fantasy and science fiction themes. Ultima’s innovative gameplay laid the foundation for one of the most enduring and influential gaming franchises of all time (with eight sequels). Many top game designers credit it with inspiring their later role-playing games, such as Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.

Says Andrew Borman, director of digital preservation, “Ultima helped define the computer role-playing game genre. Although it may not be a household name, the game, and the series it spawned, are legendary among role-playing game fans and game developers around the world.”