World Video Game Hall of Fame inducts 1st honorees

The World Video Game Hall of Fame in Rochester, N.Y., has named six electronic games as its first inductees.

These games, among 15 finalists, gained entry into the hall at the Strong National Museum of Play, as announced at a ceremony Thursday:

• Pong.
• Pac-Man.
• Tetris.
• ​Super Mario Bros.
• Doom.
• World of Warcraft.

"The games in the inaugural class ... span multiple decades, countries of origin and gaming plaforms," said a statement from the museum. "But all have significantly affected the video game industry, popular culture and society in general."

1st inductee launched in 1972

Pong is the oldest game to be inducted in the hall's inaugural year. It was released in 1972 and helped launch the video-game industry, the museum said. Several years later, Pac-Man "pushed video games forward as a mass cultural phenomenon."

The museum highlighted the popularity of its third inductee, Tetris, saying the game has been played on a massive scale, projected onto the sides of buildings. Super Mario Bros. brought back the character Mario into the gaming world and his "infectious, upbeat personality helped reinvigorate the struggling game market."

Doom is the sole inductee from the 1990s, and the game helped make first-person shooter games popular. World of Warcraft was released in 2004, and is the only multi-player online role-playing game to be honoured.

15 finalists

The museum announced 15 finalists in April. The possible honorees ranged from games that debuted as far back as the 1970s, to one of the first addictive mobile games.

The unsuccessful finalists are:

• The Oregon Trail.
• Space Invaders.
• FIFA.​
• Angry Birds.
• The Legend of Zelda.
• Minecraft.
• Pokemon.
• The Sims.
• Sonic the Hedgehog.