Rochester, NY (AP) – After more than 40 years of blazing a trail for female video game characters, Ms. Pac-Man was inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame on Thursday with Dance Dance Revolution, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina got involved. Time and Civilization of Sid Meier.
The Hall of Fame considers all types of electronic games – arcade, console, computer, handheld and mobile – every year. Inductors have been recognized for their popularity and impact on the video game industry or pop culture over time.
Ms. The Pac-Man arcade game was released in 1981 as a follow-up to Midway’s Pac-Man, which entered the halls as part of the inaugural class in 2015. The Pac-Man sequel re-imagined the main character to accept the female of the original game. fans, according to Hall. After selling 125,000 cabinets within the first five years, it became the best-selling arcade game of all time.
There was nothing inherently about early video games, said Julia Novakovic, senior archivist at the Hall. But “by offering the first widely recognized female video game character,” she said, “Ms. Pac-Man represented a turning point in the place of women in arcades as well as the cultural conversation in society at large.
The Class of 2022 was chosen from a field of finalists that also included Assassin’s Creed, Candy Crush Saga, Minesweeper, NBA Jam, Parappa the Rapper, Resident Evil, Rogue and Words with Friends. It is the eighth class to be inducted since the inception of the World Video Game Hall of Fame at The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York.
Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution, first seen in arcades in Japan in 1998, was recognized for helping to pave the way for other music-focused games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band. The fast-paced game put players on a dance floor with a screen to direct their moves.
Video game curator Lindsay Curano said, “Music has been an integral part of human life since prehistoric times, so it’s no surprise that DDR achieved an unparalleled popularity, spanning ages, genders and regions. ”
A home version of the game ran on the Sony PlayStation in 1999.
Hall of Fame officials said that The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, first released in 1998, surfaced for the Nintendo 64 gaming console and defined what a 3D action video game could be. . The award-winning game sold over 7.6 million copies worldwide and is recognized by some players and critics as one of the best video games of all time.
“Even today, developers around the world credit The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for influencing the way we make games,” said digital game curator Andrew Borman. “The game’s massive 3D world, fluid combat, complex puzzles and time-changing story inspired a surprise among players that they never forgot.”
Sid Meier’s Civilization, released in 1991, was recognized as an influential simulation and strategy game. The game, which invited players to develop their own empires, spawned a series of successor games, including the most recent Civilization: Beyond Earth and Civilization VI.
“The addictive nature of the game, which creator Sid Meier himself called the ‘another twist’ quality, and its nearly limitless options that prevented repetitive gameplay, led the computer gaming world into 1996 as the best video game of all time.” earned the recognition of civilization in the U.S.,” said John-Paul Dyson, director of The Strong International Center for the History of Electronic Games. “In total – and given the exceptionally long play period of the game – players have worked with the Civilization series for over a billion hours.”
Anyone can nominate a game to the World Video Game Hall of Fame. Final selections are made on the advice of journalists, scholars and others with knowledge of the history of video games and their role in society.
