The World Video Game Hall of Fame has gained a number of new entries, with Donkey Kong and Pokemon Red and Green granted top gaming honours.
The two iconic titles joined Halo: Combat Evolved and Street Fighter II in being named 2017’s entries into the permanent exhibition at The Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, New York.
Recognised for their popularity, longevity, and general influence on the wider gaming and cultural world, the four must-play games saw off competition from fellow prestigious nominees including Tomb Raider, Wii Sports and Final Fantasy VII.
Other unsuccessful nominees for this year’s coveted accolades included Microsoft’s boredom-busting Solitaire and the horror epic, Resident Evil.
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New Hall of Fame inductee Donkey Kong was originally released in 1981, with more than 132,000 arcade cabinets shifted around the world. As well as gripping barrel-dodging gamers for years, it introduced the world to a little guy called Mario.
Fellow inductee, Pokemon Red and Green was nominated last year, but the originally Pokemon title, first released for the Nintendo Game Boy back in 1996, failed to make the cut at its first attempt.
“Without Donkey Kong there would be no Super Mario Bros,” said Jon-Paul Dyson, director of The Strong’s International Centre for the History of Electronic Games.
The Strong’s associate curator, Shannon Symonds, added: “Two decades after its inception and with the introduction of Pokemon Go, ‘Pokemania’ shows little sign of fading.”
Established in 2015, the World Video Game Hall of Fame was founded to honour all games played in arcades, on consoles, computers or on handheld devices, including smartphones.
Pong, Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros, Tetris, Doom and World of Warcraft opened the hall of fame back in 2015, with a further six titles, including Space Invaders, Sonic the Hedgehog and The Sims joining the illustrious mix last year.
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