The World Video Game Hall of Fame, located at The Strong museum in Rochester is out with the list of this year’s finalists.
The dozen contenders for induction this year include:
Age of Empires, Angry Birds, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Defender, Frogger, Golden Eye, Golden Tee, Harvest Moon, Mattel Football, Quake, NBA 2K, and Tamagotchi.
Jon-Paul Dyson is the director of The Strong’s International Center for the History of Electronic Games, and he said the judges for this competition look at factors like influence, geographic reach and longevity.
“And so, it shows how video games have spanned the length of time over the last half century, but also the ones that endure, are the ones that are still fun to play, and so that fun, that playfulness, is always a key aspect of every game,” Dyson said.
That sense of playfulness, Dyson said is part of the game Frogger, which even made it to the TV show Seinfeld.
“And sometimes they’re just fun little cultural nuggets, a game like Frogger, which then ended up as a famous scene in the Seinfeld episode where George Costanza tries to get his old Frogger arcade game across the road,” Dyson said.
Officials said the World Video Game Hall of Fame received thousands of nominations for consideration in the 2025 class. Fans may vote for their favorite finalists from March 6 to March 13 as part of a “Player’s Choice” ballot at worldvideogamehalloffame.org.
The three games that receive the most public votes will form one ballot and will join the other ballots submitted by members of the International Selection Advisory Committee, which is made up of journalists and scholars from around the world who are familiar with the history of video games and their role in society.
The final inductees into the World Video Game Hall of Fame will be announced May 8.
