Asteroids, Myst, Resident Evil, SimCity and Ultima were inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame

ROCHESTER, NY – The World Video Game Hall of Fame introduced its 10th class of honorees on Thursday, recognizing Asteroids, Myst, Resident Evil, SimCity and Ultima for their impact on the video game industry and popular culture.

The inductees debuted over decades, evolving technology over time and expanding not only the number of players but also the ages and interests of those at the controls, Hall of Fame officials said in announcing the winners. The Hall of Fame honors electronic games of all types – arcade, console, computer, handheld and mobile.

The class of 2024 was selected by experts from a field of 12 finalists that also included Elite, Guitar Hero, Metroid, Neopets, Tokimeki Memorial, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and You Don't Know Jack.

The award for Atari's Asteroids comes 45 years after its debut in arcades in 1979, where it was Atari's best-selling coin-operated game. The game's vibrant space graphics and sound effects spread from more than 70,000 arcades to millions of living rooms when a home version of Asteroids became available on the Atari 2600.

“Through endless variants and remakes across dozens of arcade, home, handheld and mobile platforms, Asteroids has turned a simple but challenging game of brick-blasting into one of the most played and influential video games of all time,” said Jeremy Saucier. Assistant Vice President of Interpretation and Electronic Games at The Strong Museum, home to the World Video Game Hall of Fame.

The next debutant was Ultima, not necessarily a household name but a driving force in the development of the computer role-playing game genre, Andrew Borman, director of digital preservation, said in the press release. Utima: The First Age of Darkness was designed by Richard Garriott and published in 1981. It inspired eight sequels and is considered an inspiration for later role-playing games such as Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.

Urban design-inspired SimCity was released by Maxis in 1989 and found an audience among both adults and children, who were challenged to build their own city and respond to problems. Among the sequels and spin-offs it inspired was The Sims, which was inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame in 2016.

“At a time when many people viewed video games as arcade shooters or console platformers, SimCity appealed to gamers who wanted intellectually stimulating fun on their newly purchased PCs,” said Aryol Prater, Black gaming and culture research specialist.

The adventure game Myst sold more than 6 million copies, making it the best-selling computer game of the 1990s. The 1993 Broderbund release utilized early CD-ROM technology and enabled a level of player immersion not previously possible in computer games, the Hall of Fame said.

“Few other games can match Myst’s ability to open up imaginative worlds,” said Collections Manager Kristy Hisert. “It was a work of artistic genius that captured the imagination of a generation of computer gamers, and its influence can be seen in many of today's open-world games.”

The final winner, Resident Evil's “cheesy B-movie dialogue, addictive gameplay, and chilling suspense,” helped popularize the “survival horror” genre upon its release by Capcom in 1996, and provided adult entertainment for older teens and adults, video game curator Lindsey Kurano said. Developed by game director Shinji Mikami, it also inspired an action-horror film series that has grossed more than $1.2 billion as of 2022, according to the Hall of Fame.

Anyone can nominate a game for the World Video Game Hall of Fame. Members of an international selection advisory committee submit their top three choices from the list of finalists. Fans are also invited to comment online. The public as a whole is treated as a single committee member.