The Video Game Hall of Fame Needs You

  Now, as I think we’ve discussed before, I’m no fan of fancy-ass art. Cruising around museums and discussing the merits of that classical statue of the dude with the tiny wang, Michael or David or Brian or whatever his name is, is not my bag. When Jackson Pollock makes a big ol’ multicolour diarrhoea-mess on a canvas and sells it for millions, I don’t want to hear about it. Assed, I am not.  

Maybe I’m just not cultured enough. But I know what I like, and what I like most is when video games are recognised for importance in their own right. In terms of evoking emotions, impacting popular culture and such, I’ll take Master Chief and Sonic over Van Gogh any day, with no effs given about his sunflowers and starry nights. Nuts to them.

Over at New York’s Strong Museum, votes have been taken to decide the next titles to be inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame. Over 100 countries took part in the voting, Destructoid reports, and the fifteen nominees for 2016 are:

· Elite

· Final Fantasy

· Grand Theft Auto III

· John Madden Football

· The Legend of Zelda

· Minecraft

· Nürburgring

· The Oregon Trail

· Pokemon Red and Green

· Sid Meier’s Civilization

· The Sims

· Sonic the Hedgehog

· Space Invaders

· Street Fighter II

· Tomb Raider  

Iconic mothereffers all, I’m sure you’ll agree. As  Jon-Paul C. Dyson, director of The Strong’s International Center for the History of Electronic Games, put it: "These 15 World Video Game Hall of Fame finalists span decades, gaming platforms, and countries of origin—but what they all have in common is their undeniable impact on the world of gaming and popular culture."

The winners join such influential releases as Doom, Pac-Man and Pong. Get your vote on over at the official site.