Video Game Legends To Be Inducted Into Hall of Fame

killdashnine writes "Last year we discussed the creation of the International Video Game Hall of Fame and Museum in Ottumwa, Iowa, and a first event in 2009 which brought 3,500 people to witness it. Since then, there's been much progress toward creation of the museum, including the upcoming 'Big Bang 2010' exhibition. Their first event kicks off with formal induction ceremonies, tournaments, record-setting attempts, and an array of concerts from 8-bit music to modern rock. This serves as the first official fundraiser for this new non-profit. Iowa is positioning itself as the Video Game Capital of the World. While some sneer and scoff at this, pointing to LA or Seattle as gaming giants and rightful heirs to the title, the real goal is not to glorify software developers but rather to memorialize the 'heroes of video games,' from the iconic Pac Man to pioneers such as Ralph Baer." Here's a list of this year's inductees. Who gets your vote for next year?

Plus Key Switch

[Anonymous Coward]

No Yokoi [wikipedia.org]? Blasphemy!

Re:Plus Key Switch (followup, more hubris)

[Anonymous Coward]

Without Gunpei Yokoi there would be no "Plus Switch" (originated on his Game and Watch), no Metroid, no Donkey Kong, no Mario, no Game Boy, no Virtual Boy, and likely Shigeru Miyamoto would never have created Super Mario Bros. or Zelda. Nintendo most likely would not have had enough excellent games to break into the North American market in the mid 80s (or even have ever gotten into the home console market), and quite possibly the crash of 1983 [wikipedia.org] would have been permanent, leaving only PC games in the market. Possibly Sega would have dominated Japan, or possibly they would never have been inspired to actually try. The gaming world would have turned out very differently.

Re:You got the wrong continent

[Anonymous Coward]

But mostly and originally, video games come from Japan!

Absolutely wrong. A primary example is Atari [Pong if you want a starting point]. The company just sounds Japanese, but was solidly American- as were almost all the producers of the first commercial games. Even the English got into the game before Japan did.

Mind you, the Japanese caught on early and polished things into jewellike luster, much like consumer video and automotive production in the 1970's, and brought brilliant new concepts to the table, but video/computer games were not in any way "mostly and originally" from there.

A few things to understand

[Kayhynn]

1. This is the first year of the induction ceremonies. Like every other hall of fame out there, people don't make the first year, or second year or other years. 2. Yes, we know some of the people who "should be inducted" didn't make the cut. Shit happens. 3....please read the below comments from Walter Day on how the inductees were picked: When the IVGHOF was first conceived, it immediately approved a list of inductees that included five noted competitive gamers, four legendary industry pioneers and one historic video game. Realizing that there were many, many more individuals worthy of enshrinement into the IVGHOF, the IVGHOF Board of Directors decided to make the Class of 2010 a very large one and decided to hold many ceremonies around North America to induct further honorees into the Hall of Fame for the Class of 2010. However, only one such ceremony was held – at the 2009 NW Pinball and Game Room Show – before the IVGHOF changed its plans and decided that all future inductees would be selected by a Panel of Industry Experts who would approve the selection criteria, create a ballot of nominees for each forthcoming year, and then select the Inductees from among the list of nominees. Plus, as the IVGHOF gained more knowledge from these experiences, the vision for the IVGHOF evolved and it was decided that there would be only one ceremony per year and that it would induct a smaller number of honorees designated by this objective panel of industry experts. Recognizing that the worldwide gaming industry has greatly benefited from the support of the global community of competitive gamers, it was decided to dedicate this first class to the "History of Competitive Gaming," and to focus on the contributions made to the industry by the original gamer -- the "arcade champion." In accordance with these plans to celebrate the "History of Competitive Gaming," a majority of the inductees honored in this first Class are arcade or PC gaming champions. You will find on this website a list of the current Inductees. We hope you will join us in honoring them on Saturday, August 7th, 2010 at the Bridge View Center in Ottumwa, Iowa. The current class -- the Class of 2010 -- is composed of the arcade champions Inducted at the NW Pinball and Game Room Show, as well as ten other luminaries who were approved by the IVGHOF Board of Directors in May of 2009. In total, the Class of 2010 includes 4 iconic industry visionaries, 5 game or software designers, 19 competitive gamers and one video game. And, if you think that someone is missing -- someone who absolutely deserves to be inducted into the IVGHOF, but is not on this list, you are right! This process is just beginning and we plan on bestowing the highest honors on every individual or organization who has contributed to the success or enrichment of the worldwide video game industry. Unfortunately, everybody can't be inducted in a single year, so we ask for everyone's patience as we move through this first year and work to establish the IVGHOF as the cultural crossroads of the video game age.

Re:Did I miss something?

[Spyware23]

http://www.ivghof.com/media-and-sponsors/our-official-media-partners [ivghof.com]

Scroll down, take notice of the sponsors. The list contains, among others, Walmart, Xbox 360 (yes, the name of the console, not the company), Gamestop and Alienware (Dell).

Dirty little fucking companies at it again. Skewing results, steering votes. Eugh.

Re:Ottumwa, Iowa?

[greg1104]

Ottumwa is the founding location of Twin Galaxies [wikipedia.org], and from 1982 to 1984 it really was the video game capital of the US at least. Nowadays, I find it much more convenient to visit Funspot [funspotnh.com] when I'm looking for that sort of thing though, rather than go to the middle of Iowa. (All of Iowa feels like the middle)