Tag: Candy Crush Saga

Finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022 Include Zelda: Ocarina of Time, PaRappa the Rapper, Minesweeper, and More

It’s that time of year again… the curators of the World Video Game Hall of Fame at the Strong Museum of Play have announced the finalists for this year’s class of inductees.

The games fighting for a spot in the Class of 2022 are all classics, but many of the titles have been here before. For Civilization and Dance Dance Revolution, this will be their third attempt to gain entry into the World Video Game Hall of Fame. Sid Meier’s Civilization was previously a finalist in 2016 and 2019, while Dance Dance Revolution tried to groove its way to immortality in 2018 and 2019.

Four other titles are also getting a second chance on the World Video Game Hall of Fame shortlist, including Resident Evil (which was a finalist in 2017), Ms. Pac-Man (2018), Candy Crush Saga (2019), and NBA Jam (2020).

With six slots spoken for by repeat finalists, there were a few surprises among the games that are brand new to the process. That includes Microsoft’s beloved timewaster, Minesweeper, which could be considered something of a frontrunner after Windows Solitaire‘s inclusion in the Class of 2019. The 1990s as a whole were well-represented on the shortlist, which also included appearances from PaRappa the Rapper, Sony’s funky PSone era rhythm game, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the first 3D adventure from the Zelda franchise.

Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed, Michael Toy and Glenn Wichman’s Rogue, and Zynga’s Words With Friends rounded out this year’s list of finalists.

As in years part, the general public will be able to vote for their favorite finalist by visiting WorldVideoGameHallOfFame.org between now and March 24. The three games that receive the most votes will be submitted as a Player’s Choice ballot alongside the other ballots from the Hall of Fame’s International Selection Advisory Committee.

This year’s inductees will be announced during an online presentation on Thursday, May 5, at 10:30 AM (Eastern Time), and you can learn more about all 12 games after the break.

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The Washington Post Picks Ten Titles as “The Most Influential Games of the Decade”

The calendar is nearing the end of January, but here I am sifting through yet another “Best Games of the Decade” list. This time around, the Launcher team at The Washington Post gets their time in the sun, as they chose ten games to stand tall as “The Most Influential Games of the Decade“:

Gaming is now humanity’s favorite form of entertainment, and the medium’s legacy was cemented this past decade. While the early 2000s saw video games honing their ability to tell stories and build worlds in 3-D, this last decade built off those nuts and bolts of game making and propelled the medium toward bigger ambitions like open-world design, virtual and augmented reality and an influx of new genres such as battle-royale multiplayer.

The chronological list begins with 2010’s Amnesia: The Dark Descent, continues through the middle of the decade with 2014’s Destiny, and ends with 2017’s Fortnite. In between, you’ll find a few other familiar titles, as well as a more unusual choice in King’s Candy Crush Saga:

The Washington Post’s Launcher – The Most Influential Games of the Decade

  • Amnesia: The Dark Descent
  • Candy Crush Saga
  • Dark Souls
  • Destiny
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
  • Fortnite
  • Minecraft
  • Pokemon Go
  • The Walking Dead
  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Apologies to all the games from 2018 and 2019 that didn’t make the cut for The Washington Post’s list.

Introducing the Finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2019

The World Video Game Hall of Fame, which is overseen by The Strong Museum of Play, has announced the finalists for this year’s crop of inductees. We’ll have to wait until May to find out which games make the final cut, but we now know that a dozen classic titles will be in the running for the Class of 2019.

This year’s finalists include several games that are taking one more shot at immortality, including Midway’s Mortal Kombat, Cyan Worlds’s Myst, Microsoft’s Windows Solitaire, and Valve’s Half-Life. All four have a strong claim to “Hall of Fame” status, as Myst helped popularize CD-ROMs, Half-Life pushed narrative games to new heights, Mortal Kombat’s controversial violence is still discussed today, and Windows Solitaire may just be the most-played game ever.

But they’ll have to compete against a slate of other titles that includes King’s Candy Crush, Atari’s Centipede, William Crowther’s Colossal Cave Adventure, Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution, Sega’s NBA 2K, Sid Meier’s Civilization, and Nintendo’s Super Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Gaming fans from around the globe will be able to influence which games will be eligible for induction this year through the Player’s Choice Ballot, which will be open from March 21st through the 28th. The remaining ballots will come from the Hall of Fame’s International Selection Advisory Committee, which is comprised of journalists and scholars who are “familiar with the history of video games.”

The World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2019 will announced on May 2, but you can learn more about this year’s finalists after the break.

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