Video Game Hall of Fame Inducts Resident Evil and Other Legendary Games

The Strong National Museum of Play has announced its annual inductees into the World Video Game Hall of Fame, inducting iconic titles likeResident Evil, Myst, SimCity, Asteroids, and Ultima. This year’s inductees were selected on a range of criteria that judged their influence, geographical reach, longevity, and icon status, of which Resident Evil certainly could not be denied.

The original Resident Evil became the blueprint for survival horror across the industry when it released for the PlayStation in 1996. Titled Biohazard in Japan, its English language counterpart was plagued with stilted dialogue and monotonous voice acting, which nonetheless lent the game a certain B-movie charm and didn’t detract from the tense gameplay or unsettling atmosphere.

A Twitter post on The Strong Museum account unveiled 2024’s five inductees — Resident Evil, Myst, Asteroids, SimCity, and Ultima — all of which beat out entries like Metroid and Guitar Hero. Richard Garriott, creator of the Ultima series, celebrated the news by posting a photo of his Hall of Fame award with the caption “Go Ultima!”

Garriott, inspired by The Lord of the Rings and Dungeons & Dragons, began work on his CRPG magnum opus, Ultima, which released in 1981 and sold 20,000 copies in its first year. Blending the science fiction and fantasy genres, players can explore a vast land and inhabit a variety of roles. So inspirational was the Ultima series that Bethesda’s Todd Howard has cited the game as a huge influence on the development of its own titles.

Maxis’ 1989 city builder, SimCity, also made the cut. A game about urban development in which players create the most optimal living spaces possible to the delight or displeasure of its inhabitants, the success of SimCity spawned dozens of spin-offs and spiritual successors – The Sims series most notable among them.

Asteroids was a massively successful arcade cabinet turned Atari game that sold 3.8 million copies; the fast-paced saucer shooter made an estimated