The Strong National Museum of Play has announced new games that are inducted into this year’s World Video Game Hall of Fame. In 2023, four new games joined the list: The Last of Us, Wii Sports, Barbie Fashion Designer and Computer Space. These games were selected based on a number of criteria, including their impact and popularity over time.
The Last of Us
The Last of Us stands out as the newest game in this group. Naughty Dog’s post-apocalyptic action adventure has come up many times over the past 10 years. A TV series based on the game premiered on HBO in January and garnered a lot of attention from critics and viewers. The remake of the original game was released for PS5 in September and PC in March, but unfortunately the PC version had many issues at the time of release.
Wii Sports
Wii Sports login screenGoing a little further back, Wii Sports was introduced in 2006. Partly because it was bundled with the hugely successful Wii, and partly because everyone played it, the fun sports simulation has become one of the best-selling games of all time. Nintendo has largely managed to recapture the success of the game on Switch with Nintendo Switch Sports last year.
Barbie Fashion Designer
In 1996, Mattel and Digital Domain launched Barbie Fashion Designer. This game allowed players to design and print outfits that would dress up real-life Barbie dolls. The game was a huge hit, selling half a million copies in two months.
“Barbie Fashion Designer has become a starting point for the girl games movement and rocked the software and games scene,” said Kristy Hisert, collection manager at The Strong. “It also sparked important questions and discussions. What does it mean to be a game for girls? Should there even be ‘for girls’ games? What are the effects of these games? What are the consequences of gender determination for games?”
Computer Space
Computer SpaceThe last game to join the list in 2023 was the first video game released. Computer Space was an Atari game based on 1962’s Spacewar!, primarily found on the DEC PDP-1 minicomputer in computer labs. The success of Computer Space spurred its creators, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, to start a “small” company called Atari in 1971.
It can be safely said that all four games definitely deserve to be inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame. Other finalists this year included Age of Empires, Angry Birds, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, FIFA International Soccer, Goldeneye 007, NBA 2K, Quake and Wizardry. Located in Rochester, New York, The Strong museum will permanently display the 2023 nominees (and possibly those from previous years) in a new World Video Game Hall of Fame that will open on June 30.
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