Windows Solitaire, Mortal Kombat among the most recent inductees into the Video Game Hall Of Fame
House of cards
Mind out if you run into Windows Solitaire or Mortal Kombat down the shops, ‘cos they’re famous now and I bet it’s gone right to their heads. Specifically, they’ve been inducted into the World Video Game Hall Of Fame, a list operated by The Strong, a New York based “museum of play.” I assume it was Alec’s fairly recent Have You Played? about the digital card game that tipped them over the edge.
The Strong say that Windows Solitaire’s wide reach is its main reason for being immortalised in the hallowed halls. Apparently, it’s played in over 200 countries and 35 billion games are played per year. That is a very big number. Assistant vice president for electronic games and interpretation (a great title) Jeremy Saucier says “The game proved that sometimes analogue games can be even more popular in the digital world and demonstrated that a market existed for games that appeal to people of all types. In many ways, it helped pave the way for the growth of the casual gaming market that remains so popular today.”
According to CNN, it was actually made by a then-intern at Microsoft called Wes Cherry in his spare time, and he wasn’t paid for it. Video games!
Mortal Kombat was also added to the list, apparently because of its “cutting-edge graphics and unique fighting styles.” And the fact that it ignited a huge “international debate” about video game violence. But more importantly, its “many sequels have kept players coming back again and again” – most recently for Mortal Kombat 11 just this past month, of course.
A total of four games were inducted, the other two being influential text adventure game Colossal Cave Adventure, which released in 1976, and something called Super Mario Kart which isn’t on PC so I can’t tell you anything about it.
Since 2015, the Hall Of Fame has crowned 20 plus games, including The Sims, World Of Warcraft, and everyone's favourite completely normal-looking hedgehog Sonic. Anyone can nominate a game, so hey, you might as well throw in your own suggestion. Nominations will be considered on the axis of “icon status,” longevity, geographical reach, and influence on other games and wider society.