2026 Finalists2026 Finalists
Angry Birds
Inducted: 2026 Angry Birds was the breakout mobile game hit that convinced millions of people worldwide to pay for a game they could download onto their smartphones. More than two billion downloads later, hundreds of […]
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Dragon Quest
Inducted: 2026 Dragon Quest, released in 1986 for the Nintendo Famicom, grew out of a collaboration between scenario writer Yuji Horii, manga artist Akira Toriyama, and composer Koichi Sugiyama. Sugiyama was a popular composer, […]
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EA Sports FIFA International Soccer
Inducted: 2026 EA Sports FIFA International Soccer was not the first sports simulation video game—nor even the first one about soccer—but it became the most popular sports game franchise of all time, with sales continually […]
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Frogger
Originally developed by Konami and later licensed by Sega/Gremlin, Frogger jumped into the arcade in 1981. The simple but increasingly challenging gameplay—navigating frogs across a five-lane highway—provided widespread appeal to players of all ages. The […]
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Galaga
Released in 1981 as a sequel to Namco’s 1979 hit Galaxian, Galaga raised the bar for arcade space shooters with its fast-paced, enthralling gameplay. An arcade bestseller ported to dozens of consoles, personal computers, and handhelds, Galaga is […]
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League of Legends
Riot Games’ League of Legends launched in 2009 as an unassuming attempt at a free-to-play online arena inspired by a Warcraft III fan map—but it quickly grew into a behemoth. League of Legends has become a flagship of esports, […]
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Mega Man
Capcom’s Mega Man debuted in 1986 on the Nintendo Entertainment System. The platform shooter became a massive bestseller and provided a large boost to NES sales. The character Mega Man, a cartoonish and benevolent robot, inspired […]
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PaRappa the Rapper
PaRappa the Rapper, a playfully rendered title for Sony’s PlayStation console, helped usher in the rhythm game genre after its launch in 1996. The game’s distinctive visuals, original songs, and accessible gameplay offered […]
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RuneScape
RuneScape began as an idea to create a game that was accessible to anyone with a computer and an Internet connection. For 25 years now, the game has stuck to that goal, making itself […]
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Silent Hill
Inducted: 2026 What makes a game scary? For that matter, what makes a game great? Silent Hill was not the first horror game or even the most famous, coming three years after Resident Evil, but it pushed […]
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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
The open-world game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim debuted in 2011 to critical acclaim, achieving perfect rating scores from many critics and earning several game-of-the-year awards. The sheer scale of the game’s open world, its beautiful […]
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Tokimeki Memorial
Konami’s Tokimeki Memorial brought a cohesive narrative, colorful graphics, unparalleled depth of choices, and engaging gameplay to the dating simulator genre after its launch in 1994. While it was never localized outside Japan, its impact on game design was widespread, paving […]
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