Inducted 2024
In the early 1980s, Hasbro secured the rights to Japanese toymaker Takara’s Diaclone and Micro Change line of shape-changing robot toys. Hasbro developed the toys for a U.S. audience and in 1984 premiered Transformers with an elaborate backstory about a war between robots developed by Marvel Comics. The characters split into two fractions: the heroic Autobots—peaceful transport vehicles led by Optimus Prime—facing against the villainous Megatron and his Decepticons. Each of the figures issued in 1984 had its own […]
My Little Pony
Inducted 2024
Hasbro based My Little Pony on their earlier My Pretty Pony. At about 11 inches high, My Pretty Pony was made of hard plastic and came in one color—brown with a white blaze. What made it a little bit endearing was the trigger beneath its chin that twitched its ears, winked its eyes, and swished its tail.
In 1983, Hasbro trotted out My Little Pony, six little pastel horse figures, each made of a soft vinyl with a silky mane […]
Ultima
Inducted: 2024
Ultima: The First Age of Darkness designer Richard Garriott seemed almost destined to create immersive video game worlds. The son of a professional artist and a NASA astronaut who had spent 60 days on the Skylab space station, Garriott grew up in a community of engineers and scientists who, like his father, worked at the Johnson Space Center near Houston, TX. As a boy, Garriott began making immersive Halloween and other holiday displays after entering a recreated witch’s chamber […]
SimCity
Inducted: 2024
Simulations are some of the oldest forms of video games, but few have had the popularity, influence, or staying power of SimCity.
The germ of the idea for SimCity came from designer Will Wright’s earlier work on the game Raid on Bungeling Bay (1984), in which he found playing with the map editor he made as much fun as playing the game itself. Fueled by an interest he developed in the ways cities grow and evolve—and the impact city planning […]
Resident Evil
Inducted: 2024
Although not the first horror-themed video game, Resident Evil (or Biohazard as it was known in Japan) was the first game to popularize what game publisher Capcom called the “survival horror” genre. Created by game director Shinji Mikami and released in 1996, Resident Evil’s combination of cheesy B-movie dialogue, engrossing gameplay, and chilling suspense made it a favorite of gamers searching for more mature video games.
In 1993, Capcom producer Tokuru Fujiwara tasked Mikami with remaking the company’s 1989 […]
Myst
Inducted: 2024
Most games reward action, but Myst was something altogether different. The brainchild of brothers Robyn and Rand Miller, it gave players the chance to explore a haunting world in order to decipher the mystery behind its creators. Featuring more than 2,500 beautiful, evocative screens, it boasted a level of depth and immersion never before seen in computer games.
In the 1990s, consoles dominated the video game market but as it turned out 1993 was an annus mirabilis (wonderful year) […]
Asteroids
Inducted: 2024
In 1978, Taito/Midway’s Space Invaders filled Japanese and North American arcades, knocking Atari off its throne as the king of coin-operated video games. Atari could have capitalized on the Space Invaders craze by producing yet another clone, but when Atari executive Lyle Rains discussed with designer Ed Logg his idea for a new and different space-themed video game, they planted the seeds for one of the most popular video games of all time, Asteroids.
Released in November of 1979, […]
Phase 10
Inducted 2024
Black inventor and Detroit native Ken Johnson designed his first game, Dice-Baseball, when he was just 12. At 19, he decided to go into business for himself after being laid off from his welding job at the Ford Motor Company. Johnson partnered with retailer Kmart to sell an updated version of Dice-Baseball, but the game ultimately fell short of sales expectations. Undeterred, Johnson began work on what would become a far greater success: the card game Phase 10. Phase […]
