The nominees for induction into the World Video Game Hall of Fame in 2025 have been revealed, with an eclectic group of games chosen for voting. Each year, the organisers behind the Hall of Fame nominate a range of video games (including arcade games, mobile games, and electronic toys) for potential induction, with the final choices made by public voting, as well as the opinions of a jury of experts.
This year, the nominees for induction are: Age of Empires, Angry Birds, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Defender, Frogger, GoldenEye, Quake, NBA 2K, and three electronic toys – Tamagotchi, Golden Tee Golf, and Mattel Football. Each has been chosen for their cultural and technological significance, and they all represent milestone achievements for games, as a whole.
“This year’s finalists span the decades and range from arcade classics to one of the most popular mobile games of all time,” Jon-Paul C. Dyson, director of The Strong National Museum of Play’s International Center for the History of Electronic Games said in a press release. “All of these games have enormously influenced pop culture or the game industry itself.”
The choices here represent a range on unique eras in gaming. Angry Birds should rightfully be lauded as a gateway for casual mobile gaming. NBA 2K represents the very beginning of a now-monolithic basketball game franchise. Age of Empires, meanwhile, is just about the coolest and most approachable strategy game of its era.
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The inclusion of three electronic toys is also very notable. While they’re not strictly video games in the traditional sense, all offer miniature handheld games, with player input required. Golden Tee allows you to play a portable version of golf. Mattel Football is a similar, but much older device that allows you to play a basic game of (American) football against a CPU opponent.
Tamagotchi, meanwhile, was a revolution for kids of the late 1990s and early 2000s. This device could arguably fit into the early “cosy game” category, as it allowed users to raise and rear a creature from a baby stage to adulthood. For kids of this era, it’s one of the most influential and nostalgic toys, and for that reason, it carries a great deal of cultural significance.
For now, none of the games nominated are guaranteed a spot – but if you feel particularly passionate about one game or another making it into the official World Video Game Hall of Fame 2025 cohort, to be put on display at The Strong National Museum of Play, public voting is now open.
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