Frogger and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Among Nominees for 2025 Video Game Hall of Fame Induction
By Image provided by Infinity Ward/Activision.
The Strong Museum has released its latest list of nominees for the Video Game Hall of Fame.
The 2025 nominees for category-defining games include the original Angry Birds, 2007’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, 1997’s Age of Empires, 1981’s Defender, along with Frogger, 007: GoldenEye, Harvest Moon, Golden Tee Golf, Tamagotchi, the revolutionary Quake, Mattel Soccer, and the pioneering NBA 2K.
Do any of these names ring a bell? It’s not surprising since Quake, NBA 2K, Angry Birds, GoldenEye, Call of Duty 4 and Age of Empires were part of the 2023 nominees. Last year, they all were unsuccessful against Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us (the original PlayStation 3 launch from 2013) and Barbie Fashion Designer.
Frogger was previously nominated in 2020, and Mattel Soccer in 2021.
New nominees for the Video Game Hall of Fame
Regarding the more recent nominees, the Strong Museum recognized all of them for their significant influence on the gaming industry. Defender is celebrated for demonstrating that “players would embrace more complex and challenging games in the arcade. […] It sold over 55,000 units—impressive numbers for an arcade machine—and paved the way for a new market for more difficult games.”
Meanwhile, Amccus’ Harvest Moon’s “innovative blend of life simulation, community-building, and in-game time management established the farming sim genre, influencing countless games such as Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, Farmville, and many others.” Tamagotchi was similarly acclaimed for initiating the pet simulation genre, “leading to new titles such as Neopets, Nintendogs, and numerous other social media and app-based games.”
Gamers can cast their votes for their favorite game from now until next Thursday, March 13. The museum will announce the inductees on Thursday, May 8.
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Contributing Editor, GameDeveloper.com
A Kansas City, MO native, Justin Carter has contributed to a truly impressive range of websites including IGN, Polygon, and SyFy Wire. Besides Game Developer, his writings can also be found at io9 on Gizmodo. Don’t ask him about how much gum he has chewed; the answer will likely be more than he’s willing to disclose.