This year, six more well-loved games will be entered into the World Video Game Hall of Fame and among them is The Legend of Zelda. Occupying part of The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York, the Hall of Fame recognizes all types of video games that have kept their popularity over an extended period and that have had a considerable influence on the video game industry in one form or another.
The Legend of Zelda was originally released on the NES in 1986 and was a turning point in gaming as it used a non-linear gameplay style now prevalent in today’s games. The series’ popularity has consistently grown and has since spawned 17 titles (number 18 is due to come out in 2017 along with the Nintendo “NX” system.) making Link, Zelda, and Ganon household names.
Starting last year, the first “class” of games to enter the Hall of Fame were DOOM, Pong, Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros., Tetris, and World of Warcraft. This year, the finalists, selected by a committee of journalists, scholars, and video game industry members were The Legend of Zelda, Grand Theft Auto III, The Oregon Trail, The Sims, Sonic the Hedgehog and Space Invaders.
