A committee of journalists, scholars and video game industry members has inducted Super Mario Bros. into the new World Video Game Hall of Fame in the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York. The original game for the Nintendo Entertainment System is one of six inductees in this inaugural class.

The World Video Game Hall of Fame recognizes electronic games that meet the following criteria: icon-status, longevity, geographical reach and influence. This year marks the 30^th anniversary of the long-running franchise. To evolve the series like never before, Nintendo is launching Mario Maker, a game for the Wii U console that lets players play, create and share their own Super Mario Bros. levels using four Super Mario Bros. game themes – from the 8-bit pixel art of the original game to the world and characters of New Super Mario Bros. U.

The committe also inducted Pong, Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros., Tetris, Doom, and… World of Warcraft? Yes, you read that right, World of Warcraft made in into the first class of inductees. Look, I have nothing against WoW, and it did change the face of the MMO, but it hardly deserves the spot in the first class. I can call back to Ultima Online to having a objectively bigger impact of the MMO long before WoW was even a thing. Even then, the list of groundbreaking games that were glossed over gives me pause over this organization. It sort of feels like they had to throw a bone to a game series that modern kids would know to get their interest. Still, at least Super Mario Bros. made the list, even though WoW has no place alongside it in the first class of inductees.

For more information about the World Video Game Hall of Fame, visit http://www.worldvideogamehalloffame.org/.

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J. Luis

J. Luis is the current Editor-In-Chief here at GAMbIT. With a background in investigative journalism his work encompasses the pop-culture spectrum here, but he also works in the political spectrum for other organizations.

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