2016
The 2016 class of inductees were selected by accomplished gamers, journalists and video game industry executives who have extensive knowledge of the achievements in gaming. There were three phases in the decision process: Open nomination, public and board input for narrowing down of the ballot and a final voting pool which decided which gamers, games, developers and industry leader would be inducted. The Community Action Award and Walter Day Lifetime Achievement Award were determined by open nominations and input from attendees of the Class of 2015 induction with the board selecting the inductees.
Best selling Indie game of all time – 60 million copies sold
First Release to public as a beta in 2009
Minecraft’s music and sound effects were produced by Daniel “C418” Rosenfeld
Mojang, Created by Markus “Notch” Persson
Microsoft bought Mojang for 2.5 billion dollars
Available on PC and all modern day consoles
As of 2014, Xbox 360 users spent 1.75 billion hours playing
“Rock the Rock” $25,000 SEGA World Champion as broadcast worldwide on
MTV in 1994, Hawaii State Nintendo Champion, NWC 1990 City Champion, &
many other titles.
– Designer/developer from age 14 at Atari Games/Tengen (“Primal Rage”
1&2), Capcom (“Street Fighter III 3s”/”Alpha 3”), BPS (“Tetris”
titles),etc. Currently developer on indie game “Strike Harbinger”.
– As a cosplayer, winner of over 40 awards at competitions and events.
– Classic Tetris World Championship eSports announcer since 2010; voice
of “Boom! Tetris for Jeff!”.
Chris Tang
– Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, currently resides in Phoenix, Arizona
– Favorite arcade games: Street Fighter II’ Turbo Hyper Fighting, Dance
Dance Revolution Extreme
– Favorite game console is the NEC PC Engine (TurboDuo)
Competition:
– Won the Hawaii State Nintendo Championships – his first competition –
in 1989.
– City Champion of Los Angeles in the Nintendo World Championships in
1990.
– Won 3rd place in the very first officially recognized Street Fighter
II Tournament, held on May 30, 1991 at Sunnyvale Golfland, the original
site of the eSports tournament series now known as “EVO”.
– Won the Sega World Championships “Rock the Rock” in 1994; $25,000
prize, televised internationally on MTV.
– Misc. Titles: 3-time CAX Street Fighter II Turbo Champion, winner of
Hawaii State Mortal Kombat & Mortal Kombat II Championships, 3rd place
E3 Street Fighter Alpha 2 Championship, winner of E3 Marvel Vs Capcom 2
Championship officiated by Walter Day, Working Designs Raystorm $10,000
high score contest winner, and many others.
– As a cosplayer, winner of over 40 awards at various events and
competitions including Best in Show at Wondercon and Best Craftsmanship
at Anime Expo.
Game Development:
– At 14, began working at Atari Games/Tengen on games such as “Gauntlet
IV”, “Rampart”, and the unreleased “Cyberstorm” for which he designed
the first use of a combo meter in a video game, which was copied by
Capcom and used in Super Street Fighter II and countless games since.
– Game Designer on “Primal Rage” and “Primal Rage II”, implementing game
play and characters, writing the lore and story for the franchise used
for action figures, books and comics.
-Worked at Capcom on fan-favorite hits such as “Street Fighter III: 3rd
Strike”, “Marvel Vs. Capcom 1”, “Rival Schools”, “Street Fighter Alpha
3″, “Tech Romancer” and others.
– Design Consultant for BPS/Blue Planet Software on various “Tetris”
titles.
Other:
– Featured in films such as the award-winning “Ecstasy of Order: The
Tetris Masters” and “Gamer Age”, and on the HBO TV series “Entourage”.
– Ongoing guest appearances at conventions and events, often speaking
and presenting on topics such as game development and the history of
competitive gaming.
– In 2016, invited to join the modern-day U.S. National Video Game Team
– a dream come true since reading of their adventures and positive
mission throughout the 80’s.
– eSports commentator: advisor and finals announcer of the Classic
Tetris World Championship since 2010, and the voice of the “BOOM! Tetris
for Jeff!” meme from the 2016 event with 6 million+ views.
– Currently an indie game developer: Senior Game Designer and Programmer
– working with other former Atari veterans on the upcoming game
code-named “Flight Armor Project: Strike Harbinger” for arcade, PC and
consoles.
Classic Arcade Player- Most notable for accomplishments regarding Joust
Pinball- achieved a top 1% World Ranking, Multiple Tournament Winner and Award Winning Restorer
Proclaimed by William’s: Joust World Champion for playing Joust 24 hours in 1982
First person to place 9999999 on an Arcade Machine in all 50 states
Over 170 Joust Machines played to 9999999
Guinness World Record Holder
Twin Galaxies World Record Holder
Highest 1st Man ever record on Joust 935,050
Twin Galaxies MAME World Record at “TG” Building on Joust 30th Anniversary
Twin Galaxies JROK multiple World Records
Twin Galaxies Walter day Trading Cards:
127# Joust Doubles Marathon Record with Steve Sanders
249# 50th Machine to 9999999 at NW Pinball
589# 100 Machines to 9999999 in 100 weeks- 1 Billion Points at the Williams Bldg.
695# ICON 2014- No one Beats Lonnie McDonald at Pin-Bot
905# Joust MAME WR – Gaming returns to Twin Galaxies Home
1442# ICON 2014 Appearance Card
1446# 50/50 1st-only person over 50 to play a 50 plus hours marathon- 52yrs 5m
2723# 50 states played to 9999999 / Dan Tearle Collection
2762# 150th machine 9999999 National VideoGame Museum Frisco TX
Current U.S. National VideoGame Team ® Member
USNVGT Joust Cut- Throat Tournament Winner
Great Memories:
So many-
- Having the Joust Development Team of Joust plus Steve Sanders, Mark Hoff and Walter together at Harry Carey’s in Chicago prior to the 100th Rollover at the WMS Building. It was a synergistic circle that completed a link for both Walter and I back to our Williams Electronics history in the early 80s
- Playing and Beating Joust creator John Newcomer
- Calling John Newcomer and Python Anghelo friends
- Meeting So many 80s Icons, Walter, Steve, Ben, Joel, Billy ……..etc
- Traveling the Country playing Joust and seeing others passion for Arcade
- Inspiring others to pursue unique greatness that sets them apart as Iconic
- Playing side by side with Steve Sanders for 15hours setting a World Record
- Video game designer, Screenwriter, Director, and Producer
- Founder and former Vice President of Konami Digital Entertainment
- Creator of Metal Gear Solid Franchise
- Other games include: Snatcher, Policenauts, Lunar Knights
2002 – Newsweek named Hideo as one of the top ten people.
2009 – Lifetime Achievement Award
2016 – Game Industry Icon Award
2016 – Game Industry Hall of Fame Award
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