Press Releases
The INTERNATIONAL VIDEO GAME HALL OF FAME is Proud to announce its INDUCTEES into the Class of 2022! Please share the fantastic news as we continue to honor some absolutely amazing individuals and outstanding innovation in gaming. Congratulations to all the inductees for this year’s well-deserving Class!
Click here for Child’s Play induction speech
Click here for Sid Meier’s acceptance speech
Click here for Tom Kalinske’s acceptance speech
Click here for Anderson Lawson accepting for Jerry Lawson
The 2017 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 a final vote by the IVGHOF Board of Directors. Two categories had ties this year and it was decided to induct both winners instead of narrowing it down to one person as both individuals are very deserving of being inducted.
We are pleased to announce the following individuals and video games are being inducted:
Golden Age Gamers
Rebecca Heineman won the National Space Invaders Championship, sponsored by Atari, in November 1980. She was the first person to ever win a national video game contest. In addition, Heineman is a video game programmer who was the founding member of Interplay Productions, Logicware and Contraband Entertainment. She has been affiliated with a number of other game companies and is currently CEO of Olde Sküül in Seattle.
Michael Klug, a Quality Assurance Manager, has worked for Atari, Konami and Namco.
After seeing his name in the Guinness World Records book for Pole Position 2, Atari called and offered him a job. Klug held the world record on Pole Position 2 – Fuji Track for 25 years. He achievement is listed as one of six “Records that may never be broken” for achieving a score of more than 60,000 points while playing Pole Position with his feet at the Twin Galaxies arcade in Ottumwa, IA. In addition, Klug has been named one of the top 100 players in North America by the Amusement Players Association.
Joel West was featured in the Chasing Ghosts Documentary and is a world record gamer who has a number of world records on games including Berzerk, Frenzy, Pole Position, Propcycle and more.
90’s eSports Competitor
Chris Ayra was a gaming legend long before most of today’s gamers were even born. As one of the original pillars of arcade gaming, Chris Ayra was the Guinness World Records Ms. Pac-Man champion for nearly 20 years. Good at nearly every game in the arcade, Chris led a core group of gamers who studied the dynamics of Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man and created the “grouping techniques” that were used to get to the final screens on these maze games. On February 16, 2000, Chris used these techniques to achieve a “perfect” Pac-Man score of 3,333,360 points.
2000’s eSports Competitor
Carrie Swidecki is a teacher from Bakersfield, California, who holds various dance game world records and encourages students to exercise through video games like Just Dance and in general. She holds multiple Guinness World Records, including “Longest marathon on a dance/ rhythm game” on Dance Dance Revolution, “longest marathon on a motion sensing dance game” on Dance Central 2, and in 2013 set records simultaneously for “longest marathon on a dance or rhythm game” and “longest marathon on a dance/rhythm game” by playing Just Dance for 49 hours, 3 minutes and 22 seconds. She is the only person in the world to hold a world record for marathon play on all three major dance games.
Justin Wong is a professional fighting game player who has won more Evolution Championship Series titles than anyone else and has eight titles in the Marvel vs. Capcom series as well as 1st place rankings in several other games through the years.
Golden Age Game – Donkey Kong
90s Era Game – Sonic the Hedgehog
2000s Era Game – Halo
Modern Age Game – Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild
Game Developer – Warren Davis
Warren Davis is best known for developing Q*bert, a classic arcade game. Other arcade games he worked on include, but aren’t limited to, Joust 2, Lotto Fun, Exterminator, Terminator 2 and Revolution X. He developed the video digitization system used in Williams/Midway video games starting in the late 1980s. For More on Warren click here!
Industry Leader – Howard Phillips
Howard Phillips is an American video game producer and consultant. He is best known as being the spokesperson for Nintendo of America in the 80s. Phillips career at Nintendo started out in the warehouse and he climbed the ladder becoming a Game Master, then the creator of the Nintendo Fan Club News and Nintendo Power. After leaving Nintendo, he worked for LucasArts, THQ and Microsoft before launching Howard Phillips Consulting and becoming a studio director of Chair Entertainment Group.
Community Action Award – ExtraLife
ExtraLife is an annual fundraising event, launched in 2008, which raises funds which go to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Each year gamers stream video games both as individuals and teams as part of a telethon-like event to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. In 2017, 50,000 gamers participated and raised more than 11 million dollars. 100% of all donations go directly to the hospitals.
Walter Day Lifetime Achievement Award
David Crane is one of the most experienced creators of video games in the world, with over 30 years of experience in video game creation, development, and
publishing. As an early Atari employee and founder of Activision, David was instrumental in launching the multi-billion dollar third-party video game software
industry. Since 2009 he has concentrated on publishing mobile games for the smartphone market, including the iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.
David is best known for his whimsical game play: finding amusing and compelling ways for the game player in all of us to interact with on-screen characters. Through boundless creativity, David’s characters are brought to life; from Pitfall Harry (in Pitfall!™ – the world’s first side-view Adventure game), or the chicken who crossed the road in Freeway!™, to the shape-changing, jellybean-eating blob from the vitamin-deficient planet of Blobolonia in A Boy and His Blob™.
Audiences continue to clamor for games from this legendary game creator. David’s games, regardless of platform, are magical, always challenging but never overtly violent, and the perfect combination of technical prowess and creative genius. As Tom Clancy pointed out in one of his Op-Center books, “you could always tell a David Crane game.”
David has published over 80 commercial products with revenues of over $400 million. Selected industry Awards include the 2010 Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Pioneer Award, the 2009 IGN.COM “Top 100 Game Creators of All Time”, the 2003 Game Developers Choice “First Penguin Award”, and the 1990 Parent’s Choice Award for A Boy and His Blob. – For More on David click here!
The induction ceremony for the class of 2017 will be held October 4-6 in Ottumwa, IA.
For more information: http://www.ivghof.info/
About the International Video Game Hall of Fame
Located in Ottumwa, Iowa, the International Video Game Hall of Fame is dedicated to honoring excellence in the field of electronic gaming by recognizing the champions, industries and professionals related to this popular activity. We will build and maintain a state-of-the art interactive facility containing historical archive exhibits describing the historic milestones of the video game industry, and preserve significant video gaming relics, memorabilia and artifacts of the times past and present.
Nominations are now open for four weeks, closing at 11:59 p.m. CST on Sept. 18, 2017.
Like last year, this is a three part process launching with the public nomination process. It will then be narrowed down by a private selection committee then a voting poll sent out to a larger voting group for final votes. This group will include individuals who submitted nominations from this year and last year, previous inductees, video game journalists, and gaming professionals.
Instructions on how many nominations for each category is available within the forms. If you provide more than the number requested, we will select the first 2-4 (depending on the amount limited to) from the names provided.
Users are encouraged to provide information as to why they feel an individual or game should be inducted, but are not required to do so.
Please note, unlike last year, this year there are three forms. We understand some people feel overwhelmed by the large form or that some people only want to submit for gamers or industry professionals or games because they feel they aren’t knowledgeable enough to submit for the other categories. The forms are broken down into the following categories – the pages are linked afterwards for ease of use.
- Video Game/eSports Competitors: http://www.ivghof.info/2017-international-video-game-hall-of-fame-nomination-form-for-video-gameesports-competitors/
- Video Games: http://www.ivghof.info/2017-international-video-game-hall-of-fame-nomination-form-for-video-games/
- Industry Professionals and Community Awards: http://www.ivghof.info/2017-international-video-game-hall-of-fame-nomination-form-for-industry-professionals-and-community-awards/
Additionally, unlike last year, a valid email address is required and you will receive a reply with your answers for who you nominated. If you do not provide a valid email address, you will not receive a final voting ballot as part of the third phase of deciding who is part of the Class of 2017.
If you would like to be considered for the private selection committee, please check yes and provide reasons, including industry accolades, to be considered. Not everyone who checks yes will be on the committee.
The information below covers the categories and number of inductees for each category as well as the process for this year’s class of inductees.
Categories, Criteria and Number of Recipients
Video Game Competitors
Individuals nominated should exemplify the best characteristics in gaming, including but not limited to:
- Convey sportsmanship in the community
- Made significant contributions to the community or industry
- Strong consideration given based on world records earned, significant achievements and promotion of the positive aspects of playing and/or creating games.
Subcategories include:
Golden Age Competitors
The 90’s (90 – 99)
The 2000’s (2000-2011)
Games
Golden Age Games
The 90’s (90 – 99)
The 2000’s (2000-2009) (1 inductee)
The 2010 to present (1 inductee)
Industry Professionals and Community Awards
Game Designer
Honoring individuals, companies, or organizations who have shaped the history of the global electronic gaming industry through their historic game creations or technological innovations. (1 Inductee)
Industry Leaders
Honoring individuals, companies, or organizations who have inspired the growth, vitality, and prosperity of the global electronic gaming industry through their business wisdom and creative vision. (1 Inductee)
IVGHOF Community Action Award
Presented to individuals who selflessly serve the global gaming industry through charitable activities while inspiring others to participate in harmonious community-building enterprises. (1 Inductee)
Walter Day Lifetime Achievement Award
Honoring individuals or organizations who have served the electronic gaming industry over the course of a long career, enriching the industry with their selfless contributions, strong leadership, and creative vision. The point of this award is that they have served for a long time, whereas the Community Action Award is directed at people who performed benevolent and charitable tasks during a recent small time period. (1 Inductee)
We look forward to receiving your nominations.
- Video Game/eSports Competitors: http://www.ivghof.info/2017-international-video-game-hall-of-fame-nomination-form-for-video-gameesports-competitors/
- Video Games: http://www.ivghof.info/2017-international-video-game-hall-of-fame-nomination-form-for-video-games/
- Industry Professionals and Community Awards: http://www.ivghof.info/2017-international-video-game-hall-of-fame-nomination-form-for-industry-professionals-and-community-awards/
**Note: an announcement regarding the 2016 Induction Ceremony will be made later this week.
The International Video Game Hall of Fame and Museum, located in Ottumwa, Iowa, the Video Game Capital of the World, is pleased to announce the Class of 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.
We are pleased to announce the following individuals and video games are being inducted:
Golden Age Gamers
Lonnie McDonald has a number of world records on Joust, was a U.S National Videogame Team member and has rolled over the score on a Joust machine in all 50 states.
90’s eSports Competitor
Chris Tang is an accomplished gaming tournament champion and game designer who is best known for winning the Sega World Champion competition on MTV and as a Nintendo World Championship City Champion. He was a designer and consultant for Sony and eBay in the past and is currently a Senior Game Designer on the “Stroke Harbringer” project.
2000’s eSports Competitor
Isaiah “TriForce” Johnson is an accomplished, record holding gamer and founder of Empire Arcadia, which holds the record for “most documented tournament wins for a gaming team.” Johnson has been a part of several gaming documentaries and recently retired from competitive gaming.
Golden Age Game
Super Mario Bros.
90’s Era Game
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
2000’s Era Game
World of Warcraft
Current Era Game
Minecraft
Game Developer
Hideo Kojima is a Japanese video game designer, director and producer who is best known for the Metal Gear series. He is the director of Kojima Productions and former vice president of Konami Digital Entertainment. He also directed or produced games in other series, including Zone of the Enders, Boktai, and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.
Industry Leader
Satoru Iwata was the fourth president and CEO of Nintendo and broadened the appeal of video games to a larger audience with the types of games he developed. He is most well known for working on the development of Pokemon and the Super Smash Bros. series. Satoru passed away July 11, 2015.
Community Action Award
Patrick O’Malley has been a force in planning gaming events, both large and small, which contribute to his local community and the gaming community as a whole. He has sponsored numerous events and fundraisers in support of gamers, industry pioneers and his community.
Walter Day Lifetime Achievement Award
Steve Wozniak has an incredible history as a competitive gamer, game designer and developer of the Apple computer which was a driving force in early gaming. Steve’s contributions as a competitive player, game developer and system designer set him apart as one of the most accomplished people in the history of gaming.
The induction ceremony will coincide with the annual ICON Trading Card Event to be held in Ottumwa, Iowa, in August 2017 with a date to be announced in the near future.
For more information: http://www.ivghof.info/
About the International Video Game Hall of Fame
Located in Ottumwa, Iowa, the International Video Game Hall of Fame and Museum is dedicated to honoring excellence in the field of electronic gaming by recognizing the champions, industries and professionals related to this popular activity. We will build and maintain a state-of-the art interactive facility containing historical archive exhibits describing the historic milestones of the video game industry, and preserve significant video gaming relics, memorabilia and artifacts of the times past and present.
The public is invited to submit names of individuals and games in a variety of categories for the 2016 Class of Inductees.
- Video Game Competitors
- Games
- Game Designers
- Industry Leader
- IVGHOF Community Action Award
- Walter Day Lifetime Achievement Award
Participants are also invited to provide information as to why the individual, game or company should be inducted into the International Video Game Hall of Fame.
The public nomination process is the first of three steps in deciding who is inducted into the 2016 IVGHOF Class.
After the public nomination process is completed, a selection committee will narrow down the names for each category to present to a final voting pool which will then determine the final list of inductees.
Nominations are open until 11:59 p.m. March 31.
Interested individuals can read about the Nomination and Induction Process here: http://www.ivghof.info/news/2016-nomination-and-induction-process/
Nominations can be made here: http://www.ivghof.info/2016-international-video-game-hall-of-fame-nomination-form/
The IVGHOF Board of Directors would like to thank everyone, in advance, for their submissions.
In 2010, the International Video Game Hall of Fame and Museum, located in Ottumwa, Iowa, the Video Game Capital of the World, announced and inducted its first class. At that time, 29 individuals and one video game were inducted into the IVGHOF. Now, five years later, the IVGHOF is pleased to announce the members of the 2015 class to be inducted at an event in 2016.
The 2015 class of inductees was selected by accomplished gamers, journalists and video game industry executives who have extensive knowledge of the achievements in gaming. We are pleased to announce the following individuals and video games are being inducted:
Gamers
Tim Balderramos, author of “The Perfect Game: Confessions of a Pac-Man Junkie,” holds the Pac-Man World Title, several other world records and is one of the top five Pac-Man players in the world. He retired from competitive gaming June 19, 2008.
Eric Ginner worked on a number of classic games for the Lynx. He also holds a handful of world records on different games
Steve Harris holds world records in Bega’s Battle, Red Alert and Wacko. He was the founding editor of Electronic Gaming Monthly Magazine.
Josh Jones is a notable gamer who was a consummate fundraiser for various causes who passed away unexpectedly this year
Tim McVey, subject of the Man vs. Snake documentary on Nibbler, was the first gamer to achieve a billion points on Nibbler and holder of several Nibbler world records
Thor Aackerland was the winner of the Nintendo World Championships in 1990. He holds two world records on Tetris.
Kat “Mystik” Gunn is a professional gamer and cosplayer who is known for winning the second season of WCG Ultimate Gamer on the SyFy Channel. She has been named the highest earning female gamer in the upcoming Guinness World Records Book Gamer’s Edition.
Game
Defender – Defender was one of the most important titles of the Golden Age, selling over 55,000 units and becoming one of Williams Electronics best selling game and highest grossing arcade game. Game development was led by Eugene Jarvis and was his first video game project.
Game Designer
Eugene Jarvis is a well known game designer and programmer who produced games for Atari, Williams Electronics and Midway Games. He co-founded Vid Kidz and currently runs his own development studio, Raw Thrills Inc. Jarvis was named the first Game Designer in Residence by DePaul University’s Game Development program in 2008.
Industry Leader
Gary Stern, CEO and founder of Stern Pinball, Inc., has grown up with the gaming industry. Stern Electronics was created by his father in 1977 and they created games Stampede and Rawhide. Stern Electronics created both video arcade and pinball machines. Their most popular game, Bezerk, was created in 1980. Stern worked at Stern Electronics before moving on to Data East/Sega before creating Stern Pinball, INc., in 1994. Stern has been a leader in the gaming industry through its ups and downs and his company continues to appeal to gamers worldwide.
Walter Day Lifetime Achievement Award
David Bishop, Executive Vice President of NAMCO, has been involved in the video game industry since 1981 when he joined Barrel of Fun, Inc. as Vice President Technical Services. He moved on to Atari Operations Inc., as Director Operations in 1987. In 1990 he joined NAMCO’s team and has served in a variety of positions in his tenure there. David has been an industry leader, helping to advance NAMCO and gaming with his skills. His most recent project, Level 257, is a prototype arcade featuring a unique dining, entertainment and social experience inspired by PAC-Man.
The induction ceremony will coincide with the annual ICON Trading Card Event to be held in Ottumwa, Iowa, in Summer 2016 with a date to be announced in the near future.
For more information: http://www.ivghof.info/
About The International Video Game Hall of Fame
Located in Ottumwa, Iowa, the International Video Game Hall of Fame and Museum is dedicated to honoring excellence in the field of electronic gaming by recognizing the champions, industries and professionals related to this popular activity. We will build and maintain a state-of-the art interactive facility containing historical archive exhibits describing the historic milestones of the video game industry, and preserve significant video gaming relics, memorabilia and artifacts of the times past and present.
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