- Opened Star Worlds Arcade in 1985
- Founded the longest original arcades in the world.
- Contributor to such events as MGC and IVHGOF
- Runs one of the only remaining token based arcades
- Service over 45 different locations with arcade machines
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
On November 11, 2017, Isaiah TriForce Johnson was inducted into the International Video Game Hall of Fame as a member of the IVGHOF Class of 2016. Isaiah TriForce Johnson is an accomplished leader in the global eSports community and industry. He is the Founder and CEO of the eSports team Empire Arcadia. His team was recognized by Guinness World Records as the “Most Documented Tournament Winning” eSports team in the world. He retired from the competitive field as a pro player in 2015 at the Cyberbox eSports League after winning 20 straight tournaments with no losses. His winning streak tallied his team’s 2,000th tournament victory, a fact noted by Guinness World Records. He has over 30 world records on the Twin Galaxies Scoreboard and 8 Guinness World Records in gaming. Despite his accomplishments in the competitive arena, TriForce is most recognized for his efforts in preserving eSports history along with developing platforms for its community and industry’s future. TriForce is one of the few players who has been a champion in both the classic and modern eras of eSports — a career that spans its 35+ year history to date. He uses his influence and resources to help promote the true origins of eSports, such as it’s birthplace in Ottumwa Iowa. TriForce continues his work to connect eSports’ past infrastructure to it’s modern industrial revolution and spreads that history throughout other regions of the world, such as Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa. Triforce has devoted the next chapter of his gaming career to educating the world about eSports’ three-decade-old history and who he claims to be its foudning Father, Walter Day.
- Founder and CEO of the eSports team Empire Arcadia
- World Record of 2,000 Team Victories for the Empire
- He retired as pro player in 2015
- Known to be first in line for new Nintendo Products
- 30 World Records on the Twin Galaxies Scoreboard
- 8 Guinness World Records in gaming
- Continues eSports in other areas such as Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa.
- In 1980, worked at HAL Laboratory as a part-time programmer.
- In 2000, became head of Nintendo’s corporate planning division.
- In 2011, created the Nintendo Online Press conference, Nintendo Direct
- Helped develop Pokémon Gold and Silver
- Assisted in the development of Super Smash Bros for N64
- Headed Nintendo team to create the Nintendo DS.
- Pushed development to create the Nintendo Wii.
- Lifetime Achievement Award at 2015 Golden Joystick Awards and the 2016 DICE Awards
The public is invited to submit names of individuals and games in a variety of categories for the 2016 Class of Inductees.
OTTUMWA, Iowa – March 21, 2016 – The International Video Game Hall of Fame and Museum would like to remind the voting public that time is still available to submit nominations 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.
Thank you to everyone who has submitted their nominations for the 2016 International Video Game Hall of Fame Class. We appreciate the time and effort everyone has taken thus far to submit names of individuals and games as well as reasons these should be inducted.
Since nominations are still coming in, we are extending the submission period until 11:59 p.m. March 31, 2016.
We appreciate any sharing of this announcement with others to encourage them to submit their answers.
We would also like to note, if you do not have an answer to some of the required blanks, please put an answer of “No response” or “n/a” in the field and submit as normal.
You can view previous induction classes at the links below:
Class of 2010: http://www.ivghof.info/classes-of-inductees/class-of-2010/
Class of 2015: http://www.ivghof.info/classes-of-inductees/class-of-2015/
Individuals who were inducted in previous years are not eligible for induction a second time unless they qualify for the Community Action Award or Walter Day Lifetime Achievement Award.
Nominations can be made here: http://www.ivghof.info/2016-international-video-game-hall-of-fame-nomination-form/
As mentioned in the 2016 Nomination and Induction Process article, nominations are now open for four weeks, closing at 11:59 p.m. on March 7, 2016.
Instructions on how many nominations for each category is available within the form. 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.
Nominations can be made here: http://www.ivghof.info/2016-international-video-game-hall-of-fame-nomination-form/
The International Video Game Hall of Fame and Museum are pleased to announce that we will be opening up nominations to the public as part of the 2016 Nomination Process.
On Feb. 8 we will post a link to a form for nominations. Nominations will be open for a month before moving on in the process outlined below.
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 (2 inductees between 1970s – 1989)
- The 90’s (90 – 99) (1 inductee)
- The 2000’s (2000-2011) (1 inductee)
Games
- Golden Age Games (1 inductee 1970s – 1990)
- The 90’s (90 – 99) (1 inductee)
- The 2000’s (2000-2009) (1 inductee)
- The 2010 to present (1 inductee)
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)
Nomination Process
Selection Process
This narrowed down list would be posted to the website with a bio for each nominee.
The second part is where a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) would be sent to potential voters who are selected by the IVGHOF selection committee to place their vote on who gets inducted for each year. Voters will be selected each year by the selection committee and are subject to change. Voters are not allowed to disclose that they participated in voting on who is inducted into the IVGHOF. Any revelation they were involved would remove them from future opportunities. Numbers of voting groups may vary from year to year and those in the pool may change from year to year and will include, but are not limited to, past inductees of the IVGHOF, video game journalists, and gaming professionals. They would have 2 weeks to vote.
Once the votes are in, the majority vote (or two majority votes) wins for the categories depending on the number of inductees for each category.
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.