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IVGHOF Nomination process

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.

  1. Video Game/eSports Competitors: http://www.ivghof.info/2017-international-video-game-hall-of-fame-nomination-form-for-video-gameesports-competitors/
  2. Video Games: http://www.ivghof.info/2017-international-video-game-hall-of-fame-nomination-form-for-video-games/
  3. 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.

  1. Video Game/eSports Competitors: http://www.ivghof.info/2017-international-video-game-hall-of-fame-nomination-form-for-video-gameesports-competitors/
  2. Video Games: http://www.ivghof.info/2017-international-video-game-hall-of-fame-nomination-form-for-video-games/
  3. 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.
ivghof-2016-processOTTUMWA, 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.
Gamers, industry professionals, developers and the voting public are invited, and encouraged, to submit names for the following categories:
  • 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.

ivghof-2016-processThank 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/

ivghof-2016-process

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/

ivghof-2016-processThe 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

It has been suggested that we open the nominations for the IVGHOF to the public via this website. The public will be provided with a form where they may suggest two names per category. This nomination process would run for four(4) weeks. Once the names are collected, the selection committee will compile and count entries for each name to narrow it down for the final voting pool.

Selection Process

The selection process is a two part process.
The first part would be the selection committee narrowing down the nominations to a set number of individuals per category.

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.

ivghof-2015-class-3

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.