Angry Birds, Frogger and others are finalists of the World Video Game Hall of Fame

Rochester, NY (AP) – This year's finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame include trail blazers in eSports, electronic pets and portable games as well as the Arcade favorite, which was brought to life in an episode of “Seinfeld” from 1998.

The Hall of Fame revealed the 12 finalists on Thursday for the introduction and opened a week of public vote. The winners will be anchored in Rochester in the new National Museum of Play on May 8 in the new area of ​​the Hall.

The 2025 finalists are: Age of Empires, Angry Birds, Call of Duty 4: Modern warfare, defender, frog gatherer, golden eye, golden t -shirt, Harvest Moon, Mattel Football, Quake, NBA 2K and Tamagotchi.

“This year's finalists include the decades and range from Arcade classics to one of the most popular mobile games of all time,” said Jon-Paul C. Dyson, director of the international center for the history of the electronic games of The Strong from Strong in a press release. “All of these games have influenced the pop culture or the game industry enormously.”

Mattel Football was released in 1977 and was the first electronic blockbuster handball. According to the hall, it paved the way for systems such as Nintendos Game Boy and today's mobile devices. Three decades later, mobile phones put another candidate in the hands of countless players. Rovios Angry Birds 2009 was downloaded billions of times and started films and goods.

According to the Hall of Fame, nominated: Golden Tea: Fore! Von Incredible Technologies, the Arcade Gulf Game of 1989, the continuation of which contained a version of 1995, made it possible for tournaments; Segas 1999 NBA 2K, which inspired a professional eSports League, and the tremor of ID software, one of the first eSports, whose 3D engine of the first person shooter became an industry standard.

Tamagotchi, which built a digital pet for its owner, received a nomination for bridging toys and video games in 1996. It was reborn as an app in 2013.

The nominees also include two Arcade games that were published in 1981: Defender from Williams Electronics, which, according to Hall of Fame, proven more complex and challenge games. and Frogger, developed by Konami. Frogger consolidated a place in the pop culture with an episode of “Seinfeld” in 1998, in which George navigated an arcade cabinet in Frogger-style across a busy road and imitated the frogs of the game.

Microsoft's Age of Empires from 1997 was the company's bestseller game at that time and is still played by millions around the world, said the Hall of Fame. Farming Game Harvest Moon, which was published in 1996, offered a peaceful alternative to the fighting and action games that dominated the industry – and of rare and Nintendo for other candidates Goldeneye 007 in 1997. and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the result of Activisions Hit franchise from 2007.

The World Video Game Hall of Fame receives thousands of nominations online for arcade, console, computer and handheld games every year. The employees select the finalists because of their durability, geographical reach and the influence on game design and pop culture. The delivered are then selected by an international expert committee in a ballot paper.

The three games that receive the most public voices count as a ballot in the last balance sheet. The public vote ends on March 13th.

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