Hmm… Good question… They’ll have to be the kind of videogame that was the first to do something, or set the standard for something, or has had a huge, long lasting cultural impact that can still be felt today.
So in that hypothetical museum I’d nominate:
Pong.
Tetris.
Donkey Kong arcade game.
Super Mario.
Super Mario 64.
Crash Bandicoot
Metroid (the first one).
Castlevania (the original one).
Hollow Knight.
Mario Kart.
The Legend of Zelda (the first one).
TES III Morrowind.
TES V Skyrim.
Doom (the original one).
Half Life.
Counter Strike (the original one).
Ultima.
Ultima Online.
Dune (the RTS game).
Warcraft.
World of Warcraft.
Age of Empires II, perhaps alongside the Definitive Edition.
This is a pretty solid list, but I’d try to bridge the gaps between older games and more modern ones, to show how things progressed. Essentially, you want each section of the museum to tell a story about how some critical building block of gaming was taken from concept to implementation.
I would actually include both the original Castlevania and Metroid then follow it up with Symphony of the Night. Show the original Castlevania game to establish the series, then show Metroid which has the exploration and backtracking with new abilities. Then show SOTN, which shows the combination of the two (effectively cementing the entire Metroidvania genre). Then show a game like Hollow Knight or Ori and the Blind Forest, which goes on to embody the genre several decades after it has been established.
Zelda is a good one, and I’d follow it up with something like Okami, which follows the same dungeon formula in a radically different setting and art style. Again, showing the genre’s establishment, then showing how it can be adapted.
For Final Fantasy, I’d also include FFX, which follows a very similar turn-based playstyle. Maybe include a Dragon Quest game somewhere in there too, as that series tends to stick to the same basic gameplay formula. Then I’d take it in a different direction and show something like Bravely Default, which is still technically turn-based, but also has additional elements layered on top.
I’d chase Super Mario 64 with something like A Hat In Time. Again, showing the establishment of the 3D platformer, then showing the elements in use elsewhere.
You have Ultima on here, which I agree with. But I’d probably break the display for it into two different halves: For the RPG half, I would include some more tabletop-inspired games here too, as the early game devs were largely tabletop game fans who were simply adapting their favorite games into digital settings. Games like Fallout 1/2, or Baldurs Gate. Maybe even show a modern game like Baldur’s Gate 3, to show how tabletop RPG mechanics can gracefully transition to digital games. Morrowind would also fit nicely here, but Skyrim is a little too far removed from old TTRPGs to be relevant to this section. Still important to have on the list, but I’d probably have it in a section dedicated to player-made mods.
For Ultima’s one-point-perspective dungeon-crawling, following it up with something like Persona Q or SMT: Strange Journey could be impactful to show how it was adapted to more modern games.
On the home-gamer gameplay side, this is a solid list. On the technology side, I think there’s even more that makes sense for a curated museum tour. There were big leaps made in arcade tech through the 80’s and 90’s that were pushing all manner of graphics and sound, head-and-shoulders above the previous generation.
Sega’s “super scaler” boards come to mind, allowing for games like Hang-on, Outrun, and After Burner. Digitized sound samples started with Sinistar and Tempest. Dragon’s Lair amazed everyone with an interactive LaserDisc experience. There were also notable forays into AR with Time Traveler, and VR with Virutality. Lastly, we have the fully-enclosed and immersive cockpit of early Battletech simulators.
Most of these I get, but idk about hollow knight unless it’s a part of the “Metroid/Castlevania” exhibit. It’s a good game but idk if it’s quite “museum” status.
It would be part of the Metroidvania section, because it’s probably one of the best modern takes on it, and it has and currently is spawning quite a number of copy-cats. So that would cover its cultural impact too.
I think the better question is what about games deserves to be in a general history museum? The advent and changes of technology and the implementation is far more important than the examples of it in use. There are very few games on their own that would qualify as “culturally impactful” to the greater world by their sheer existence. (Mario, Pokemon, and Tetris immediately come to mind).
If we are talking about a “video game museum/exhibit” then the list broadens a lot, but it’s less about the “what” and more the “why” that needs focused.
Unpopular opinion, I played Elden ring for close to 10 hours and hated it. Ugly game, saw nothing but barren wastelands, got extremely annoyed with the style of fighting and the repetitiveness. I think it’s by far one of the worst games I’ve ever played
I came here to say this exact same thing. Videogames are an art form, and the history of that art should be preserved, both the successes and the failures. People should be able to look back on what was a hit and what was flop, on the ideas that worked and the ones that didn’t, on the well made games and the badly made games. All of it matters, all of it is part of the same story.
Objects in museums don’t have to be there because of the art, but also cultural/historical significance. Elden Ring and the rest of Fromsoft’s Soulsborne games definitely deserve to be in a video game museum, like the MADE in Oakland, CA.
If I was reading a list of “games that should be in a museum,” and the author mentioned fucking DLSS as being an important factor, I would have exited the page immediately.
Dla mnie chyba najgorsze jest to, ze trafiaja tam na dozywocie. Wiec to jest jedna z nielicznych okazji kiedy mozemy sie dowiedziec o warunkach w srodku.
CECOT does not engage in rehabilitation. Few inmates have been released from the facility and authorities have stated in media statements that there are no plans to release any other prisoners.
It sucks. How it took the removable of porn games to make people care about the problem of payment processors. It’s nice to see people care about the problem, but still.
bin.pol.social
Aktywne