Top ten videogames announced

Now that comics have earned mainstream respectability, can videogames be far behind?  Henry Lowood, curator of the History of Science and Technology Collections at Stanford University, is at the forefront of gaining recognition of this hobby and industry as having "a history worth preserving and a culture worth studying."

So last Thursday at the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Lowood, along with game designers Warren Spector and Steve Meretzky, academic researcher Matteo Bittanti and game journalist Christopher Grant, announced the committee’s list of the 10 most important videogames of all time.  For the final list, see below.

The list ranges chronologically from 1962 (!) through 1994, and was closely modeled on the work of the National Film Preservation Board, which every year compiles a list of films to be added to the National Film Registry.  So expect a lot more additions in the future of this still-nascent industry — a future that looks brighter and more competitive every day, reports the BBC in this article about the stiff competition of talent trying to break into game designing.  And you thought getting into comics was hard!

The Top 10 Most Important Videogames of All Time

Spacewar! (1962)

Star Raiders (1979)

Zork (1980)

Tetris (1985)

SimCity (1989)

Super Mario Bros. 3 (1990)

Civilization I/II (1991)

Doom (1993)

Warcraft series (beginning 1994)

Sensible World of Soccer (1994)