In one of those “Didn’t they already do this?” moments, Ed Boon and John Tobias’ classic fighter Mortal Kombat was inducted yesterday into the World Video Game Hall of Fame. Alongside Mortal Kombat, the Commodore 64’s Colossal Cave Adventure, Nintendo’s Super Mario Kart, and the ever-present Microsoft Windows version of Solitaire were also inducted.
The 2019 inductees were honored for their “impacts on video gaming and pop culture”, as well as their popularity over time and across the world.
It’s quite a change from 1992, when MK was the target of parents and the US government for its over-the-top violence and bloodletting. Sen. Joseph Lieberman at the time was the main critic of the game, who also led the charge during the congressional hearings on video game violence.
The hearings, which had Sega and Nintendo trading barbs with each other over each others’ perceived lack of proper oversight when it came to allowing certain games on their systems, paved the way for the industry to create the Entertainment Software Rating Board in 1994 to assign age ratings to games. The creation of the ESRB also led to other countries adopting similar ratings boards for their video games.
In a press release, Digital Games Curator Andrew Borman stated that “[b]eyond its controversial content and role in triggering debate about the role of violent video games in society, Mortal Kombat’s compelling gameplay, iconic characters and many sequels have kept players coming back again and again.”
The World Video Game Hall of Fame is housed at The Strong Museum in Rochester, New York, and recognizes individual electronic games of all types, including arcade, console, computer, handheld and mobile. The 4-year-old hall chooses inductees with input from journalists, scholars and others with video game expertise.
Mortal Kombat was inducted into the Video Game Hall of Fame today.
🙏We are very honored 🙏https://t.co/80XKRKgfoj— Ed Boon (@noobde) May 2, 2019
