Why don't video games have an equivalent to the National Film Registry

This is something I'm curious about. Is it because of the whole "Are Video Games high art" debate? Or is it because old people (the people in our government) generally don't play video games?

And a second question, if we did get a VG equivalent to the Nation Film Registry, what games would you induct? (up to Gamecube/Ps2 era)

I would induct: Super Mario Bros. (1985), Castlevania (1986), The Legend of Zelda (1987), Metroid (1987), Mega Man (1987), Contra (1988), Mega Man 2 (1989), Ninja Gaiden (1989), Super Mario Bros. 3 (1990), Mega Man 3, Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse (1990), Final Fantasy (1990), Super Mario World (1991), Sonic the Hedgehog (1991), Super Castlevania IV (1991), Final Fantasy IV (1991), Street Fighter 2 (1991), The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1992), Super Mario Kart (1992), Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992), TMNT IV: Turtles in Time (1992), Mortal Kombat (1992), Starfox (1993), Sonic CD (1993), Secret of Mana (1993), Mega Man X (1993), Sonic 3 and Knuckles (1994), Donkey Kong Country (1994), Super Metroid (1994), Final Fantasy VI (1994), Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995), Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995), Chrono Trigger (1995), Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996), Super Mario 64 (1996), Resident Evil (1996), Crash Bandicoot (1996), Ni GHTS...into Dreams (1996), Goldeneye 007 (1997), Final Fantasy VII (1997), Starfox 64 (1997), Mario Kart 64 (1997), Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (1997), The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998), Metal Gear Solid (1998), Grim Fandango (1998), Star Wars Rogue Squadron Trilogy (1998, 2001, 2003), Super Smash Bros. (1999), Sonic Adventure (1999), Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (2000), Shenmue (2000), Jet Set Radio (2000), Perfect Dark (2000), Conker's Bad Fur Day (2000), Sonic Adventure 2(2001), Halo: Combat Evolved (2001), Grand Theft Auto 3 (2001), Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001), Pikmin (2001), Metroid Prime (2002), The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (2003), Knights of the Old Republic (2003), Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004), Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004), Halo 2 (2004), Star Wars Battlefront 2 (2005), Resident Evil 4 (2005)

edited 21st Apr '14 1:50:07 PM by powerpuffbats

I don't exactly know what the National Film Registry is, but consider for a moment how many of those are imports.

1. There's no National Video Game Registry because nobody but us takes it seriously as a medium yet.

2. Rethink your list. A lot if not most of that's Fan Myopia.

Going from just what you have, I'd severely pare down the list to:

• Super Mario Bros. (1985) — Singlehandedly rescued the entire medium from the 1983 crash.
• The Legend of Zelda (1987) — Popularized the Adventure genre.
• Super Mario Bros. 3 (1990) — Considered one of the greatest platformers ever made (if the infinite rereleases are any indication)
• Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) — Started the first Console Wars.
• Street Fighter 2 (1991) — Popularized the Fighting genre and remains influential today.
• Mortal Kombat (1992) — Sparked one of the biggest media-based debates of all time and almost killed the genre.
• Super Mario 64 (1996) — Popularized the 3D game and still considered influential.
• Goldeneye 007 (1997) — Considered one of the best multiplayer games of all time.
• Final Fantasy VII (1997) — Popularized the RPG genre and led more people to recognize the video game as a storytelling medium.
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998) — Considered to have one of the best, most lasting stories of any game and repeatedly is cited as one of the best of all time.

Also, you forgot... a lot.

• Tic Tac Toe (1952) — The first video game.
• Spacewar! (1969) — The first computer game.
• Pong (197?) — Popularized the arcade and placed Atari on the map.
• Space Invaders (19??) — Popularized the arcade (to the point of causing a worldwide coin shortage), and introduced the concept of varying difficulties (albeit by accident).
• The Magnavox Odyssey and its attached games (1971) — The first home console.
• R.O.B. (198?) — While not having good games in itself, it was historically significant as a Trojan Horse ploy to get toy stores to stock video games again after the Crash.
• Tetris (Game Boy version) (1991) — Brought the handheld game out as a force in the market.
• DOOM (199?) — Popularized the First Person Shooter and sparked an intense debate due to its involvement in the Columbine attacks on whether media can influence ones' decisions.
• Pokémon Red and Green (1996) — Started a worldwide craze that led it to produce the second-bestselling game franchise of all time.

And yes, I do know I forgot others.

edited 21st Apr '14 4:21:43 PM by BaffleBlend

Also, you have MGS 1 and Snake Eater, but not Sons of Liberty? FOR SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME.

edited 21st Apr '14 4:09:43 PM by EvaUnit01

Baffle: Have you taken a look at the actual National Film Registry? There's some inclusions in it that are absolutely baffling. Let's look at 1982, shall we?

The movies in the NFR that were released in 1982 are: Blade Runner, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Tootsie, and...Chan is Missing. One of these things is not like the other, much?

With that in mind, I think a lot of his list is actually acceptable. I wouldn't include all of those, personally, but a lot of them could feasibly stay.

Here's my edit of the presented list. Removed games are at the bottom of the post for easy comparison, and additions are in bold. Additions are based on inspiration from the list itself. If I had time to search for wholly new things to add to it, I would. Cut-off for me was pre-New '10s.

• Pong (1972)
• Space Invaders (1978)
• Super Mario Bros. (1985)
• Castlevania (1986)
• Dragon Warrior (1986)
• The Legend of Zelda (1986)
• Metroid (1986)
• Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (1987)
• Contra (1987)
• Final Fantasy (1987)
• Maniac Mansion (1987)
• Dragon Warrior III (1988)
• Mega Man 2 (1988)
• Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)
• Tetris (1989)
• Mega Man 3 (1990)
• The Secret of Monkey Island (1990)
• Super Mario World (1990)
• Final Fantasy IV (1991)
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1991)
• Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991)
• Mortal Kombat (1992)
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992)
• Super Mario Kart (1992)
• Day of the Tentacle (1993)
• Donkey Kong Country (1994)
• Final Fantasy VI (1994)
• Super Metroid (1994)
• Chrono Trigger (1995)
• Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995)
• Crash Bandicoot (1996)
• Pokemon Red and Green (1996)
• Resident Evil (1996)
• Super Mario 64 (1996)
• Tomb Raider (1996)
• Final Fantasy VII (1997)
• Goldeneye 007 (1997)
• Star Fox 64 (1997)
• Banjo-Kazooie (1998)
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
• Metal Gear Solid (1998)
• Resident Evil 2 (1998)
• Tekken 3 (1998)
• Shenmue (1999)
• Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000)
• Final Fantasy X (2001)
• Grand Theft Auto III (2001)
• Halo: Combat Evolved (2001)
• Silent Hill 2 (2001)
• Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader (2001)
• Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001)
• The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2002)
• Metroid Prime (2002)
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003)
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004)
• Halo 2 (2004)
• Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004)
• Resident Evil 4 (2005)
• Wii Sports (2006)
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007)
• God of War II (2007)
• Super Mario Galaxy (2007)
• BioShock (2008)
• Fallout 3 (2008)
• Assassin's Creed II (2009)
• Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009)
• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009)

• Mega Man (1987)
• Ninja Gaiden (1988)
• Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse (1989)
• Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
• Super Castlevania IV (1991)
• TMNT IV: Turtles in Time (1992)
• Star Fox (1993)
• Sonic CD (1993)
• Secret of Mana (1993)
• Mega Man X (1993)
• Sonic 3 and Knuckles (1994)
• Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995)
• Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996)
• Ni GHTS...into Dreams (1996)
• Mario Kart 64 (1996)
• Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (1997)
• Grim Fandango (1998)
• Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (1998)
• Sonic Adventure (1998)
• Super Smash Bros. (1999)
• Jet Set Radio (2000)
• Perfect Dark (2000)
• Conker's Bad Fur Day (2001)
• Sonic Adventure 2 (2001)
• Pikmin (2001)
• Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike (2003)
• Star Wars Battlefront 2 (2005)

3 very influential MMO's that should probably be added:

• Ultima Online - 1997
• Everquest - 1999
• World of Warcraft - 2004

I forgot to add Pokemon Gen 1 to that list, actually, thanks for putting it in yours!

I'd keep Sonic 1 (it started the Console Wars with Mario World), Sonic 3 and Knuckles (because it was two games combined into one), Turtles in Time (it is one of the few good licensed games), Sonic Adventure series ( as they were legendary for their time), DKC 2 (added onto what made DKC so good), and Starfox (was one of the first 3D games)

Actually, I'll say that all of our choices are good! Keep adding if you think of more titles

edited 21st Apr '14 6:17:18 PM by powerpuffbats

Any list like this that isn't researched properly is going to be let down by Fan Myopia and a lack of knowledge of the medium's history. For example, I see Bio Shock on that list but no Ultima Underworld. You're going to end up with a lot of famous but highly derivative games unless you go back a couple decades and see where those newer games got their ideas from in the first place.

Yeah, I tried to keep my list to just the absolutely unambiguous things that most people know are historically significant, because I don't know everything.

Things like the older Final Fantasy installments kinda' flew under the general public's radar until VII came along, and things like Castlevania and Banjo-Kazooie, while good games, didn't really do anything, to my knowledge.

edited 21st Apr '14 6:29:18 PM by BaffleBlend

I'd rather list games for their importance in terms of their gameplay and what they did for the medium, rather than popularity. Even if Bio Shock is more widely known today than Ultima Underworld, the former simply would not exist if it weren't for the latter. Otherwise it just devolves into a popularity contest.

Yeah, it goes without saying that my list was nowhere near complete.

I wonder if any of us have a complete list. Like mine is missing stuff like Doom and Duke Nukem.

edited 21st Apr '14 6:59:25 PM by powerpuffbats

people still believe this?

Super Mario Bros. is the video game that saved the industry. Though it was helped by R.O.B

Actually, it only saved the medium in the US, Japan never had the crash.

edited 21st Apr '14 7:21:16 PM by powerpuffbats

The movies in the NFR that were released in 1982 are: Blade Runner, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Tootsie, and...Chan is Missing. One of these things is not like the other, much?

I've never heard of Chan is Missing but apparently it was critically acclaimed.

Talby: I specifically said I wasn't doing extensive research. I was mostly just going off of the top of my head.

However, it's not like the actual National Film Registry is any different. Raiders of the Lost Ark is on the list, despite none of the serials that inspired it being present. It's not about looking for the origins of ideas. It's just a collection of films that are considered to be worth preserving in the Library of Congress.

Personally, I think that all films and video games are worth preserving, but that's beside the point of the list.

EDIT: For the record, I initially did try to put together a more complete list, but I ended up with like, 20 arcade games before I even got to consoles. Not worth the effort.

edited 21st Apr '14 7:34:38 PM by BadWolf21

And A New Hope is in that list too, and NONE of the Flash Gordon serials are listed, even though they inspired Star Wars.

Well, if people insist on bringing "Fan Myopia" into this, then nothing is notable at all. Not every man, woman, and child has heard of Super Mario Bros, therefore nobody has and it's not worth recognition. Topic over.

That said, the film medium is officially recognized as proper Art with a capital "A". Video games are not. That's the thing I really disliked about Roger Ebert. The man was very much a true authority on movies, yet had his head up his ass about video games not being art.

edited 21st Apr '14 8:47:15 PM by Rotpar

Honestly, I'd add stuff like Deus Ex, both System Shocks, Human Revolution (no, really), Bio Shock Infinite, and even Skyrim, but yes, maybe Fan Myopia would cause issues. But isn't all art subjective anyway?

A few I'd include.

Marathon: Set the foundation for Halo to revolutionize the FPS and for having a ridiculously analyzable and complex plot that has fansites still making new discoveries about it 20 years later.

Nintendogs: Like Wii Sports, it revealed the creative potential of its hardware and the new genres available for games.

Odama: Nothing says humanity still isn't out of ideas like this game.

Team Fortress 2: Went the opposite of Real Is Brown and Darker and Edgier direction of FPSs and has mined community interaction with the free-to-play system and cosmetic and weapon submissions, to the point that Valve has paid out $400,000 total to the submitters in a single year.

edited 13th May '14 6:02:48 PM by Tuckerscreator

Mech Warrior: Probably one of, if not the first times a notable board game got a licensed game based off of it that mimicked the original game, one of the first mecha games, probably the original Mecha Simulator, started a legacy of its own, and paved the way for two-to-four different development houses.

Dune II: Basically codified the Real-Time Strategy and was a big break for Westwood Studios, responsible for Command And Conquer.

Civilization and Sim City also would likely go on there.

edited 22nd Apr '14 1:07:32 AM by RocketDude

I'd like to throw either Daggerfall, Morrowind, or Oblivion on there. Either way, The Elder Scrolls are an incredibly influential series. I don't want to put Skyrim on the list because it's so recent and thus did not influence anything. Also, shouldn't we keep the Film Registry's ten-years rule? As in, nothing released less than ten years before this year.

The National Film Registry was also created when film as a medium was already 90 years old. Video games, using Computer Space as a starting point (as it was the first video game that was available to the public), have only been around for less than half of that.

I limited myself to pre-2010.

My suggestions, limiting myself to games that haven't been already suggested:

• Earthbound, Okami, Psychonauts, Shadow Of The Colossus and Beyond Good And Evil: Quintessential cult classics that are frequently brought up on Best Game Ever lists, despite their relative obscurity.
• Parappa The Rapper: The first music game.
• Asuras Wrath: A rare example of an interactive movie done right, although it's more like an interactive shounen anime.
• Legacy Of Kain: One of the first games alongside Metal Gear Solid to prioritise quality voice acting.
• Spider Man 2: One of the greatest film tie in games ever made, and one of the best superhero games until the Batman Arkham games came out.
• Resident Evil R Emake: One of the first major video game remakes, and the one to make the biggest changes from the original, adding new characters, plots and levels.
• Little Big Planet and Minecraft: Games built around the gimmick of user-created content.
• Wii Sports and Wii Fit: With the Wii, Nintendo ushered in a new wave of casual gaming, opening up a figurative Pandora's Box. These two games are the best representation of that.
• Angry Birds: Angry Birds did for smartphones what Wii Sports and Wii Fit did for consoles - bring in a lot of new players.
• The Sims: The game that allowed us to play God. Whether we looked after our sims properly, or locked them all in a room and took away the doors, we could unleash our inner control freak.
• The Walking Dead and The Last Of Us: Games that emphasise story and the development of characters and their relationships.

edited 23rd Apr '14 1:05:36 AM by GavsEvans123

I'd like to see more adventure games included: the Gabriel Knight series, Myst (at the least the first game), perhaps the long-running Kings Quest series and maybe the Quest For Glory series come to mind offhand.