The Strong National Museum of Play (which has been running for 57 years now) has just revealed the latest batch of inductees to its Video Game Hall of fame. For 2026, Strong welcomes Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA International Soccer, and Silent Hill to its storied annals. Short blurbs explain why each game was chosen, though the overall mission statement for strong is to recognize “electronic games of all types that have enjoyed popularity over a sustained period and have exerted influence on the video game industry or on popular culture and society in general.”
Whether you like these games or not, it’s hard to deny that all four entrants have made a cultural impact. Angry Birds has kind of died down a little in recent times, but it was a mobile gaming phenomenon for the better part of a decade. It also received two Hollywood films with star-studded casts that made decent amounts of money. Silent Hill also fell out of favor for a bit, but has recently seen a resurgence with a new game, an acclaimed remake, and a new film.
Strangely, Dragon Quest might be on the downturn right now. Without a doubt one of the most important JRPGs ever made, Dragon Quest hasn’t been able to maintain its cultural dominance thanks to entries taking far too long to develop in modern times. FIFA, though, is a game where I can completely understand and even celebrate its inclusion, but is the one inductee that is effectively dead in modern culture. FIFA as an institution will never die, but with EA and FIFA unable to reach an agreement three years back, the gaming series is gone.
It’s fascinating to examine the history of games and how trends wind up dictating the direction future games go in. In a perfect world, the roots of Dragon Quest or Silent Hill wouldn’t have been lost, but then releasing the same exact thing over multiple decades would have likely not led to the same success we see today. At any rate, I agree with all of these selections and look forward to what 2027 will bring.
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
