Gestures broadly: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Video_Game_Hall_of_Fame

MechCommander (1998)

This is a more complex question than just "what is your favorite video game," or "what games do you consider works of art?"

If I'm putting a game in a museum, it's because there's something about it that warrants preservation on a greater level than other games. To that end, my candidates are

• Pong (1972)

The first commercially successful video game.

• Tetris (1985)

Arguably the most influential game of all time

• Rollercoaster Tycoon (1999)

Handcrafted in assembly, serves as a lesson both in optimization and harnessing the players' penchant for finding intrinsic value in simplistic game mechanics

Edit: I just realized this comment looks like an infernal machine wrote it. I want to make it clear that I'm a human, with skin and blood and stuff

The Museum of Modern Art in New York has some games in their permanent collection: Games in MoMA

Mario 3 Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time Minecraft Portal The original DOTA that was built on Warcraft 3 World of Warcraft

I choose these games not because they are good but because they had massive impacts on video games. Except for Mario 3, that ones just the GOAT.

"List all notable video game characters"

Oh cmon

Might as well ask someone to list the top songs of every year since the 80's.

Edit nvm it's not even characters, just games.

Pong is from like 1972.

Gris.

All of them.

Pong, Pac-man, OXO, Mystery House, Super Mario, Battlezone, Wolfenstein, Doom.

The classic pioneers.

Et for the Atari 2600

Doom OG

GTA 3

• Journey
• Shadow Of The Colossus
• Shenmue 1
• Half-Life 1 & 2

It depends on what your museum is trying to convey. If it's moments of gaming history and games and consoles of significance, I'd go with:

For the earliest video games, I'd show the Tennis for Two on the DuMont Lab Ocilloscope, released in 1958.

You should also include the life of Warren Robinett, because he was the first ever game programmer to receive in-game credit for a game he made, because Atari never gave their programmers credit, but he snuck one in as an easter egg. He then went on to found the Learning Company which made all those Reader Rabbit games.

For the Crash of 1983, you have to include ET for the Atari 2600 as the posterboy, but "Pitfall!" should also be included. Pitfall was a good game, but it was the breakout hit of Activision and therefore proof that third-party video games were viable, leading to the glut of video games which, in combination with ET being such a colossal failure, caused the crash.

For the resurgence after the crash, the Nintendo Entertainment System, but specifically the one that came with the little robot to help you play games. It's essential that you convey that Nintendo intended to sell it as a toy rather than a games console because the games market in the US had completely died in the crash, but the toy market was very much alive.

Half-life: Alyx

Sneak King

NFL 2K5. It would be a somber, warmly-lit memorial, a pedestal bearing a single copy of the (Xbox version of) the game, with a spotlight shining down on it from above as it rotated. An eternal flame, possibly several, burn nearby. The walls would be digital, montages of all the memories. There would be mournful orchestral music playing, heavy on the clarinets and oboes.

Do I only get to pick one?

If so, Prince of Persia.

Everything 1Upsmanship puts on their "Celestial Hard Drive".

Or, Minecraft.

Shadow of the Colossus is the first that comes to mind. I'd probably toss in Final Fantasy VII, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and DOTA 2 because I'm addicted to it

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.

Street Fighter, Mortal Combat, Sega Rally, Unreal and also Unreal Tournament

Sexy Beach 3

As in history, all of them
As in art?
Blasphemous.
La puta madre que belleza de juego.

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