The Game Boy was inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame in what has to be a huge honor for Nintendo in recognition of the cultural impact of world’s most popular handheld system of all time.
Joining the Game Boy for 2009 were also two more ancient “toys”, these include “The Ball” (in all it’s forms) and the “Big Wheel”.
According to the Strong National Musuem Toy Hall of Fame, the Game Boy was chosen because it was “an innovator and changed the way people play electronic games. It popularized the handheld, mobile game devices.”
Here is what the musuem had to say about “The Ball”, which follows on the heels of “The Stick” from last year. “Roll it, throw it, kick it, catch it, bounce it, or bat at it, the Ball is as old as civilization itself. It has, in fact, been depicted in ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman drawings and continues to provide opportunities for free play among people of all ages. Baby’s first toy may be a soft and safe Cloth Ball, older children play Kickball on the playground, and a grown-up’s reward for a week’s work may be a round of Tennis or Golf. Today, we even set aside physical spaces – baseball stadiums, tennis courts, and golf courses to play these Ball Games.”
And here is what they had to say about the Big Wheel. “Vroom, Vroom! In the 1960s, Ray Lohr, head designer for Louis Marx & Co., took apart a tricycle, mixed up the parts, and reassembled them into an upside-down trike that handled like a race car. Launched at the 1969 Toy Fair in New York City, the Big Wheel had a low-slung design that made for superior handling, giving kids a sense of independence and control that tippy old trikes could never deliver. By the following Christmas, children all over the country delighted in riding their new – “muscle trikes”. The Big Wheel remained Marx’s big seller for a decade.
But of course the Game Boy is the one we are really interested in, and here is what they had to say about why it won. “Nintendo Game Boy transformed the electronics-games market by popularizing handheld gaming. No videogame platform did more to put gamers on the go than this invention. And go they did, bringing their gaming experience to school, to summer camp, and to the back seat of the family automobile. Over the past two decades, Game Boy has become synonymous with handheld gaming fun. Its portability and efficient design, ability to allow simultaneous multiplayer gaming, and scores of intriguing games (like Tetris and Super Mario Land, featuring Nintendo’s already-iconic character Mario) make it a true innovator.”
It’s also worth noting that this induction is for the entire “Game Boy line” and includes improved hardware from the original design, including the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance/SP and Game Boy Micro. Now I wonder how long it’ll take before we see the DS included in this list.
It’s also pretty crazy that the Game Boy beat out some pretty stiff competition from the following toy nominees: Cabbage Patch Kids, Game of Life, Hot Wheels, Paper Airplane, Playing Cards, Rubik’s Cube, Sidewalk Chalk, Toy Tea Set, and Transformers.
In order to be chosen, The National Toy Hall of Fame at Strong National Museum of Play must recognize that toy as having engaged and delighted multiple generations. Inspiring them to learn, create, and discover through play. Criteria for induction include: Icon-status (the toy is widely recognized, respected, and remembered); Longevity (the toy is more than a passing fad and has enjoyed popularity over multiple generations); Discovery (the toy fosters learning, creativity, or discovery through play); and Innovation (the toy profoundly changed play or toy design).
To date, a total of 44 toys have been inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame. They include:
1. Alphabet Blocks
2. Atari 2600 Gaming System
3. The Ball
4. Barbie Dolls
5. The Bicycle
6. The Big Wheel
7. Candy Land boardgame
8. The Cardboard Box
9. Checkers boardgame
10. Crayola Crayons
11. The Yo-Yo (Duncan-brand specifically)
12. Easy-Bake Oven
13. The Erector Set
14. Etch A Sketch
15. The Frisbee
16. G.I. Joe action figures
17. The Hula Hoop
18. The Jack-in-the-Box
19. Jacks
20. Jigsaw Puzzle
21. Jump Rope
22. The Kite
23. LEGO Blocks
24. Lincoln Logs
25. Lionel Trains
26. Marbles
27. The Monopoly Boardgame
28. Mr. Potato Head
29. Nintendo Game Boy Handheld Game Systems
30. Play-Doh
31. Radio Flyer
32. The Wagon
33. Raggedy Ann & Andy
34. The Rocking Horse
35. Roller-Skates
36. Scrabble Boardgame
37. Silly Putty
38. The Skateboard
39. The Slinky
40. The Stick
41. The Teddy Bear
42. Tinkertoy
43. Tonka Trucks
44. The View-Master