'Space Invaders,' 'Grand Theft Auto III' join video game hall of fame

NEW YORK – A video game that allowed players to zap marching aliens with dot lasers and another that gave them flamethrowers and put them in the driver's seat in a violent 3-D world are among six games inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame. "Space Invaders" and "Grand Theft Auto III," along with "The Oregon Trail," "Sonic the Hedgehog," "The Legend of Zelda" and "The Sims," were honored Thursday for their influence on gaming and pop culture at the hall inside The Strong museum in Rochester, New York. "Space Invaders" wasn't the first shooter game when it was introduced in Japan in 1978, but it spurred many imitators and a craze for arcade games, said Jeremy Saucier, assistant director of The Strong's International Center for the History of Electronic Games. A virtual universe away, "Grand Theft Auto III" armed players with flamethrowers and assault rifles. "By providing players with a license to do virtually anything they wanted to do on foot or behind the wheel, 'Grand Theft Auto III' renewed debates about the role of games and violence in society while it signaled video games aren't just for kids," Saucier said. The hall of fame inductees were chosen from among 15 finalists culled from thousands of nominations from around the world.