Travesty! Epic’s $1B Gears, Unreal won’t make Video Game Hall of Fame

Marcus Fenix would be ready to kill right now.

The new World Video Game Hall of Fame won’t include classics “Unreal Tournament” and the $1 billion-plus “Gears of War” from Cary-based Epic Games that starred Fenix as a brave, burly alien killer. That’s really an oversight by voters and selectors, given the impact both games and Epic as a company have had on the industry.

The entire Gears franchise sold millions of copies, produced toys and books and at one time appeared headed for the big screen in Hollywood. It won multiple awards. Founder Tim Sweeney is already in the Academy of Interactive Arts & technology hall in Las Vegas. Now, how about one of his titles?

Gears was much more than blood and guts. Its creators built a universe of characters, worlds and aliens enough to scare even the Aliens’ Ripley.

Unreal Tournament was one of the first b-i-g first-person shooters.

But perhaps most importantly, the creative team at Epic built a game engine, Unreal, which has become the very foundation for many big titles today across multiple platforms.

Epic has won multiple awards as a studio for many good reasons.

A Hall of Fame honor might not add much to the bottom line, but the recognition is deserved.

Epic, which turned 20 in 2012, has been and continues to be a source of invention, innovation and inspiration for the entire video game industry.

An Epic title deserves to be in the Hall.

So all you Epic fans – nominate next year and then lobby to put the Gears and Unreal shooters where they belong.

In the Hall.

The nominees

Here are the 15 nominees as reported by The Associated Press: