King of Kong: 35 Years Later We Celebrate – By Todd Friedman

On October 8, 1983, Walter Day of Twin Galaxies had a vision. He dreamt of having a Video Game Hall ofFameinOttumwa,Iowa. Heknew this would be the perfect place to host the event being that Ottumwa, Iowa was crowned the Video Game Capital of the world one year before. Unfortunately, the arcade business took a crash. Arcade gaming and the recognition of gaming would falter. Therefore, the Hall of Fame would not take off. Fast forward 27 years where the vision became reality at the Hall of Fame award ceremony in Ottumwa, Iowa. In 2010, Walter Day and a crew of gamers and volunteers pulled off the very first International Video Game Hall of Fame (IVGHOF) award ceremony. It was a huge success and turned out to be a very memorable weekend for all who attended, including me. There would be another Hall of Fame in 2015, during the ICON event in Ottumwa, Iowa. This was such a success that the IVGHOF Board of Directors made sure that this event continued to grow year after year. This past weekend the IVGHOF was just as exciting, if not better. It was a weekend of gaming, tournaments, raffles, special guests, autograph sessions, the Time Life Photo recreation on Main Street and an all-around great event to mingle with past, present and future gamers around the world. On November 9-12, 2017, the Ottumwa’s Old School Pinball & Arcade presented the “Galaxies of Gaming.”