Nice contrast to the other thread, OP. I always like a sprinkling of positivity in my day. I don't really have an order here, but just a few that I like:
- The Gooch - one of the fathers of (old) Final Fantasy. Pretty much what got me into gaming in a big way.
- Gabe - built Steam, hired a bunch of talented people to make a bunch of great games, contributed a ton of different things from chat/vr/amazing sales to the PC gaming world.
- George Kamitani - the Vanillaware guy. His games are always a visual spectacle and I appreciate the hand drawn stuff so much in this generation of CGI and faux 2D art. Most of them are exactly my style to play, as well. Love Odin Sphere and Muramasa particularly.
- Iwata - (RIP) - He seemed to really want to try new things in an industry that's become so risk averse. He seemed to care about his employees and his shareholders, was well liked by everyone. Not everything he green-lit was a hit, but I appreciate so much that he got so many different new ideas out the door.
- Nobuo Uematsu - His soundtracks are still the most memorable to me out of all of gaming. Such a huge variety of high quality tunes that fit nearly every mood and help convey emotion in scenes with 16 bit 2D pixel art that we can't get with AAA 4K games currently.
There are probably more, but that's my shortlist.
What other thread?
Companies in general:
Individuals in particular:
- Looking Glass Studios.
- Nintendo.
- Ubisoft pre-2010.
- IO Interactive.
- VALVe.
- Warren Spector.
- Clint Hocking.
- Eiji Aonuma.
- Shinji Mikami pre-RE4.
No room for Brianna Wu?
Yu Suzuki
"If there's a Mt Rushmore of videogames, you're George Washington"Yep he opened the podcast by saying Carmack was the Mt Rushmore of game developers or something.
Basically, the idea is "Who is your PERSONAL top 4-5 gaming developers? I'm not talking about companies. Repeat, I am not talking about companies. I'm talking about individuals who either programmed, produced, designed, engineered, or otherwise made video game software or hardware at some level. And I emphasized "personal" because this is about which developer legend has effected your life as a gamer the most- a list that is most likely never going to change in your lifetime.
*For non-Americans, Mt. Rushmore is a massive carving cut out of the side of a mountain of what is suppose to be four of our greatest presidents.
Here is my Mt. Rushmore of gaming devs:
5. Gabe Newell (half life, portal, left 4 dead, as well as Steam)
4. Hironobu Sakaguchi (Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, The Last Story)
3. Koji Kondo (composer for multiple Nintendo franchises)
2. John Carmack (Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake, Commander Keen lol, Occulus Rift)
1. Shigeru Miyamoto (If you don't know who this is, why are you here?)
* I have a ton of honorable mentions, but will wait to share those after others have shared. And yes, I know Mt. Rushmore only has four presidents. Originally, a 5th was planned, but either way, I want a top 5 dang it!
Here is my Mt. Rushmore of gaming devs:
5. Gabe Newell (half life, portal, left 4 dead, as well as Steam)
4. Hironobu Sakaguchi (Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, The Last Story)
3. Koji Kondo (composer for multiple Nintendo franchises)
2. John Carmack (Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake, Commander Keen lol, Occulus Rift)
1. Shigeru Miyamoto (If you don't know who this is, why are you here?)
* I have a ton of honorable mentions, but will wait to share those after others have shared. And yes, I know Mt. Rushmore only has four presidents. Originally, a 5th was planned, but either way, I want a top 5 dang it!
Because you had a SMS, a 7800, an ST, an C64, or an Amiga. All of which had actual games with evolution in game design instead of side scroller left right.1. Shigeru Miyamoto (If you don't know who this is, why are you here?)
Completely escaped my mind. There's so many incredible and influential developers that it's really hard to narrow it down to just 4.Richard Garriott: Ultima need I say more.
Sakaguchi: Father of JRPGs
Carmack: Coding genius.
Edit: on my phone so hard to check but I am surprised I am the first to mention Garriott.
You're very wrong on this one. Not one of what you mentioned has influenced the gaming industry like Mario did. So much so even non gamers know who he is.Because you had a SMS, a 7800, an ST, an C64, or an Amiga. All of which had actual games with evolution in game design instead of side scroller left right.
I guess having those consoles meant there was no way you would know who he was 30 years later on a gaming forum discussing the greatest game developers of all time.Because you had a SMS, a 7800, an ST, an C64, or an Amiga. All of which had actual games with evolution in game design instead of side scroller left right.
The vast majority of game design came off those computers along with the Apple Ii.You're very wrong on this one. Not one of what you mentioned has influenced the gaming industry like Mario did.
This is about putting him on a list, nice try though.I guess having those consoles meant there was no way you would know who he was 30 years later on a gaming forum discussing the greatest game developers of all time.
Yeah, that makes sense.
What games did the NES not have counters to?Also if you preferred the 7800 or SMS its likely due to games the NES had no counter too, so you still wouldn't give a crap about miyamoto if you preferred either of those two.