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Who is on your personal Mt. Rushmore of gaming developers?

Hulk_Smash

Hulk_Smash

Banned
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!
 
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Northeastmonk

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
Hidetaka Miyazaki because of awesome game design.
Hideo Kojima because of medium creativity.
Hironobu Sakaguchi because of his development of a fantasy role playing franchise.
Nobuo Uematsu because of his amazing musical abilities.
Hideki Kamiya for bringing new life to the action and survival horror genre.

I’d add several more if I could, branch it off into some sorta mountain range.
 
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MiyazakiHatesKojima

MiyazakiHatesKojima

Banned
Wonderful thread, OP! Can't wait to see everyone else's Mount Rushmore.

In alphabetical order:

Dan Houser (He is the creative head huncho of Rockstar Games.)

Hideo Kojima (Self-Evident.)

Hidetaka Miyazaki (Also self-evident, but to a lesser extent.)

Fumito Ueda (3 Masterpieces under his belt.)

Ken Levine (An Auteur of this medium.)
 
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KàIRóS

KàIRóS

Member
5. Tetsuya Nomura (Kingdom Hearts, Character Design for several Square games)
4. Yasumi Matsuno (Ogre Battle, Final Fantasy Tactics)
3. Hiroshi Iuchi (Radiant SIlvergun, Ikaruga, Sin and Punishment)
2. Tetsuya Takahashi (Xenoseries)
1. Hironobu Sakaguchi & Yuji Horii (The fathers of JRPGs)

Honorable mentions: Shigeru Miyamoto, Hideo Kojima, Hidetaka Miyazaki, Hideki Kamiya, Hideaki Itsuno, Yoko Taro, Kazuma Kaneko, Yuji Naka, Rieko Kodama, Fumito Ueda.
 
Whitesnake

Whitesnake

Banned
William Higinbotham (The physicist who made the first video game)

Nolan Bushnell (Made Pong and Atari, both of which popularized the home video game console.)

Alexey Pajitnov (Made Tetris, a game which became globally poular and created a unique situation where the Soviet Union was making publishing deals with American businesses.)

Shigeru Miyamoto (Created some of Nintendo's most popular franchises like Mario and Zelda, can be credited for saving gaming from the video games crash of 1983.)
 
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Hulk_Smash

Hulk_Smash

Banned
Whitesnake said:
William Higinbotham (The physicist who made the first video game)

Nolan Bushnell (Made Pong and Atari, both of which popularized the home video game console.)

Alexey Pajitnov (Made Tetris, a game which became globally poular and created a unique situation where the Soviet Union was making publishing deals with American businesses.)

Shigeru Miyamoto (Created some of Nintendo's most popular franchises like Mario and Zelda, can be credited for saving gaming from the video games crash of 1983.)
Click to expand...

I thought about Bushnell. He certainly is an influencer and a great businessman, but I don't think that guy ever coded or soldered anything. I'd be happy to be proven wrong.
 
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Chromata

Chromata

Member
Shigeru Miyamoto (how can he not be on there?)

Hitedaka Miyazaki (love every fromsoft game)

Hideo Kojima (his games are very weird and unique, love that about them)

And then there's the meme crew:

Kaz Hirai (Ridge racer. Riiiiiidge racer!!)

Todd Howard & the sweet little lies

Reggie Fils-aime (my ___ is ___, you know the one :messenger_winking: ).
 
haxan7

haxan7

Banned
Yoshi-P of FFXIV fame needs at least an honorable mention.

He was by no means the only person responsible for its success, but he took the reigns of a straight up awful MMORPG and made it something that, for all intents and purposes, has defeated WoW at its own game.
 
BusierDonkey

BusierDonkey

Member
Todd Howard - Although his early involvement in gaming was nothing to write home about, his recent titles like Fallout 76 and Elder Scrolls Blades are both revolutionary and cutting edge. No other icon in the industry has more credibility than Mr. Howard.

Cliff Blezinsky - He’s the video game industry’s rock star. Lawbreakers and Radical Heights will be regarded as highlights in the annals of gaming history. His treatment of fans let them know that yes, he is better than them, and he certainly doesn’t need their support because they suck anyways.

Randy Pitchford - A mastermind when it comes to business. His involvement in the Alien franchise showed the industry the possibilities when two developers pooled resources to make a masterpiece. Being a financial mastermind is just the icing on the cake.

Phil Fish - He put the industry and fans alike on check when he denied them all a sequel to one of the greatest puzzle platformers ever created. A master tactician ahead of his time. He sure showed them.
 
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BusierDonkey

BusierDonkey

Member
For real this time.

Shigeru Miyamoto - He defined my childhood in many ways. I had issues with some later work like Star Fox Zero, but I can never deny that if it weren’t for his involvement I may never have played my first video games.

Kazunori Yamauchi - He created the franchise that solidified my love for racing games with the introduction of Gran Turismo. I don’t entirely agree with the direction the series has taken but nobody can deny he has a mind for perfection in what he does. If not for the ground Gran Turismo broke, Forza Motorsport , Project Cars, even titles like Project Gotham and Grid might never have turned out how they did and the modern racing game might not be anything like what we have now.

Hironobu Sakaguchi - The Final Fantasy series 1-6, Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG and much later Chrono Cross, Lost Odyssey and Last Story are basically a list of some of the best JRPGs ever made. The characters, worlds, and set pieces they imagined, especially in the early games with so little technology to portray it was incredible. Final Fantasy VI is to this day my favourite RPG.

Todd Howard - He’s on my joke list, but from Morrowind to Fallout 4, even 76, the Gamebryo engine and it’s variations over time have racked up more time in my life than anything else. These games are exactly what I want from a game. I can turn them on and go where I want and do what I want to, I’ve played through each game numerous times, racked up thousands of hours, and I still go back to them.
 
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Katsura

Katsura

Member
1. Shigeru Miyamoto - the GOAT
2. John Carmack - Made some amazing games and is pushing things like VR forward
3. Rob Hubbard - Legendary C64 composer. Created some of the best video game music ever, not to mention he programmed it using assembly
4. Yuji Horii - I like Dragon Quest more than Final Fantasy. Fite me irl
5. Alexey Pajitnov - Without him, no Gameboy Tetris
 
Yoshi

Yoshi

Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
1. Shigeru Miyamoto: Super Mario, Zelda, Pikmin
2. Gregg Mayles: Banjo-Kazooie, DKC (also Sea of Thieves, but that one can go fuck itself)
3. Yuji Naka: Sonic, NiGHTS, Ivy
4. Michel Ancel: Rayman, Beyond Good & Evil, Rabbids
5. Toshihiro Nagoshi: Monkey Ball, F-Zero, (also Yakuza, but same as for SoT applies)
 
Cert.in.Death

Cert.in.Death

Member
PewDiePie | Ninja | Summit1G | XQC

Jk but seriously.

Too many for one mountain. But a brief glimpse at some standouts:

Yoshinori Kitase
Hironobu Sakaguchi
Hiroyoku Ito (Final Fantasy IX)
Shigeru Miyamoto
Ken Levine
Tom Chilton (World Of Warcraft)
John Carmack
Hidetaka Miyazaki
Jenova Chen
Fumito Ueda
Nobuo Uematsu
Yoko Shimomura
Koh Otani
Keiji Inafune
Dan & Sam Houser (begrudgingly, but they're there)
Satoru Iwata
Jack Tretton (only because I am utterly incapable of imagining a being that possesses any more smug than that actual man)
GabeN
 
Vbrasa

Vbrasa

Member
That guy that built fortnite. Seriously, how do none of you have him on the list. He made gaming cool and not just for stupid nerds, and you all are acting like these nobodies you put on your lists have done shit, like seriously. Shigero Miyamotos made like two actually good games, but that was 25 years ago, gaming for like my dad but who cares.

Also Steve Jobs. If we didn't have the iphone, people would still be playing kids games on the nintendo wii. Gamings not for little babies anymore, okay?

And the guy that made the skyrim meme, but just because it made me laugh, I guess
 
Hulk_Smash

Hulk_Smash

Banned
Vbrasa said:
That guy that built fortnite. Seriously, how do none of you have him on the list. He made gaming cool and not just for stupid nerds, and you all are acting like these nobodies you put on your lists have done shit, like seriously. Shigero Miyamotos made like two actually good games, but that was 25 years ago, gaming for like my dad but who cares.

Also Steve Jobs. If we didn't have the iphone, people would still be playing kids games on the nintendo wii. Gamings not for little babies anymore, okay?

And the guy that made the skyrim meme, but just because it made me laugh, I guess
Click to expand...

We be trollin’, we hatin’...
 
Rolling_Start

Rolling_Start

Banned
Lots of great mentions in here: Shigeru Miyamoto, John Carmack, Gaben are all mighty figures.

But my Mount Rushmore would be four enormous sculptures of The Four Seasons of Yu Suzuki: Arcade, Saturn, Dreamcast and Now.
 
Jigsaah

Jigsaah

Gold Member
Kagey K said:
You know Assassins Creed 1 exists because of her, right?

She gets immediate exclusion just because of that game.
Click to expand...
Did you just question my knowledge of the most beautiful developer to ever exist?
More importantly, your satire meter is broken.
She was also behind Assassin's Creed 2. Arguably the best in the series. Though I agree, in all seriousness she's no where close to the others.
She fine tho.
 
SaucyJack

SaucyJack

Member
So many possibilities, keeping to 4 (given that there are 4 on Mt Rushmore not 4-5) is pretty difficult.

But in no particular order:
  • Hideo Kojima
  • Shigeru Miyamoto
  • John Carmack
  • Sid Meier
 
V

Vandole

Member
1. Shiggy
2. Roberta Williams
3. Will Wright
4. Tetsuya Nomura

And if I had one last slot it would go to Shinji Mikami. Real tough putting Nomura in before him but it was just about a flip of the coin.
 
StormCell

StormCell

Member
Love that Koji Kondo and Nobuo Uematsu got some mentions. Their works are inseparable from the games. We would need a separate mountain for them, and on it, alongside the aforementioned, would be David Wise.

My Mt. Rushmore of Game Developers
1. Shigeru Miyamoto
2. Hironobu Sakaguchi
3. Sid Meier
4. Will Wright

It hurts to not put Gabe Newell up there, but that's the legacy he has chosen so far. There are no mountains with faces for stories left on a cliff-hanger because greener pastures.
 
Caffeine

Caffeine

Member
I always personally felt like Japan strives for advancement, the west has many top devs to list too but ill keep it to my 6.
My Mt. Rushmore of Game Developers
1. Shigeru Miyamoto ( easy choice the father of modern gaming ?)
2. Hironobu Sakaguchi ( Rpg man)
3. Hideo Kojima ( The most intricate story teller ever its the small details that blow minds, very atmospheric )
4. Hidetaka Miyazaki ( Killer of hand holding brings back challenge and atmosphere, engrossing worlds )
5. Shinji Mikami ( father of modern survival horror )
6. Ikumi Nakamura ( future addition, you ever see someone and just know they will release good stuff, her designs are crazy, Mikami believes she is his successor )
 
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Pejo

Pejo

Gold Member
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.
 
stranno

stranno

Member
HhYhJLU.png


Peter Molyneux - Ron Gilbert - Will Wright - Sid Meier
 
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F

FStubbs

Member
* Nolan Bushnell
* Shigeru Miyamoto
* John Carmack
* Richard Gariott
* Will Wright

I'd love to put guys like Yuji Horii or Gabe Newell on the list, but these 5 are it, and probably in that order.
NOTE: I missed the part about personal - which would definitely elevate Yuji Horii and Masayuki Kato onto the list.
 
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Thabass

Thabass

Member
If none of y'all are going to include Ralph Baer on your lists, none of them are valid to me.

#1 Ralph Baer - Video games creator. Maker of the Odyssey. Often called the father of video games.
#2 Shigeru Miyamoto - This is an easy one. Makers of Zelda, Mario, and countless more.
#3 John Carmack - Another easy one. Creator of Doom and forged the basis of the first person shooter.
#4 Nolan Bushnell - The man who plunged video games into the mainstream. Creator of the Atari 2600, PONG, and a multitude of other great games.

Honorable mentions:

#1 -Hironobu Sakaguchi -Creator of Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger and the man responsible bringing RPGs to the mainstream.
#2 - Hideo Kojima - Kojima's worth mentioning because of the themes of his games and the messages he tries to invoke in each game he makes. His focus on storytelling brings him into focus for me.
#3 - Will Wright - Simulation games mastermind. He created SimCity and of course, The Sims.
#4 - Gabe Newell - Perfected the first person shooter and for most games today are kind of the basis of how most FPS games play today. Also the man responsible for Steam.
 
hunthunt

hunthunt

Banned
Hidataka MIyazaki, Hideo Kojima, However was in charge of RE7 and 2 remake, Fumito Ueda, TIm Levine, cory Barlog, the dudes at CdProjekt, tht guys and Guerrilla an lots more

But as a personal opinnion, I would take down thw Rushmore and put the 4 Playstations designs side by side, the best seller and most beutiful consoles ever.
 
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