[Jay]

In a poll of 9,000 game developers from across the globe, almost one third (30 per cent) of respondents recognised Miyamoto as their ultimate development hero, ahead of an impressive top ten, which reads as follows:

1. Shigeru Miyamoto - often referred to as ‘the father of modern video games’ for his role in creating legendary games franchises Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, Pikmin and F-Zero and titles such as Nintendogs and Wii Music

2. John Carmack – cofounder of id Software and lead programmer on Doom and Quake

3. Will Wright - co-founder of Maxis and brains behind SimCity and The Sims franchise and, more recently, Spore. He now runs entertainment think tank Stupid Fun Club

4. Dave Jones - founder of Realtime Worlds (Crackdown, All Points Bulletin) and co-founder of Rockstar North (formerly DMA Design), Jones created major game series Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto

5. Sid Meier – founder of MicroProse and developer of Civilization. Second person to be inducted in the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame behind Shigeru Miyamoto

6. Peter Molyneux, OBE - creator of God games Dungeon Keeper, Populous and Black & White, as well as Theme Park, Fable and Fable 2

7. David Braben - Brit programmer and founder of Frontier, Braben is best known for co-writing the hugely popular Elite. The studio’s work on The Outsider promises to deliver yet another ground-breaking title and a number of gameplay firsts

8. Masaya Matsuura – famed for pushing the frontiers of computer music, Masaya took the games industry by storm with the release of PaRappa The Rapper, winning notable awards and changing the landscape of gaming forever

9. Michael Morhaime – president and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, the legendary creator of Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo series and the world’s biggest MMORPG World of Warcraft

10. Jonathan Blow – developer of award-winning title Braid

“It’s no surprise that Miyamoto-san is the development hero of developers – over the last thirty years he has created games that have not only driven the evolution of the games industry but also changed people’s lives. He has mastered the art of developing titles that are innovative but never at the cost of gameplay: games that are ground breaking, yet still mass market,” said Andy Lane, managing director of Tandem Events, organiser of the Develop Conference in Brighton.

“And we’re thrilled that three of the top 10 development heroes – Dave Jones, David Braben and Masaya Matsuura – will be addressing delegates at this year’s Develop Conference in Brighton, which runs from 14-16 July.”

[Haggler]

I take it this post is meant to cause posts of disagreement?, or agreement, i can't really think of another response to add so here goes :-

Can't really argue with the list to be honest apart from a couple who are recognised solely for one game, Shigeru Miyamoto is deserving of his status here but most of these other guys are pretty recent in the wider scope of gaming, for me devs at ultimate and now rare, team 17, sensible software and system 3 were just as worthy and what's with the developer of braid nicking the number 10 slot?

Glad you posted it though matey, it gave me a kick up the arse to update a thread in retro gaming i'd completely forgotten about for many months, here's the link to compare the devs picks with views on here :-

Oh unfortunately the developer of braid didn't get a look in here as the current generation of consoles was not allowed.

Best video game developer 1980 - 2000

[Jay]

Originally Posted by Haggler

I take it this post is meant to cause posts of disagreement?, or agreement, i can't really think of another response to add so here goes :-

Can't really argue with the list to be honest apart from a couple who are recognised solely for one game, Shigeru Miyamoto is deserving of his status here but most of these other guys are pretty recent in the wider scope of gaming, for me devs at ultimate and now rare, team 17, sensible software and system 3 were just as worthy and what's with the developer of braid nicking the number 10 slot?

Glad you posted it though matey, it gave me a kick up the arse to update a thread in retro gaming i'd completely forgotten about for many months, here's the link to compare the devs picks with views on here :-

Oh unfortunately the developer of braid didn't get a look in here as the current generation of consoles was not allowed.

Best video game developer 1980 - 2000

No real reason for my thread, just thought someone might find it slightly interesting

I'm surprised Kojima wasn't on there.

[Sinzer]

Not to be too patriotic, but I would rate Braben higher, probably Spot 3.

With Molyneux, I am not sure, he was genius in the beginning, but his later games have been slightly flawed. Still I would rate him above Dave Jones.

List is about right though.

Still Devs voting for other Devs, is most probably a better indication of what it is like to work with those people and how inspiring they are.

[GMC79]

damn that reminded me about Frontier elite 2 on amiga, any version of that for PC?

[Haggler]

Originally Posted by GMC79

damn that reminded me about Frontier elite 2 on amiga, any version of that for PC?

I ain't tested it and won't be as i got so much crap on my hd due to testing and posting all these remakes, so you're on your own but the info is all there at the page bottom.

FrontierAstro - Hi-Res FE2

[Tonks01]

Don't suppose you could link me to the original article could you Jay? Off to do some work around the Develop Conference in Brighton next month so would like to read up as much as I can on it

[dannius]

Originally Posted by Sinzer

Not to be too patriotic, but I would rate Braben higher, probably Spot 3.

I was thinking the opposite, Braben is famed for one title only (and it's sequel) where as Molyneux might be a flawed genius but at least he has been responsible for more classic games over the years.

Personally I would have liked to have seen Yu Suzuki or Tetsuya Mizuguchi on there above Matsuura, Braben or Blow.

And as an Amiga man at heart, i'll always have a soft spot for the teams at Magnetic Fields and Team 17.

[Sinzer]

However, Elite was one of the most ground breaking games ever. Brabens work in the early 3D polygon world is unparalled. Although it never reached the same level, he did develop Zarch or Virus as known on the Amiga. This was pretty much the full first 3D game.

I most probably would also rate Julian Gollup in the top ten, purely for his contribution to turn based strategy RPG games, he basically developed the whole mould for them.

However, it is a hard decision, all the names mentioned are great developers too.

I am kind of surprised that Richard Garriott wans't mentioned either, his contribution to online/RPG genre was immense.

[dannius]

Originally Posted by Sinzer

However, Elite was one of the most ground breaking games ever.

True, but less so than Computer Space and I don't see Nolan Bushnell on this list!

I can't help but think of the games Yu Suzuki has created.. Outrun, Hang On, Afterburner, Virtua Fighter, Daytona, Shenmue.. Now there is a legendary and influential developer. Jonathan Blow made a decent XBLA game.

[Solar]

Originally Posted by Indecisive Jay

No real reason for my thread, just thought someone might find it slightly interesting

I found it a very good read, thanks

[Haggler]

I'd like to know the average age of the devs they polled, there's a distinct bias toward recent devs which makes me wonder if half the devs polled are old enough to remember some of the true innovators in this field, where are the likes of matthew smith who dished out the classic manic miner and jet set willy games which have probably seen more remakes and updated versions than any other, which in turn should equate to this game must have been worthy in the first place.

Like i said before the inclusion of Jonathan Blow and the positioning of a few others baffles me, but it's an interesting read all the same.