Tomohiro Nishikado
Space Invaders is probably the most recognisable video game in history. Even if you don’t play them, you’ll know the image of those iconic pixelated aliens. It was created by Japanese developer Tomohiro Nishikado in 1978, and began the golden age of arcade gaming. Nishikado graduated from Tokyo Denki University in 1968 with an engineering degree. A year later he joined Taito Trading Company and developed ten games before creating surprise hit Space Invaders. Soon after the release of this simple shoot ’em up and its runaway success, gaming became a truly global industry.
Shigeru Miyamoto
Another influential Japanese developer with a storied history at Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto is perhaps best known for being the creator of Mario, gaming’s most iconic and enduring character. His other creations include The Legend of Zelda, an open-world RPG series that’s still going strong to this day, and Star Fox. Wii Sport, which he worked on more recently, is the second best-selling game of all time. Miyamoto’s personality mirrors the fun, playful spirit of Nintendo, and his track record of developing high quality, accessible, and pioneering games is unmatched in the industry.
Gunpei Yokoi
During his long career at Nintendo, Yokoi designed the iconic Game Boy handheld console and invented the directional pad, or D-pad, which is still an important feature of modern game controllers today. In the 1970s, while travelling on Tokyo’s Shinkansen railway network, he saw a bored businessman playing with an LCD calculator, and came up with the idea of the Game & Watch: an early Nintendo handheld that would go on to influence the Game Boy. Yokoi tragically died in a road accident in 1997 at the age of 56, but his influence on the games industry is still felt today.
Gabe Newell
Newell is the managing director of Valve Corporation, who shot to fame in 1998 after releasing the influential first-person shooter Half-Life. This modern classic took a more sophisticated approach to storytelling and design than had previously been seen in the genre, which made shooters like Doom and Quake look primitive in comparison. But it’s with digital distribution platform Steam that Newell really made his mark. This software has become an important part of any PC gamer’s life, and has – along with its games – resulted in Valve having an estimated worth of $3 billion.
John Romero
American game designer John Romero was one of the founders of id Software, whose first-person shooters – including Wolfenstein, Doom, and Quake – defined a genre that is still hugely popular today. id Software was also known for its open approach to letting players modify its games, and many prominent developers in the industry today started out experimenting with the Doom and Quake engines. The violence in its adult-focused games attracted a lot of negative press, especially in British tabloids, but all this did was make games like Doom household names in the 90s.
Markus Persson
Better known by his nickname Notch, Persson is a Swedish game designer who created the worldwide phenomenon Minecraft. He’s one of the most notable examples of an independent developer who made and released a game without any publisher or PR support, which then went on to have success to rival any big budget, mainstream game. This kickstarted a renaissance of indie game development, and now many of the most exciting, interesting games in the world are being created and self-published by small teams. Persson has since left Minecraft behind to work on new project.
This article was amended on 24 November 2015. An earlier version referred to Wii Music being a best-selling game. That has been corrected to Wii Sport.
Famous for a reason
The pioneers of gaming world didn’t seek fame, it found them because of their passion for technology. The Famous Grouse’s reputation is also built upon being famous for a reason. Created in 1896, the founder Matthew Gloag didn’t want to be famous, he simply wanted to make the best whisky he could possibly make so he created The Grouse Brand. It soon became so popular that it was renamed The Famous Grouse. Renowned for its quality, craftsmanship and exceptional taste, The Famous Grouse is available in four expressions, including the smooth The Famous Grouse Mellow Gold and the distinctive The Famous Grouse Smoky Black.
Please enjoy The Famous Grouse whisky responsibly.
