Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto has been named game developers' game development hero. 9000 industry bigwigs were asked to take part in the poll, commissioned by the organisers of the Develop Conference, which takes place next month in Brighton. A third of those questioned went for Miyamoto - known affectionately as 'Shigsy' by people who spend too much time on gamer forums. Responsible for some of the world's greatest games - and Wii Music - Miyamoto created Mario and Zelda as well as aiding in the development of the Pikmin, Star Fox, Metroid Prime and Nintendogs series'.
But what of the other top development talents? Here's the top ten...
1. Shigeru Miyamoto
2. John Carmack
3. Will Wright
4. Dave Jones
5. Sid Meier
6. Peter Molyneux
7. David Braben
8. Masaya Matsuura (PaRappa The Rapper creator)
9. Michael Morhaime (president and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment)
10. Jonathan Blow (Braid)
I'd say that was a reasonably predictable list, although Jonathan Blow is a surprise. The wording of the poll is interesting - they've asked for 'development hero' not 'best developer ever', so these are, presumably, the chaps who've directly inspired this generation of game makers - which explains why there's no-one under 45 on the list; apart from Blow who, I suspect, is there for his single-minded determination to create and distribute Braid though non-traditional channels and for his championing of experimental and independent game design.
But who, in your opinion, has been criminally overlooked?
