Miyamoto voted the Game Developers’ Game developer hero

Develop Conference, 14-16 July 2009, Brighton – www.developconference.com
A survey commissioned by the Develop Conference (14-16 July, Brighton) has revealed that Japanese games legend Shigeru Miyamoto is the game developers’ game development hero.

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.”