When you think of video game history, the names you think of are likely the ones everybody knows.
Mario. Sonic. Crash, perhaps.
But the names that matter even more than these are the people behind these iconic characters. The ones who created these experiences and characters long before they were household names.
Let's take a look at video game royalty. The ones who would be on a video game Mt. Rushmore - if there were enough space for six.
In no particular order, here they are:
Shigeru Miyamoto: Man, I have known this guy's name since I was around 10 years old. The undisputed king of the Jumpman, our Mario Maker himself! Not only is Miyamoto the creative genius behind classic series like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda.
He also launched other games like Excitebike and Star Fox. So he is responsible for many a parent yelling at their kid to go outside and play. But we don't mind. He's the grandpa who invented all the fun stuff we love.
Nolan Bushnell: Before Miyamoto, however, was this pioneer. He's more like the George Washington of gaming. He co-founded Atari, the company that brought us iconic arcade cabinets like Pong, basically the OG video game experience.
Before parents were yelling at their kids to go outside, they were the ones spending all of their quarters on Bushnell's cabinets in arcades and malt shops!
Will Wright: Now we are getting into more modern-era figures. Wright was the architect of virtual worlds. If you have ever played games like "The Sims," you have Wright to thank.
That game lets you play God (but in a much less stressful way) by building houses, creating families, and causing hilarious digital mayhem. He showed us the power of pixels to live another life.
It's no coincidence that these are some of the building blocks of games today.
Gabe Newell: Welcome to the online age. Newell is considered the godfather of online gaming, having co-founded Valve.
If you have ever shopped on Steam or spent hours of your day in the epic world of "Half-Life," that was Newell and his company.
He's the reason you can battle your friends online without having to drag your whole console over to their house.
Sid Meier: One of the things that has helped video games grow has been sophistication. Sid Meier's respect and admiration for history helped push video games in a new direction. He was the mastermind behind strategy games like Civilization.
His games let you build empires, fight epic wars, and rewrite history (without all the messy consequences). He's pretty much the Julius Caesar of pixels, conquering virtual lands with every click.
Hironobu Sakaguchi: Perhaps Sakaguchi could be considered the J.R.R. Tolkien of the video game universe. As a weaver of epic tales, Sakaguchi was responsible for creating Square Enix's Final Fantasy series.
This RPG series is known for its sweeping storylines, unforgettable characters, and enough emotional moments to rival a Shakespeare play. Or, well, to rival "Lord of the Rings." He's the bard of gaming, strumming pixels to create epic adventures.
