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boss.king

macrumors 603
Original poster
Apr 8, 2009
6,392
7,646
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/02/steve_jobs_most_influential_gamer/

Top five people to have shaped video games:

Steve Jobs
Gabe Newell (cofounder and managing director of Valve)
Shigeru Miyamoto (developer of Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda)
Tim Berners-Lee
Mark Zuckerberg


Top five products to have shaped video games:

Apple iPhone
Nintendo Wii
Microsoft Xbox Live
The original Sony PlayStation
Valve's Steam

I was a little shocked when I read this. I don't think Steve or Zuckerberg would feature on my list. Where's Hideo Kojima? Where's John Carmack? Where's the Gameboy? Where's the PC?
 

Abyssgh0st

macrumors 68000
Jan 12, 2009
1,888
9
Colorado
I agree with you. No Jobs or Zuck on that list, and IMO the Wii and iPhone have no place on the second list (Wii would be probably 6 or 7 on my list- iPhone would barely make the top 15.)

How about the NES? SNES? GameBoy (original through DS)? Possibly even the PSP (so many have been sold)?

The iPhone has done a lot for mobile gaming, but I'd choose even a GameBoy Advance/SP over an iPhone for playing any game (obviously not touch based games).
 

decafjava

macrumors 603
Feb 7, 2011
5,513
8,026
Geneva
Ummm yea ok. Steve Jobs, maybe certainly as boss.king says where are Hideo Kojima, John Carmack and the Gameboy? Mark Zuckerberg???? For Farmville and those other crap FB games??? :eek:
 

roadbloc

macrumors G3
Aug 24, 2009
8,784
215
UK
Jobs and Zuckerberg? Wat? Get rid of them two and get Carmack on the list. What on earth has Jobs or Zuckerberg done for the gaming industry?
 

dndlnx

macrumors 6502
Dec 9, 2010
332
0
While A) I'm not familiar with the publisher of this list, and B) know they have no actual relevance in gaming...

I'm still raging.

Are they big in the UK?
 

anotonin

macrumors member
Oct 19, 2011
94
0
Jobs and Zuckerberg? Wat? Get rid of them two and get Carmack on the list. What on earth has Jobs or Zuckerberg done for the gaming industry?

Apparently they are game changers. lol Maybe we ought to have a precise definition of gaming.
 

0098386

Suspended
Jan 18, 2005
21,574
2,908
That list is quite funny. I mean surely the most influential gaming people would come from this list?

Next up, they give Alan Patridge the Sports Personality of the Year Award.

Phew, the article has a low rating so even their readers don't agree. Nice. And all balance was restored.
 

steve2112

macrumors 68040
Feb 20, 2009
3,023
6
East of Lyra, Northwest of Pegasus
Steve Jobs? Obviously, the people who made this list have never tried gaming on a Mac. :)

Actually, Zuckerberg and Facebook have had a big impact on gaming. How many people are playing Farmville, Mafia Wars, and other Facebook games? People who never would have touched a PC or console game are playing web-based games. Just look at the numbers Zynga is putting up.

While top 5 is questionable, Facebook and the web have brought in a huge number of new people playing games. No, they aren't playing Modern Warfare or Skyrim, but they are playing games.
 

*LTD*

macrumors G4
Feb 5, 2009
10,703
1
Canada
Regardless, Jobs should be at the top of these kinds of lists anyway, regardless of who's making them. At least they'll get one entry right.
 

roadbloc

macrumors G3
Aug 24, 2009
8,784
215
UK
Regardless, Jobs should be at the top of these kinds of lists anyway, regardless of who's making them. At least they'll get one entry right.
What has jobs ever done for gaming except replace Snake with Angry Birds? In fact, he didn't even do that, he just provided the platform.
 

anotonin

macrumors member
Oct 19, 2011
94
0
Steve Jobs? Obviously, the people who made this list have never tried gaming on a Mac. :)

Actually, Zuckerberg and Facebook have had a big impact on gaming. How many people are playing Farmville, Mafia Wars, and other Facebook games? People who never would have touched a PC or console game are playing web-based games. Just look at the numbers Zynga is putting up.

While top 5 is questionable, Facebook and the web have brought in a huge number of new people playing games. No, they aren't playing Modern Warfare or Skyrim, but they are playing games.

And this is why we should have a precise definition of computer gaming. Its too broad and too many variables/factors to discern which is rightfully there.
 

soco

macrumors 68030
Dec 14, 2009
2,840
119
Yardley, PA
What has jobs ever done for gaming except replace Snake with Angry Birds? In fact, he didn't even do that, he just provided the platform.
You just answered your own question and it's beautiful.

I don't care what gaming is like on the Mac or what advances other companies' CEOs made with gaming or even individual developers, because the fact of the matter is a lot of us used to be "hardcore gamers" and now play a lot of our games on an iPhone.

Boom.
 

Liquorpuki

macrumors 68020
Jun 18, 2009
2,286
8
City of Angels
You just answered your own question and it's beautiful.

I don't care what gaming is like on the Mac or what advances other companies' CEOs made with gaming or even individual developers, because the fact of the matter is a lot of us used to be "hardcore gamers" and now play a lot of our games on an iPhone.

Boom.

Then for the sake of consistency, you should put everyone who engineered a popular gaming platform on that list. Starting with Uemera, the guy who designed the 8-bit NES, the platform that single-handedly saved the game industry. Might as well put Bill Gates on there as well because without Windows there'd be no PC gaming.

The list sucks. Half of it is biased toward agents of digital distribution like Jobs, Zuckerberg, Steam, etc. The other half is a mashup of random people and devices. And if you're gonna list the guy who invented the web as one of the most influential game guys, you might as well put Shockley on there for having invented the transistor.
 

roadbloc

macrumors G3
Aug 24, 2009
8,784
215
UK
So what? He could have provided the platform and no-one could have written games for it. Then he wouldn't have been on the list. In fact, if I remember correctly, he was against the idea of having native apps on iOS to begin with and it was only consumer demand and probably some people at Apple suggesting the idea over and over that made it happen.

I don't think Steve Jobs deserves this title. he has influenced nothing in the gaming industry. Give the guy who developed Angry Birds which pretty much began to make people realize iOS devices could be used for casual gaming a place in the list instead. And have Gabe at the top.
 

anotonin

macrumors member
Oct 19, 2011
94
0
Then for the sake of consistency, you should put everyone who engineered a popular gaming platform on that list. Starting with Uemera, the guy who designed the 8-bit NES, the platform that single-handedly saved the game industry. Might as well put Bill Gates on there as well because without Windows there'd be no PC gaming.

The list sucks. Half of it is biased toward agents of digital distribution like Jobs, Zuckerberg, Steam, etc. The other half is a mashup of random people and devices. And if you're gonna list the guy who invented the web as one of the most influential game guys, you might as well put Shockley on there for having invented the transistor.

Correct!

And i will reiterate again to put a definitive description/precise definition of the computer industry.
 

gnasher729

Suspended
Nov 25, 2005
17,980
5,566
I was a little shocked when I read this. I don't think Steve or Zuckerberg would feature on my list. Where's Hideo Kojima? Where's John Carmack? Where's the Gameboy? Where's the PC?

Comment at http://www.theregister.com: "if they made a survey today about the most influential man in the history of competitive extreme ironing Steve Jobs would be voted in..."

Doesn't mean Steve Jobs wasn't influential, just means that you shouldn't take such reports too serious right now.
 
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