List of gaming pioneers
The following is a list of significant men and women known for being the pioneer, father, mother or founder of something in gaming, including video games (and the various video game genres) and board games.
For a list of gaming firsts, see List of firsts in gaming history.
Contents
Video games[edit | edit source]
Concepts[edit | edit source]
| Concept(s) | Pioneer/Father/Mother | Reason(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2D scrolling Vertical scrolling |
Tomohiro Nishikado | Creator of Speed Race, the first video game to use scrolling, specifically vertical scrolling, in 1974. |
| 2D sprite | Tomohiro Nishikado | Creator of Speed Race, which introduced the use of scrolling 2D sprites in 1974. |
| 3D anti-aliasing | Yu Suzuki | Introduced this graphical technique with Virtua Racing on the Sega Model 1 arcade system in 1992. |
| 3D cover system | Takashi Sano | Creator of Time Crisis, first 3D shooter with cover system, released in 1995. |
| 3D polygon graphics | Katsunori Yoshimura Dave Theurer |
Creator of Plazma Line, first computer game with 3D polygons in 1984. Creator of I, Robot, first arcade game with 3D polygons in 1984. |
| 3D quick-time event (QTE) | Makoto Uchida Yu Suzuki |
Creator of Die Hard Arcade, the first 3D game with QTE mechanic. Creator of the Shenmue franchise, which coined the QTE term. |
| 3D texture filtering | Yu Suzuki | Introduced this graphical technique with Daytona USA on the Sega Model 2 arcade system in 1993. |
| Active time battle (ATB) | Hiroyuki Ito Hironobu Sakagachi |
Creators of ATB system for Final Fantasy IV, V'' and VI.[9] |
| Autostereoscopic 3D | Seijiro Tomita | Patented technology for developing 3D images without the need for 3D glasses. |
| Bloom lighting Depth-of-field (DOF) effect |
Takashi Tokita Hisahiko Takeuchi |
Developed bloom lighting and depth-of-field effects for The Bouncer, released in 2000. |
| Combo | Yoshihisa Kishimoto Noritaka Funamizu |
Introduced with Kunio-kun and Renegade 1987, and Double Dragon in 1987. Introduced to versus fighters with Street Fighter II in 1991. |
| Cover mechanic Destructible cover |
Tomohiro Nishikado | Creator of Gun Fight and Space Invaders, the first games with destructible cover mechanics. |
| Cutscene | Tomohiro Nishikado | Creator of Space Invaders Part II, the first game to use cutscenes, released in 1979. |
| Deathmatch | John Romero | Creator of the Doom franchise and coined the "deathmatch" term. |
| Headshot | Yu Suzuki Martin Hollis |
Introduced with the Virtua Cop series, debuted in 1994. Introduced to first-person shooters with GoldenEye in 1997. |
| Life meter Health regeneration |
Genyo Takeda Shigeru Miyamoto |
Creators of Punch-Out, the first game to feature life meters with regenerating health. |
| Microprocessor use | Dave Nutting Gerald Lawson |
Ported Western Gun as microprocessor-based Gun Fight in 1975. Planned for Demolition Derby in 1975 and used for Fairchild Channel F in 1976. |
| Parallax scrolling | Takashi Nishiyama | Creator of Moon Patrol, the first side-scroller to use parallax scrolling, released in 1982. |
| Power-up | Toru Iwatani | Creator of the Pac-Man franchise. |
| Pseudo-3D Sprite-scaling |
Yu Suzuki | Creator of the Hang-On, Space Harrier, OutRun and After Burner franchises. |
| Quick-time event (QTE) | Don Bluth | Creator of the Dragon's Lair franchise and Space Ace. |
| Ray casting | John Carmack | Programmer of Hovertank, Catacomb 3-D, Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. |
| ROM cartridge | Gerald Lawson | Creator of Fairchild Channel F, the first console with interchangeable game cartridges, released in 1976. |
| Third-person cover system | Hideo Kojima Chris Esaki |
Developed third-person cover with Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2. Creator of Kill Switch and design director of Gears of War and Mass Effect. |
Controls[edit | edit source]
| Control(s) | Pioneer/Father/Mother | Reason(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Analog flightstick | Yu Suzuki | 1985 arcade shooter Space Harrier introduced true analog flight stick for movement, moving in any direction and measuring degree of push.[12] |
| Analog thumbstick | Shigeru Miyamoto | Designed modern analog thumbstick design for Nintendo 64. |
| D-pad | Gunpei Yokoi | Designed and patented for Donkey Kong Game & Watch handheld game in 1982. It later earned a Technology & Engineering Emmy Award.[13][14] |
| Dual analog stick controls | Martin Hollis | Introduced with GoldenEye 007 as an option, using two Nintendo 64 Controllers, in 1997. |
| Dual joystick controls | Tomohiro Nishikado | Introduced with Gun Fight, released for arcades in 1975. |
| Full-body motion-sensing | Assaf Gurner | The Sega Activator, based on the Light Harp invented by Assaf Gurner,[15] was the first controller with full-body motion sensing.[16] |
| Motion control | Yu Suzuki | Creator of Hang-On, which introduced the idea of physically moving to control the player character in the game. |
| Strafing | Katsunori Yoshimura | Introduced with Star Cruiser, released in 1988. |
Genres[edit | edit source]
Board games[edit | edit source]
| Subject(s) | Pioneer/Father/Mother | Reason(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Backgammon | Buzarjumihr/Bozorgmehr | Backgammon first mentioned in 6th century text Wızarisnı Catrang ud Nihisnı New Ardaxsır, which credits Buzarjumihr/Bozorgmehr with invention in 5th century.[24] |
| Checkerboard Strategy game |
Queen Hatasu | Ancient Egyptian checkerboards, found with their pieces in burial chambers, were played by Queen Hatasu in the 15th century BC.[25][26] |
| Chess | Ardashir I | Chess first mentioned in Karnamak-i Ardeshir-i Papakan, which mentions it as an accomplishment of Ardashir I in the 3rd century.[27] |
| Draughts / Checkers | Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani | Draughts first mentioned in his Kitab al-Aghani in the 10th century.[28] |
| Go | Zuo Qiuming | Go first mentioned in his Zuo Zhuan,[29][30] published in the early 4th century BC. |
| Miniature wargaming | H.G. Wells | |
| Othello | Goro Hasegawa | Created by Goro Hasegawa in 1971, inspired by Go[32] and Reversi,[33] as well as Shakespeare's Othello. |
| Reversi | Lewis Waterman John W. Mollett |
Created by Lewis Waterman and John W. Mollett in 1882,[33] inspired by Go and Gomoku.[34] |
| Role-playing game (RPG) | Gary Gygax | Creator of Dungeons & Dragons. |
| Wargaming | Charles S. Roberts |
See also[edit | edit source]
- List of firsts in gaming history
- History of video games
- Arcade game
- Console
- Console wars
- List of best-selling game consoles
- List of best-selling video games
- List of best-selling video game franchises
- PC
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ History of Computer Chess and Programmer Dietrich Prinz. Inventors.about.com (1903-03-29). Retrieved on 2013-04-04
- ↑ Nintendo Visionaries: Gunpei Yokoi, the father of Handheld Gaming, Metroid, Wario and more!, Super Smash Blogggers, January 25, 2014
- ↑ Tomohiro Nishikado's biography at his company's web site. Dreams, Inc.. Archived from the original on 2009-04-01 Retrieved on 2011-03-27 (Translation)
- ↑ http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS218035+15-Jan-2009+PRN20090115
- ↑ News That Should Not be Forgotten: The Father of the Modern Video Game Console, Gerald “Jerry” Lawson, Has Died at the Age of 70 in a California Hospital, Baltimore Gamer
- ↑ Brookhaven History: The First Video Game
- ↑ Rabin, Steve. Introduction to Game Development. Massachusetts: Charles River Media, 2005.
- ↑ http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060424/hawkins_01.shtml
- ↑ List of patent family members for US Patent No. 5390937. espacenet. Retrieved on 17 November 2011
- ↑ Nintendo loses 3DS patent lawsuit
- ↑ eGameFame: John Romero — The Father Of Deathmatch
- ↑ Space Harrier Retrospective, IGN
- ↑ Nintendo Wins Emmy For DS And Wii Engineering | Technology | Sky News. News.sky.com (2008-01-09). Retrieved on 2010-08-30
- ↑ Magrino, Tom (2008-01-08). CES '08: Nintendo wins second Emmy - News at GameSpot. Gamespot.com. Retrieved on 2010-08-30
- ↑ Light Harp at CES 1993. YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoxsnCiX05k. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
- ↑ Horowitz, Ken (2004-08-03). Top 10 Tuesday: Worst Game Controllers. Sega-16. Archived from the original on 2010-02-06 Retrieved on 2010-12-04
- ↑ Adam Romano (March 8, 2008). Doctor Hauzer. Defunct Games. Retrieved on 2011-05-12
- ↑ Kenzou Furukawa, Giant Bomb
- ↑ Thinkdigit Magazine, 2003-01 (January 2003)
- ↑ Father of survival horror Shinji Mikami promises fresh terror with The Evil Within, Edge
- ↑ Hideo Kojima 'GDC 2009 Keynote' video Part 2 of 4. 1UP.com (March 26, 2009). Retrieved on 2010-04-01
- ↑ John Szczepaniak, War of the Dead, Hardcore Gaming 101, 15 January 2011
- ↑ Sweet Home: Credits, GameFAQs
- ↑ Daryaee, Touraj (2006) in "Backgammon" in Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia ed. Meri, Josef W. & Bacharach, Jere L, pp. 88-89. Taylor & Francis.
- ↑ Strutt, Joseph (1801). The sports and pastimes of the people of England. London. pp. 255. http://books.google.com/?id=eJwSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA255#v=onepage&q=.
- ↑ "Lure of checkers". The Ellensburgh Capital: pp. 1. 17 February 1916. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yo0KAAAAIBAJ&sjid=x0sDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1525%2C2429787. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
- ↑ Bell, Robert Charles (1979). Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations. Courier Dover Publications. p. 57. ISBN 0-486-23855-5.
- ↑ Oxland, Kevin (2004). Gameplay and design (Illustrated ed.). Pearson Education. pp. 333. ISBN 978-0-321-20467-7. http://books.google.com/?id=l05TkZFbS24C.
- ↑ Potter, Donald L. (1985). "Go in the Classics (ii): the Tso-chuan". Go World (Tokyo: Ishi Press) (42): pp. 19–21. http://www.kiseido.com/classics.htm. Retrieved 2007-11-02.
- ↑ Fairbairn, John (1995). Go in Ancient China. Retrieved on 2007-11-02
- ↑ The Miniatures Page. The World of Miniatures - An Overview.
- ↑ "Othello: The World's Best Selling Licensed Strategy Game Lands in MDI Entertainment's Portfolio of Lottery Game Properties", 4 December 2002.
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 Brief history of Othello
- ↑ "FINE NEW GAMES AND TOYS; Now Ready for Distribution by the Agents of Santa Claus. IN THE MODERN WONDERLAND Millions Spent for the Amusement and Instruction of Children – Minds Active and Hands Busy All the Time", New York Times, 1 December 1895: "Reversi is something like Go Bang, and is played with 64 pieces."
- ↑ Rausch, Allen (August 15, 2004). Gary Gygax Interview - Part I. GameSpy. Retrieved on 2005-01-03
- ↑ "Charles S. Roberts: The Founding Father"
External links[edit | edit source]
| |||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
