- Sid Meier
Sidney K. Meier (born 1954 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American programmer and designer of some of the most commercially and critically successful computer strategy games of all time. Meier has won several accolades for both his contributions to the computer games industry and for the titles that have gained huge commercial successes. Meier is considered by many as one of the most important figures in the computer games industry.
- John Carmack
John D. Carmack II (born August 20 1970) is a widely recognized figure in the video game industry. A prolific American programmer, Carmack co-founded id Software, a computer game development company, in 1991. Carmack was the lead programmer of the highly successful id computer games "Commander Keen", "Wolfenstein 3D", "Doom", "Quake", and subsequent sequels to "Doom" and "Quake".
- Tommy Tallarico
Tommy Tallarico (born on February 18, 1968) is an American video game music composer. A native of Springfield, MA, he founded Tommy Tallarico Studios in 1994 and the Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.) in 2002. He co-hosts, produces, and writes for "The Electric Playground", a TV show about video games. He also co-hosts "Reviews on the Run", (formerly "Judgment Day" on the G4 network) a television show in which he and Victor Lucas review video games.
- J Allard
J Allard (his legal name; formerly James Allard) (born January 12 1969 in Glens Falls, New York) is a Corporate Vice President and the Chief XNA Architect at Microsoft. He also oversaw Microsoft's first foray into the video game industry, the Xbox. Allard oversees all design and engineering for the Xbox console, peripherals, Microsoft's multiplayer online service Xbox Live, as well as development tools for video game developers.
- Richard Garriott
Richard Allen Garriott (born July 4, 1961; nickname Lord British and General British) is a significant figure in the video game industry. He was originally a game designer and programmer, but now engages in various aspects of computer game development.
- Simon Carless
Simon Carless is a video game industry journalist, editor and game designer. He was born in London, England, but has since moved to San Jose, California. Simon commutes to San Francisco where he works for CMP Technology as the Editorial Director in the CMP Game Group including editing both "Game Developer Magazine" and the Webby Award winning Gamasutra.
- John Romero
John Romero is EVP of Game Development at Slipgate Ironworks, a new Bay Area MMO company he co-founded in September 2005. He was a co-Founder of Inside Out Software, Ideas From The Deep, id Software, Ion Storm, and Monkeystone Games. From his early Apple IIe games to the legendary Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Doom II, Heretic, Hexen, and Quake, Romero has made an indelible mark on the computer gaming industry.
- Morgan Webb
Morgan Ailis Webb (born October 5, 1978, near Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is co-host and senior segment producer of the G4 (formerly G4techTV and before that TechTV) television program "X-Play" and "The Gaming Goddess" of "FHM", where she used to contribute a monthly video game column.
- Ralph H. Baer
Ralph H. Baer (born March 8,1922) is a German-born American inventor, noted for his many contributions to games and the video game industry. In 2006, he was awarded the National Medal of Technology for inventing the home console for video games and spawning the video game industry.
- Laura Foy
Laura Foy (born March 16 1976 in Oakdale, New York) is an American television producer and former co-host alongside Tina Wood and Geoff Keighley of the interactive video game television program "G4tv.com" on G4. Foy began her television career in New York, where she co-hosted an online show entitled "Lilith and Eve" on AllGamesNetwork.
- Mark Cerny
Mark Cerny (born 1964) is a video game industry figure having worked as a game designer, programmer, producer and business executive. As president of Cerny Games, which he founded in 1998, he now acts as a consultant in the video game industry. Cerny, a fan of computer programming and arcade games, started in the game industry at the age of 17 when he joined Atari in 1982. In those earlier days of professional game development, …
- Stevie Case
Stevie Case (Stevana Case, born September 7, 1976) is a recognized figure in the video game industry. She is noted for being one of the first well-known female gamers and is controversial for her methods of self-promotion. Case has filled several roles in the industry, from the first female professional gamer at the Cyberathlete Professional League to level designer to Vice President of Development.
- Robert Garriott
Robert K. Garriott (born December 7, 1956) is a computer game industry figure and entrepreneur. He co-founded Origin Systems and Destination Games with his brother, Richard Garriott, and is the CEO of NCsoft-North America. He is the second-eldest son of NASA astronaut Owen K. Garriott. Garriott graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1983 with a Master of Science in Management and also earned degrees in Electrical Engineering from Rice University, …
- Alan Miller
Alan Miller is a pioneering and influential figure in the video game industry. He was an early game designer and programmer for Atari 2600 games who went on to found two large video game developers and publishers. Miller joined Atari in February 1977 and was one of the first four Atari 2600 game designers. His 2600 titles include "Surround", "Hunt & Score", "Hangman" and "Basketball".
- Bruce Davis
Bruce Davis is an American businessman, currently CEO and chairman of Digimarc Corporation. Formerly the head of Activision, he is known for his role in the development of the video game industry. Davis received a B.S. in accounting and psychology and a M.A. in criminal justice from SUNY Albany. He earned a J.D. at Columbia University, and began his professional career as an intellectual property attorney with the firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe in San Francisco, …
- Will Harvey
Will Harvey (born c. 1967) is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and game programmer who first made his mark in the video game industry when he was just fifteen and still in high school. Harvey is the Founder of IMVU, an instant messaging company, and of There, Inc., an MMOG company. In high school, Harvey was taking a computer programming class. His teacher asked the class if anyone knew anything about assembly language. Though he did not, Harvey raised his hand.
- Katherine Anna Kang
Katherine Anna Kang is a machinima film producer and video game industry figure. In 2000, she founded Fountainhead Entertainment and remains as CEO. Formerly, Kang was the Director of Business Development for id Software. She is also known for co-founding the Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences, and most recently for her work in the mobile gaming sector.
- Kristin Holt
Kristin Holt (born August 17, 1981 in Plano, TX) is a television personality and entertainment news correspondent. She is most noted as the current host of G4's "Cheat!", a television show dedicated to video game cheats and strategies; she also substitutes hosting roles for the network's other shows. On GSN, she is currently hosting poker night. Holt is a Texas Christian University graduate.
- Mike McShaffry
Mike McShaffry graduated from the University of Houston, and began his video game industry career working for Origin Systems in 1990. He worked on titles such as, Martian Dreams, Ultima VII: The Black Gate, Ultima VIII: Pagan, Ultima IX: Ascension and Ultima Online. In 1997 he formed his own company Tornado Alley. He has since worked at Glass Eye Entertainment, producing Microsoft Casino.
- Dustin Browder
Dustin Browder is an employee of Blizzard Entertainment and is the Lead Designer of "StarCraft II". He has worked in the video game industry since 1995 at a variety of companies, including Activision, Electronic Arts, and Simon & Schuster Interactive. He has experience in developing real-time strategy games, most notably as Lead Designer for "Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2" and "Command & Conquer: Generals", …
- Bob Whitehead
Bob Whitehead is a game designer and programmer. He is a renowned pioneer and entrepreneur of the video game industry.
- Jon Freeman
Jon Freeman was an influential computer game industry figure of the 1980s and early 1990s. He was a co-founder of Epyx and Free Fall Associates and the spouse of game programmer, Anne Westfall. Besides founding these two companies, though he is credited with some programming, Freeman is most noted as an influential game designer.
- Eric Brosius
Eric Brosius is a musician and video game developer, and a former employee of Looking Glass Studios. He is a former member of the band Tribe, and is married to Terri Brosius, also a former Looking Glass employee and Tribe member. Brosius is best known within the video game industry for his sound design and music work in several Looking Glass Studios, Irrational Games and Ion Storm games, particularly the "Thief" series.
- Rich Carlson
Rich Carlson, also known as Zdim, is an American game developer. Carlson was a musician in Minnesota (from 1975 to 1996) long before becoming involved with the video game industry. A keyboardist, guitarist, composer, arranger and studio musician, he performed with dozens of bands of all types in the Minneapolis area and throughout the midwest, …
- Tony Garcia
Tony Garcia is a video game producer and designer. He has over 23 years of experience in game technologies and worked in senior capacity at Electronic Arts (EA), Microsoft Game Studios and LucasFilm. From 1988 to 1991 Garcia was the Director of Development at LucasFilm Games. He was the producer for such games as "Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe" and "Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis". In 1991, Garcia was a founder of Microsoft Game Studios.
- Brad Fregger
Brad Fregger (born May 31 1940 in Billings, Montana) is an American entrepreneur, author and former game producer publisher, and book publisher. Fregger was the producer of Activision's video game "Ghostbusters computer games "Hacker", the Atari", and the Commodore 64 versions of "Pitfall II" and "Shanghai" (the first commercial version of Brodie Lockard's "Mahjong solitaire"), …
- Ashen Temper
Ashen Temper is widely respecting amongst the online gaming community for his down to earth demeanor and genuine appreciation for a game's playerbase. Most Community Managers end up finding themselves at odds with their community. Ashen Temper, however, keeps to his strong belief that, "Without the player, there is no game." The Shadowbane community soon realized Ashen Temper was a diamond in the rough when it came to Community Managers.
- Stuart Smith
Stuart Smith is an American computer game designer and programmer. He is best known for his adventure games, and was a pioneer in the development of graphical adventures in the early 1980s. He was also a unique designer for his time because of his desire to faithfully build history and mythology into his games. This paralleled the interests of his contemporaries like Bruce Shelley and Sid Meier, and foreshadowed some of their later hits.
- Chuck Kroegel
Chuck Kroegel is an American computer game designer. He was an executive for many years with SSI, and played a key role in developing their position as an industry leader in war games and role-playing games. His career as a leader in the games industry now spans almost 25 years. In the 1970s Kroegel was a school teacher and later an HR manager who enjoyed playing computer war games.
- Rebecca Heineman
Rebecca Ann Heineman, formerly known as Bill Heineman, is a computer game programmer. A long-time veteran of the computer game industry, Heineman has been affiliated at various times with Barking Lizards Technologies, Interplay Productions, Contraband Entertainment, Logicware, Electronic Arts and MacPlay, among other game companies.
- Aaron Pickard
I just graduated from the University of Wyoming--got my B.S. in computer science. I recently moved to Missouri to live with my Dad for a while and wound up taking a programmer/analyst position in Springfield, Missouri at O'Reilly Auto Parts.Oh, and I'm a spock addict. Can't stop the tagging! THE CAKE IS A LIE!
- Oliver Smith
Born in Germany, raised in England, settled in Texas. Life would have been a lot easier if I'd just been born in 1981 instead of 1971, so that by the time I was sitting at a computer it was plugged into an internet instead of waiting for someone to invent the modem. I'd love to be here a few more years, Texas is fantastic and I still strongly believe in the WWII Online project. When I do finally part way with this team, I'd /like/ to work for SOE or Blizzard.
- Yannis Mercier
Partner at Exec Avenue, Retained Executuve Search Firm. www.execavenue.com
- Dennis Liggio
I work for a video game publisher in Austin, TX and I do some writing on the side. I live with my wonderful girlfriend Erin and her little fey kitty Juliette, and everything is going great. Life is going quite well for me.
- Stephen Vanwambeck
The other day I was reminded that I had a Friendster account. It's been about a year since I last checked this out, so thought I'd start updating. Ph3@r the Simian Pirate!!!###.
- John
I am a laid back individual who was raised by tv, movies and video games. I have a degree in computer animation and I moved out to the west coast just over a year ago to try and make it in either game development/publishing or working on visual effects in film. It's been a bit slow but it will happen.
- Pedro
Well let me introduce myself, my name is Pedro or Peter (as some of you old folks know me). For the last few years I've worked in the video game industry. I'm pretty straight forward with people from the beginning and will give my honest opinion on things. How people take it.. well that's up to them. At times I can to be quiet/reserved when meeting people for the first time but that quickly fades.
- Tom Fong
I keep up with current events and politics, especially on the international level, relying more on NPR, BBC, Guardian UK. Lately I've been reading The Beirut Daily Star and Al-Jazeera English Edition. Issues I care about the most are international politics, the environment, endangered species, and scientific progress (versus hindering conservative faith)... Let's hope for world peace one day. Inshallah.
- Adam
Commuting on a 2001 SV650. I'm currently making video games, surfing occasionally and probably playing too much Halo 2. I think I'm about to start saber fencing again in San Diego on thursdays. Time will tell. Ultimate Frisbee definitely gets the back burner for a bit.
- Brian Jones
I'm a gay guy who loves horror movies, heavy metal, and violent video games.