Iwata and Miyamoto top GameDaily 'Persons of the Year' list

by Alexander Sliwinski { Dec 22nd 2008 at 7:51PM }

Topping the list of GameDaily BIZ's "Persons of the Year 2008" were Nintendo power couple Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto. President Satoru Iwata received it for his vision in expanding to "non-traditional" audiences, while Miyamoto got the nod for continually innovating on whatever gets thrown his way. Nintendo has been on a money-making rampage the last couple years, and even during the recent economic crisis, has filled its coffers with bagiggles of cash.

Taking the #2 spot were Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick and Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime, while Tim Sweeney and Mike Capps of Epic Games took the bronze. Kotick and Morhaime took their rightful place for being part of The Merger which eclipsed Electronic Arts. Sweeney and Capps received the honor for having the Unreal Engine 3, the little piece of tech that seems to be what makes this generation's games run. Check out the full list of winners by following the links below.

Source - Persons of the Year 2008: Part 1 (GameDaily)
Source - Persons of the Year 2008: Part 2 (GameDaily)

Tags: best-of-2008, gamedaily, persons-of-the-year, satoru-iwata, shigeru-miyamoto

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Leobebes (BDF: Braid Defence Force) @ Dec 22nd 2008 7:57PM

Are these guys "persons of the year" like Stalin was in 1939 or in 1942 or like Hitler was in 1938?

...you know for killing gaming and all?

Leobebes (BDF: Braid Defence Force) @ Dec 22nd 2008 7:58PM

...btw I keed k?

Chin-Poh @ Dec 22nd 2008 8:04PM

You'll be receiving a visit from the NDF soon.

Al2x @ Dec 22nd 2008 8:19PM

In B4 Angry Nintendo Mob

Psycho300x @ Dec 22nd 2008 8:28PM

Or obama is in 2008? (awaits flaming)

slycooper_rocker [anti-panda death murder squadron force five] @ Dec 23rd 2008 12:55AM

killed gaming? no. miyamoto gave birth to mainstream gaming. my granny who lives in a third world country knows who mario is.

J-Link @ Dec 22nd 2008 8:10PM

Ah, so Hitler ans Stalin were both responsible for killing gaming in the 1940's? That explains the lack of consoles back then;).

Uncontrol @ Dec 22nd 2008 8:11PM

bobby kotick was second place

are we sure this isn't "persons who fucked gaming over this year"

Moptimus Slime @ Dec 22nd 2008 8:14PM

actually, I believe this is the list of "People who mad a Fuckton of Money Over the Past Fiscal Year"

The Fatass of Kickassness @ Dec 22nd 2008 10:32PM

"persons who fucked gaming over this year"

lol @ those who think gaming was 'fucked over' this year

keep thinking that. i'll be playing Fallout 3.

mr mobius @ Dec 22nd 2008 8:12PM

Hitler didn't kill gaming.

Have you any idea how popular WWII shooters are this generation and last generation?

KeenCommander @ Dec 22nd 2008 8:57PM

Approximately 5 million, though no expert has been able to keep an accurate count.

J-Link @ Dec 22nd 2008 8:13PM

This was meant as a reply to Leobebbes.

Superstar90 @ Dec 22nd 2008 8:15PM

This?

Or that?

Lee @ Dec 22nd 2008 8:28PM

And rightly so.

The Dark Wayne @ Dec 22nd 2008 8:51PM

the only thing miyamoto did this year was Wii music.
WII MUSIC!!
ARGGGHH!!

tmacairjordan87 @ Dec 22nd 2008 10:50PM

Don't bother expressing logic to a nintendo fanboy

Foetoid @ Dec 23rd 2008 3:43AM

The main problem with the Wii is instead of spanning out big-titles over the life of the console like they did with the GC and N64, they released all their big-budget mainstream titles in the first 2 years. By the time Nintendo take their usual 3 years to make a new zelda/mario etc etc, it'll be late in the Wiis lifecycle or they're gearing up for Zelda HD. All they did with the Wii was push all their titles out early in the Wiis lifecycle, which isn't a bad thing, but it gives the HD-fanboys so much ammo 'omg, no good games from Nintendo in the near future!' *sigh*. Good thing 3rd parties are gearing up (finally).

colinbell @ Dec 22nd 2008 8:56PM

Its funny, I wouldnt have believed this possible 2-3 years back, but EA has probably done far more for gaming innovation and created more fresh titles than Nintendo in this generation. Skate, Spore, destructible environments in Battlefield, much improved gameplay in FIFA (though still prefer Pro Evo myself), Dead Space, Mirror's edge...and they probably did more to reach to "non-traditional" audiences as they put it with the SIms series.

And when will Sega get any credit for so many years of great, innovative games? They sure dont get any sales, tried Valkyria, what a gabulous game, but no one buys it, no awards, nothing.

TwEE @ Dec 22nd 2008 9:13PM

Your wrong about the Nintendo/Ea thing.. right about the Sega thing..

Moptimus Slime @ Dec 22nd 2008 9:23PM

no awards eh?

http://www.gamesradar.com/f/gamesradars-officially-annual-platinum-chalice-awards-2008/a-2008121817178666006/p-3

also,this is for gaming in general, not just games

Moptimus Slime @ Dec 22nd 2008 9:36PM

Also, I wouldn't call Skate or Spore or even Mirrors Edge "fresh". Skate is what Tony Hawk should've been doing years ago, Spore is 5 shallow versions of 5 already made games, and while first-person platforming may not be used a lot (Mirrors Edge being an ironic example of why), its certainly not a new idea.

Also, why is it that when EA releases The Sims Will Wright becomes a god for reaching the "non-traditional" gamer, whereas whenever Nintendo does it they're accused of killing gaming and the "casual" gamers the Wii/DS reach get blamed whenever a game doesn't sell?

The Dark Wayne @ Dec 22nd 2008 9:40PM

the Sims was years ago pal, you're obviously trying to ignore the glaring failures of Spore in the eyes of the gaming community. Besides, what you said never happened, no one cares about the sims

slycooper_rocker [anti-panda death murder squadron force five] @ Dec 23rd 2008 12:57AM

@ moptimus

because playing the sims didn't make you look like a total tard.

Foetoid @ Dec 23rd 2008 3:47AM

LOL Slycooper, your an idiot. Very very few Wii games require any more than small wrist movements, and the ones that require more (Wii Sports of example) are so much fun that noone cares if they look like a total tard. Grow up!

Stupidiot @ Dec 23rd 2008 7:28AM

Because (at least in my case) playing the Sims was actually fun for us gamers, too. The gimmick from waving your arms around like an idiot in Wii sports and other, non-gamer centric, games from Nintendo wore off fast. To this day, the only game that I had good, solid fun playing on Wii was Zelda TP (yes, I have Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3). The reason we hate Nintendo for reaching out to non-gamers is that, while EA remains largely gamer-centric, Nintendo's focus seems to be drifting elsewhere (Wii Music... Seriously!?)

Okay... Rant over (thank Jebus it wasn't a long one).

TwEE @ Dec 22nd 2008 9:14PM

Who do I have to kill to get a mario paint 2? WHO?

mr mobius @ Dec 22nd 2008 9:51PM

Bowser. He keeps Mario busy.

TwEE @ Dec 22nd 2008 10:05PM

Bowser huh? That slut!

Markez (Anti-Panda Death Murder Squadron) @ Dec 22nd 2008 9:15PM

How much is a bagiggle?

Can I have one?

Mr Khan @ Dec 22nd 2008 10:10PM

Miyamoto more for creating the best-selling game of the year, Iwata for giving the Wii the single best-selling year for any console ever, and getting the DS to beat the original Game Boy's lifetime sales in half the time

goldeneyesoldier (noble prophet of rant and ownage) @ Dec 23rd 2008 3:51AM

i remember the pre wii days,when the console was the revolution,and signing the online petitions for hd graphics capacity on it,and the petition to keep the name revolution when 'wii' was introduced.even the sony guys at school who i had to argue with in defense of the gamecube felt sorry for me and didnt tease me about the console being named wii.
its good that they are reaping the fruits of sucess for innovation,but what about all us nintendo defense force spartan mark IV fernando unit hardcore guys? they are sucessful now.great.but i feel like they forgot where they came from.when bioshock was being showed off at e3, G4 interviewed a fan ass to what he thought,and the fan said "its going to be the next metroid prime"
i was oh soo confused to hear that,as the next metroid prime,metroid prime 3 corruption,was nearing its date for launch!!!!! its not like the guy was a noob on gaming,its just that a highly anticipated hardcore title was not being pushed or hyped or anyting by nintendo. what was a couple "wii would like to play" ads going to do against the marketing onslaught of microsoft and halo 3?
suuure complain bout halo 3 was overhyped and "game fuel lmao!!!" but that was microsoft's job and they did it well.if metroid prime 3 recieved only a mere fraction of the marketing that is being done for other titles it would have done even better than it already has.while hardcore titles are being treated cheaply as if they sell themselves nooooooone shall escape from wii music ads.
they are definately persons of the year for gaming.does that gaming include GAMERS? its only by my years of loyal ndf service and the hardcore titles on the wii i would say yes.