Shigeru Miyamoto is basically the architect behind Nintendo's most beloved franchises. He's the guy who created Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, F-Zero, Pikmin, and Nintendogs—pretty much Nintendo's entire DNA as a company. These days he works as a producer on most projects, and he's also overseen work by outside developers, like when he supervised Metroid Prime and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games.

People call him the "father of modern video games" and "the Walt Disney of electronic gaming," and honestly, those titles stick for a reason. His games have this signature feel: tight controls, intuitive gameplay that doesn't need explaining, straightforward stories, and worlds that reward exploration and discovery rather than handholding.

Nintendo hired him as an artist in 1977 and threw him at one of their early arcade cabinets. The first project was Radar Scope, which basically flopped in America. But instead of moving on, Miyamoto repurposed the hardware and completely transformed it into Donkey Kong—and that game became massive. It changed video game history and introduced Mario (originally called Jumpman), who became Nintendo's mascot and one of the most iconic characters in gaming. After that, Miyamoto became Nintendo's golden boy, designing franchise after franchise, most of which are still going strong today.