Miyamoto wins Time's Top 100 poll

By Ellie Gibson Published 2 May, 2008

Is voted most influential man of 2008.

Readers of Time magazine have voted Shigeru Miyamoto as the most influential person of the year.

Well, he did invent Mario, Donkey Kong and Zelda, not to mention Wii Fit more recently.

Miyamoto got nearly 2 million votes - 300,000 more than the runner-up, Korean pop sensation Rain. He also saw off the likes of Heidi Klum, in fourth place, and the Dalai Lama, at number 207.

Also included in the 2008 Time 100 are Harmonix designers Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy, at number 70. They made Guitar Hero and Rock Band, and probably quite a lot of money.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (10) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • DFawkes #1 4 years ago

    I voted for him. I wouldn't have bothered if someone even vaguely influential was at the top when I checked, but the top 10 were a whos-who of non-influencial people I don't know - I even read about them to check they weren't some movie producer I didn't realise made movies I like, but nope, just a bunch of nobodys.

    Well done to Shigsy!

  • peterfll #2 4 years ago

    He invented Wii Fit all by himself? Along with the Wiiremote and console too. Hmm.

  • DAN.E.B #3 4 years ago

    i have the up most respect for him for what he did years ago
    not much of a fan these days tho

  • Razorus #4 4 years ago

    What a stupid poll. Heidi Klum and Rain in the Top 10? Much respect to them, but how are they influential? How can anyone put them in the same category as the Dalai Lama. But anyway, Shigsy, ftw.

  • smelly #5 4 years ago

    Shigsy did more to influence modern games than most gamers realise.

    Sure you may not like the fact he makes all of his games "family friendly".

    But even in the most violent of games you can see elements influenced from things he's designed in the past..

  • bdc #6 4 years ago

    Well deserved in my opinion. And peterfll, yes, it was actually Miyamoto who came up with the very concept of the Wii and its controls. He's not just some poxy game software programmer, he does a -hell- of a lot at Nintendo, so much, you could even say he IS Nintendo himself.

  • Daryoon #7 4 years ago

    It's not so much "most influential person of the year" as it is "person with the biggest internet fanbase" really, is it?

  • tomcamfield #8 4 years ago

    I agree with Daryoon.

  • Rizzle #9 4 years ago

    Isn't that the same thing?

    /covers fragile skin from unrelenting solar assault

    /realises that, living in England, this is unlikely

  • smelly #10 4 years ago

    "It's not so much "most influential person of the year" as it is "person with the biggest internet fanbase" really, is it?"


    Well yeah.. that's taken as read..

    doesnt mean he doesnt deserve recognition for what he's done for gaming though.