Nolan Bushnell is the inventor of Pong, the founder of Atari and widely considered the father of electronic gaming.
"Each of the following has made an important contribution to today's game industry. Most are from the technical side, the primary driver of the business. I feel that much of the early work has been forgotten. But the pioneers I've listed were critical in creating the foundation that led to today's gaming business. Our long history has forced technology that made possible the computer world we now inhabit, and allowed for the creation of games such as the genius World of Warcraft, which revolutionized MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games)."