6. Todd Howard
Bethesda


On Xbox 360, Oblivion has sold over 800,000 copies in the U.S., generating $50 million in revenues. Todd Howard, the game’s executive producer, has spent four years on an RPG that captured many gamers who did not see themselves as the types to lope around grassy fields, collecting mushrooms and perhaps doing the odd bit of combat. The game’s goal was to allow players to “live another life” and it certainly succeeded. This is what makes Oblivion one of the most important games of the decade, as well as one of the best games. Oblivion has swept just about every awards ceremony you can name and is still the highest rated Xbox 360 game of all time according to Gamerankings.com. For Bethesda, it was a great way to celebrate the company’s 20th anniversary.

5. Jane Cavanagh
Eidos / SCi

Cavanagh is the founder and head of SCi, a fairly minor player in the global games market. But in the last 18 months she has engineered the takeover of the Eidos brand, propelling her company to top 20 status in the US, with more promise to come. During its decline, Eidos had been badly mismanaged by cavalier attitudes but the Englishwoman has brought temperance and good sense to the operation, winnowing out old practices that weren’t working. Tired brands like Tomb Raider and Hitman are being restored, while new brands have been brought to market. More importantly, the company is forging ahead with IP relationships that could pay dividends in the years ahead. Sales for SCi were up ten-fold on 2005’s figures, an impressive achievement in its own right.

4. Reggie Fils-Aime
Nintendo


He began the year as Nintendo of America’s sales and marketing chief, but ends it as the company’s president. He has been at the fulcrum of Nintendo’s Herculean efforts to re-establish itself as a major force in the console business. And he has helped Nintendo hold onto its position of leadership in the handheld space. Innovation and smart positioning has been the difference between DS and Sony’s PSP. Nintendo’s fanboys have adopted ‘Reggie’ as one of their own, partly due to his own personal charm, partly due to his scathing and entertaining opinions of his competitors, and partly due to their need for a figurehead that could bring the glory days back to Nintendo. In 2006 Fils-Aime has worked brilliantly to set Nintendo’s agenda and to deliver against its promise.

3. Cliff Bleszinski
Epic Games


We have been told, many times over the past few years, that graphical fidelity is an empty vessel. We have also been told that the days of innovation in shooting games have gone. It is true that gaming has delivered plenty of good-looking games that failed to offer much in the way of fun. It is also true that we have suffered some wretched shooting games in recent years, devoid of imagination. But Cliff Bleszinski’s Gears of War has helped to upend these prejudices. He has given us an amazing shooting game that, through the hide-and-seek nature of its play, has attempted something new. It’s a lovely game to look at, and it’s a marvel for online play. There can be no doubt that, like a true artist, Bleszinski and his team worked incredibly hard to get this game out and to have it sufficiently polished. But he also took the time to make sure the game was on everyone’s mind right through the summer, attending interviews and doing the whole PR thing, when he must have felt his time might be better spent elsewhere.

2. Satoru Iwata
Nintendo


He is surrounded by immensely talented and driven people, such as Shigeru Miyamoto and Genyo Takeda, any of whom could have laid claim to a position near the top of this list. But what has made Iwata special in 2006 has been his ability to inspire and lead not only great people, but also the rest of us. His achievements are astounding. He is the first boss of Nintendo who is unrelated to the Yamauchi family; the only boss of a major games company who knows how to make games in a practical sense. And he has given us Wii, something new and original and exciting. He has helped to give us The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Of course, at this time, Wii still has much to prove. But it has gotten off to an amazing start. DS must also be recognized and his work in personally bringing the marvellous Brain Age to market is testament to his drive to expand gaming as a market and as an idea. A brilliant man.

1. Peter Moore
Microsoft



We expect our business leaders to display creativity, fiscal acumen, guts and a touch of charisma. But most of all we expect them to deliver. Peter Moore has delivered. That's why he's number one. Xbox 360 has sold as close as needs be to five million consoles in North America in the past 12 months. The best next generation games, currently, are Xbox 360 games. Xbox Live is the most advanced and user-friendly online service. Microsoft has an impressive relationship with publishers and with the media. All this has been achieved by hard graft and smart bets against a backdrop of Microsoft’s absolute need to turn a profit in this business, sooner rather than later. The endless trips to Japan to try to make that business work display his capability for hard work, even in the face of seemingly impossible odds. But there is yet more work to be done, and not just in Japan. Microsoft faces a tough year in 2007 as it attempts to hold onto its leadership position while moving into the mass market. But in 2006, his efforts to woo consumers through third party publishing deals and through a savvy media presence makes Moore our pick as Next-Gen’s 2006 Person of the Year.