What person or persons do you think had the biggest influence on video games this year?

I doubt many here will agree with mine, but my top 5 are:

1.  Cliff Bleszinski (AKA Cliffy B., dudehuge)--Love 'im or hate him, you can't deny he's changed the way we percieve developers today.  What he brings is celebrity, which--even if imposed upon us--is molding an industry that is becoming more and more respected.   He isn't a Meier, Wright, Miyamoto or Kojima, and he never will be.  That said, what he could be is the industry's first real star.

2.  Steve Jobs--SJ never really pushed games on Apple Platforms until this year (I've read that he didn't like the perception it gave his computers), but with the proclivity of the iPhone and the AppStore, (not to mention the rampant ad campaign for iPhone games) you can tell that this is rapidly changing.  Massive download numbers from the appstore and big name developers jumping on the iPhone bandwagon are proof that it has already created a shift.  IF developers are creative enough to make good games using the iPhone's strengths and work around the iPhone's limitations (no buttons), he could move to the top of this list.  Don't forget the Apple's contract with AT&T ends this year, so unless they renew it, a ton more people will get it on their carrier of choice.

3.  Shigeru Miyamoto--He earns this spot solely because of the sales power of Wii Fit.  As developers start to take advantage of the Balance board more (see: Shawn White), and consumers buy a wii because of wii fit (then fall in love with wii sports, then other games) its clear he's still moving the industry in a big way (waggle/hula pun not intended).  The Ocean is only getting bluer...

4.  Gabe Newell--Valve showed us Co-op is bloody fun with Left4Dead this year, and the developer continues to be a beacon of ingenuity in the industry.  Between emphasis on co-op and the Valve's new AI director, I see many a copy-cat forthcoming.  Gabe is the intelligent, straight forward executive moving it all forward.

5.  Mark Healey and Alex Evans--4 words:  LittleBigPlanet User Created Content.  The only reason they aren't higher on the list is because Media Molecule's masterpiece simply does not have enough market penetration.

Honorable mentions:  Peter Molyneux and Todd Howard for their epic and engrossing RPG's.  Hideo Kojima for the equally epic and impressive finale that is MSG4.

i would have to say jack black.

http://www.edge-online.com/features/the-top-25-game-industry-heroes-2008?page=0%2C0

Edge recently published their top 25 "Game Industry heroes," and two of their top 5 are in my top 5 too: Mark Healy and Shiggy Myamoto.

My No. 1, Cliffy B, is their no. 8. Neither Gabe Newell nor Jobs is on their list, but they do credit one of L4D's lead designiners (Michael Booth, No. 11), and an Iphone developer (Simon Oliver, No. 24) for similar reasons as I did for Gabe and Steve, respectively.

Their list is good and all (and undoubtably more in professionally in tune with the industry then mine), but I say my list still has something theirs doesn't: Balls.

I mean come on, Yves Guillemot as No. 1? Dude didn't do anything besides keep Ubi's head above water. In my opinion they just gave it to an old industry stallwort instead of anybody who actually made a great contribution.

I didn't even put him on my list, but I wouldve had much more respect for Edge if they put Jonathon Blow, (their No. 7) as no. 1. I personally don't think he'll cause any sort of influential dent in the industry, but at least he did something that made people pay attention and THINK about game design for a minute. Yves, on the other hand, is just maintaining his ship.

So I say to you Edge, if you really want to stick to your mantra and make Video Games' place in this world of more Art than Product, do us a favor and put Braid's creator at the top of the list, instead of some BS CEO.

In short, Blow clearly belongs on the top of the list more than Guillemot. So I say to you Edge: Please Blow me.

"steve jobs"

i loled sorry.

 Yeah.  I pretty much expect most people to scoff at that pick in particular.  I still stand by it though, and it will still prove to be better than Edge's no. 1 in the long term.

Aaprt from Jobs, I agree with your list. I don't think he is a gaming-personality just yet mostly because he is famous for other things (making Apple-shares crash when rumors about his health emerge - I call this the Mandela-effect)