Before Jaffe, Miyamoto, and Inafune hit it big, they made...

Started at the bottom, now they're here

You have to get your foot in the door somehow. The biggest names in the gaming industry didn't just wake up one morning to find that their opinions and designs were widely acclaimed and respected. It took work, luck, blood, sweat, tears, blood, tears, sweat, blood, and tears to get to where they are today. And though each may be best known for his or her work on a single game or series, every developer had to start somewhere.

So just where and when did these illustrious careers first start? We've combed through game credits to track down the first projects of these celebrated auteurs. Mind you, these aren't entire studios--just the big names that you recognize from headlines and interviews. It all goes to show that video games are very much a collaborative medium, and the smallest staff member can go on to make history (and big bucks) later down the line.

Cliff Bleszinski (Gears of War, Unreal Tournament)

Started with: The Palace of Deceit: The Dragon's Plight (PC), doing the game design and graphics.

John Carmack (Doom, Quake. Commander Keen)

Started with: Catacomb, as a programmer and designer.

Keiji Inafune (Mega Man, Dead Rising)

Started with: Street Fighter (arcade), as a graphic designer.

Ed Boon (Mortal Kombat)

Started with: High Impact Football (arcade), as a programmer and designer.

Yu Suzuki (Shenmue, Virtua Fighter)

Started with: Champion Boxer (arcade), as a designer.

Ted Price (Ratchet & Clank, Resistance)

Started with: Disruptor (PS1), leading the artwork and design.

Ken Levine (BioShock, System Shock 2)

Started with: Thief: The Dark Project (PC), coming up with the initial design and story concepts.

Satoru Iwata (Earthbound, Kirby's Dream Land)

Started with: Car Race II, developing everything himself.

Al Lowe (Leisure Suit Larry)

Started with: Dragon's Keep (Apple II), doing the programming himself and helping with the writing and graphics.

David Cage (Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls)

Started with: Timecop (SNES), composing the music and sound.

Todd Howard (The Elder Scrolls, Fallout 3)

Started with: The Terminator: Future Shock (DOS), as a producer and supplemental designer.

Hidetaka "Swery65" Suehiro (Deadly Premonition)

Started with: The Last Blade (Neo Geo), as a director.

Jade Raymond (Assassin's Creed, Watch Dogs)

Started with: Jeopardy! (browser), as a programmer.

Hideki Kamiya (Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, Okami)

Started with: Arthur to Astaroth no Nazomakaimura: Incredible Toons (PS1), as a planner.

Tomonubu Itagaki (Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive)

Started with: Tecmo Super Bowl 2: Special Edition (Genesis, SNES).

Doug Tennapel (Earthworm Jim, The Neverhood)

Started with: Skljagger: Revolt of the Westicans (SNES), as an animator.

Fumito Ueda (Ico, Shadow of the Colussus)

Started with: Enemy Zero (Saturn, PC), as an animator.

John Romero (Doom, Quake)

Started with: Dodge 'Em, doing all the game design, programming, art, and sound by himself.

David Jaffe (God of War, Twisted Metal)

Started with: Skyblazer (SNES), as a tester.

Sid Meier (Civilization, Pirates!)

Started with: Spitfire Ace (Atari), as a designer.

Jonathan Blow (Braid, The Witness)

Started with: Wulfram (PC).

Hironobu Sakaguchi (Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger)

Started with: The Death Trap (PC-88), as a producer.

Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil, God Hand)

Started with: Capcom Quiz: Hatena? no Daibken (Game Boy), as game planner.

Edmund McMillen (Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac)

Started with: Triptych (PC), as the sole artist.

Jane Jensen (Gabriel Knight, King's Quest)

Started with: EcoQuest: The Search for Cetus (DOS), as a writer and game designer.

Warren Spector (Deux Ex, System Shock))

Started with: Space Rogue (Apple II, Commodore 64), providing supplemental writing and role-playing mechanics.

Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid)

Started with: Penguin Adventure (MSX), as assistant director.

Shigeru Miyamoto (The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros.)

Started with: Sheriff (arcade), as an artist.

Peter Molyneux (Fable, Black & White)

Started with: The Entrepreneur, but we're going to pretend it was the port of Druid 2: Enlightenment.

Goichi Suda (Killer7, No More Heroes)

Started with: Super Fire Pro Wrestling 3 Final Bout, as director.

Phil Fish (Fez)

Started with: Open Season, as a level designer.

Michel Ancel (Rayman, Beyond Good & Evil)

Started with: Pick 'n Pile (Atari 2600), working on graphics and design.

Tim Schafer (Psychonauts, Grim Fandango)

Started with: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Action Game (DOS), as a tester.

Yasumi Matsuno (Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story)

Started with: Conquest of the Crystal Palace (NES), as a planner.

Will Wright (SimCity, Spore)

Started with: Raid on Bungeling Bay (Commodore 64), doing everything himself besides the later NES and MSX ports.

Turns out, the mind behind mega-hits like SimCity and The Sims got his start with attack helicopters instead of construction. Wright so enjoyed building cities in Bungeling Bay's level editor that he decided to make a game out of it, researching urban planning and eventually making SimCity. Essentially, his game designs went from decimating cities in a chopper to building a metropolis--and human lives--from the ground up.

Jenova Chen (Journey, Flower)

Started with: Medal of Honor: European Assault (PS2, Xbox, GameCube), as an art intern.

The stuff of legends

So there you have it--the first games of some of gaming's most renowned names. It's crazy to see how far they've come, and we wonder whether or not they remember their first game fondly. Of course, there are always those whose first work was the biggest claim to fame--people like Randy Pitchford, who got his start on Duke Nukem 3D Atomic Edition, or Toru Iwatani and his debut of Puck-Man (aka Pac-Man). Think we missed your favorite big-name developer? Tell us in the comments and we'll track their first project down!