'Who are your game dev heroes?'

Those of us who truly love games -- enough to want to make them a career -- are often in thrall to the classics. But as developers grow older, they can become inspired by the work of their peers, too -- and not just their games, but their collaboration, mentorship, writing, and speech. What game developers -- the individuals behind the games -- inspire people? That's the question Gamasutra posed to its Twitter followers on Friday morning, and the below responses (while far from exhaustive) read as a veritable who's-who of game development. Remember, if you're interested in participating in these conversations in the future, make sure to follow @Gamasutra on Twitter. The questions usually go out on Fridays in the late morning, Pacific time, alongside Tweets of our regular news, blogs, and original writing.