I found an article on IGN, which I normally don't agree with. It is a list of what they considered to be the top 100 game creators of all time. I found it to be very interesting learning who made what and other accomplishments they had through their careers.
Here is the link: http://games.ign.com/top-100-game-creators/1.html

Well, here's my list of my favorite game creators.
1. Will Wright
2. Sid Meier
3. Chris Taylor (the guy from GPG, not Interplay)
The funny thing is that they're all from the whole "strategy-ish" department of games-making. Will made the Sims where you are in a strategy-like environment, Sid Meier is best known for the Civ series which is turn-based, and Chris Taylor made TA and SupCom, two of the best RTS games of all time in my book.
Oh, and I hate IGN. Don't really know why.

1.Jordan Mechner (Prince of Persia 1,2 & 4)
2.Ron Gilbert (Well, you should know this by yourself :-P)
3.Eric Chahi (Another World aka Out of This World)

Hmmm, for me it goes like this:
1.Chris Avellone
2.Chris Avellone
3.Chris Avellone
...but Warren Spector was awesome too, in his System Shock/Deus Ex days.

You didn't just call The Sims a strategy game, did you?

Strange to see so many names you never hear of, the few vocal ones completely cloud the picture dont they?

No, but it does have strategic elements, however small they may be.

Dude, setting a goal and then getting to it as fast as possible does require some sort of strategical merit.
Imo the sims is a extreme micro strategy game. However, myself I prefer building neat houses...
Edit: Did I just get post sniped? Looks like I was.

Chris Roberts, Ron Gilbert, Warren Spector, and Keiji Inafune and got fucked over.
Richard Garriott should've been in the top 10. John Carmack should've been #3.

Gunpei Yokoi from Intelligent Systems.
Puzzle League is my all time favorite game.

Anonymous irrational contempt on the internet? No way...
It's okay, I feel the same way about Gamespot. But I like IGN. I disagree quite a bit with many of the editors, but if you just read the site without knowing the personalities behind the writing you really don't have the context. I listen to a few of their delightfully entertaining podcasts (I highly recommend Game Scoop!), so I have a better idea of where each person is coming from or whether I even care about the opinions of certain editors.
As for those lists though, I would take the order placement worth a grain of salt. I think it's really more of an excuse to compile together a list with interesting background info than an actual ranking of who's the ultimate game creator.
Some of the individual designers whose works I've enjoyed immensely in no particular order: Gabe Newell, Shigeru Miyamoto, John Carmack, Will Wright, and Hideo Kojima.

Where the fuck is Ken Silverman?
That's all I have to say, otherwise I saw those I wanted to see on that list, though I do not agree with ordering for the most part.

Their top 3 are overrated. 4-7 however are fucking brilliant.