Gaming's Mount Rushmore

"A monument's dimensions should be determined by the importance to civilization of the events commemorated." -Gutzon Borglum

What do Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln have in commmon with Duke Nukem, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and Sonic? They are all icons of their respective history. Our Forefathers have been imortalized on a mountain side since 1941 and it took 14 years to complete the monument.

But what if there was a Mount Rushmore of Gaming? Who would be chizzled into stone for future generations to see? Let's think about this, shall we?

First of all, whoever gets put on the "Gaming's Greatest Monument" needs to transcend the world of video games. The entire world knows of George Washinton and Abraham Lincoln, so the faces on the mountain need to be recognizable by more than just the hardcore gamer.

Mount Rushmore's Presidents were each from a different era. So the second criteria to be chosen should span different platforms. It will be best to choose one face to represent Nintendo, one for Sony, one for Microsoft, and one from a dead platform.

And finally, the characters must have originated in the gaming universe. Darth Vader and Pikachu have both been in games, but they also both were put into video games because of the success of other genres.

Nintendo Candidates: Mario, Donkey Kong, Link

All three have starred many times over in their own games. All have best sellers in their repetoire. And all are very recognizeable.

The Winner: Mario. Was there ever any doubt? Granted, Mario had his gaming debut in the original Donkey Kong arcade game, but Mario is Nintendo. This was probably the easiest choice of them all.

Sony Playstation Candidates: Cloud, Kratos, Solid Snake

This is a tough one. Final Fantasy is one of the most successful series of games on the Playstation platform. And the greatest character from the Final Fantasy series is Cloud. Final Fantasy saved Square Enix, but is Cloud the face to represent Sony? Solid Snake has little competition in the stealth-action gaming world. (Sam Fisher where are you?) Snake has graced the PS1, PS2, PS3, and PSP. Is that enough be imortalized in stone? God of War star, Kratos, is the best character in a Playstation exclusive game to come along in quite a while. Sony would like to tell you that Kratos is a household name, but is he?

Winner: Solid Snake. When it came right down to it, Cloud was only in the one Final Fantasy game and Kratos hasn't been around for long enough. It may seem like Snake wins by default, but don't tell him that.

Microsoft Xbox Candidates: Master Chief (Halo:CE), Master Chief (Halo 2), Master Chief (Halo 3)

Let's face it, if there was no Master Chief there would no longer be an Xbox and there never would have been an Xbox 360. So even hinting that there could be another face to represent the Xbox is a joke. So of the three versions of Master Chief, which one should be chosen. Halo: CE Master Chief was the original. He redefined FPSs on consoles. Halo 2 Master Chief was in the fastest selling United States media product in history. And Halo 3 Master Chief is the only one on the Xbox 360.

Winner: Halo: CE Master Chief. Just like Star Wars & Indiana Jones, the first is the best.

Dead Platform Candidates: Sonic (Sega), Pac-Man (Arcade), Gordon Freeman (PC)

Sega had a good run in the 90's. The Genesis, Saturn, and Dreamcast were all solid consoles and Sonic was the star of them all. The Arcade was the only place to get quality gaming at one time and Pac-Man was the greatest arcade game of all time. People used to ask for their paycheck to be cashed out in all quarters just to munch on power pellets. Gordon Freeman is the protagonist in 2 of the top 5 rated PC games of all time and he rounds out our candidates from dead platforms.

Winner: Sonic the Hedgehog. Some may say that the PC and arcade aren't dead and that Sega created the only dead systems worthy of a candidate, but Sonic can hold his own. He's had some lousy games recently, but none of them were on a Sega console. Sonic is more than worthy to represent the dead consoles of the world.

This is all in my humble opinion, so let me know who you think should be on Gaming's Mount Rushmore. And if there's a Photoshop expert out there who would like to create my Mount Rushmore of Gaming, I'd love to see it.