Perhaps an “LOL Whut” would be a better reaction here, but according to respondents to a survey done at something called the London Games Conference, Apple has been the most influential company in regards to shaping the video game industry.

I’ll let that sit for a second before I continue.

That’s right, the company that, until it took control of the mobile device market, was distinctly known as not even being remotely close to producing a gaming machine, has shaped and influenced the video game industry more than Atari, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo or any of the number of game developers — entities like John Carmack, Gabe Newell, Infinity Ward (before Activision bought them), Blizzard, and Bethesda. To say the results of the survey have been met with some disdain is something of an understatement, judging by the title of the Reddit thread discussing the same topic.

The news of the survey was reported by The Escapist website, a site that extensively covers the video game industry. Besides Apple’s obvious influence on the video game industry being acknowledged, other results of the survey were just as surprising. In regards to most influential devices, the iPhone won out:

iPhone: 17%
Wii: 7%
Xbox Live: 3%
PlayStation One: 3%
Steam: 2%

Apparently, the death of Steve Jobs has completely warped people in terms of perspective, as the results of the people who influenced gaming shows quite well:

Steve Jobs 26%
Gabe Newell 16%
Shigeru Miyamoto 7%
Tim Berners-Lee 4%
Mark Zuckerberg 3%

Judging by the appearance of Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, evidently, a large portion of the respondents never played a video game until Facebook and the iPhone became ingrained to society as a whole, and therefore, that’s the only platform they are aware of.

Don’t get me wrong, the success of Angry Birds proves how much casual gamers enjoy viewing their iPhone as a legitimate gaming device, but if you can’t tell the difference between that and something like Modern Warfare 3, which won’t available on any Apple products, then I’m not sure what to tell you; although, perhaps someone could clear up my confusion:

All shapes and sizes, apparently, at least in relation to video games — well, according to the folks who responded to the survey in question, anyway. Whatever motivated these responses, it’s pretty clear the death of Steve Jobs is still fresh on everybody’s mind, even those who consider iPhone gaming the same as console or PC gaming.