In this week’s Top 5, let’s take a look at the most interesting and compelling top executives in video gaming. They’re successful, they’re controversial, they are beloved and hated, and they are they among the most powerful people in the industry.

1. Satoru Iwata

Nintendo’s top executive sits at #1 because Nintendo sits at #1. After Nintendo lost its top spot in the console battle to Sony’s Playstations, and seemed somewhat uninspired with the Gamecube, who could have ever predicted what happened next. Eschewing things like high definition, decent onboard storage and respectable online capabilities, Nintendo under Satoru Iwata turned left while Sony and Microsoft plowed forward. The results? Obviously, spectacular.

Thanks to the waggling of the Wiimote, the Nintendo Wii became a global phenomenon, spawning the “It prints money” internet meme and launching the careers of minigame programmers everywhere. Add in the success of the DS and the DSi, and you’ve got a company that has redefined console gaming and who plays them. Which firmly places Satoru Iwata at the top of my list.

2. Bobby Kotick

Gaming’s great lightning rod of controversy. Bobby Kotick has made no secret that his motivations are financially driven and based on the exploitation of Activision Blizzard’s intellectual properties. In investor land that makes him a hero. In the video gaming world, that makes him the villain responsible for Guitar Hero Van Halen. But whether you respect his stance or not, it’s hard to argue with the company’s success under Kotick. Not just now, but since 1991, with franchises like the aforementioned Hero games, Tony Hawk, and a little game called Call of Duty. Of course, it also helps that as Activision’s CEO, he was able to bring Blizzard and it’s money-making World of Warcraft into the fold.

Plus, every now and then, Bobby pulls a great comment that enrages legions of gamers everywhere.

3. Peter Moore

Peter Moore, formerly the face of the XBox and currently heading up EA Sports, is gaming’s salesman supreme. Who can forget the Halo 2 and Grand Theft Auto 4 tattoos to announce new XBox titles. Personally, I’d still like to know if those were actually real tattoos or not, but Moore’s passion for the product he was selling was enough to make you think he’d really get that done. And sell he did, helping the original XBox compete against the dominant PS2, and setting up the XBox 360 to jump out to a big lead on the PS3. How good a salesman was Moore? Well, as many units as Microsoft was seeing go belly up with the dreaded Red Ring of Death, they were still flying off the shelves, a tremendous accomplishment for a product that was fundamentally flawed from an engineering standpoint.

Moore, in his time at Sega, was also instrumental in Sega (wisely) abandoning the console market and focusing on software. With titles resulting like Sonic Unleashed, frankly I’m not sure whether to congratulate him for that or not.

4. Steve Jobs

There’s no one in any tech industry with more mystique and aura about them than Steve Jobs. In his time at Apple, the company has completely reinvented the music genre, practically strong-arming the failing music labels to abandon their failing business practices, made paying for digital downloads palatable to the masses, and created the world’s most effective digital distribution system in iTunes, which now offers music, movies, TV shows, audio books, and of course, games.

With the launch of the iPhone, and later the iPod Touch, Apple blasted its way into the gaming business, offering up the first legitimate challenge to Nintendo’s dominance in the handheld market and immediately forcing other companies to change their operating practices (DSiWare and PSP Minis anyone?). As the iPhone continues to grow as a platform (and possibly the introduction of the fabled iTablet), Apple will continue to stake out it’s place as a gaming company. And that all generally gets credited to Steve Jobs.

5. Gabe Newell

If Gabe Newell hasn’t already saved PC gaming, he’s the man who’s going to. As much as Valve Entertainment may be known for their great games, like Half Life, Team Fortress, Portal and Left for Dead, it is their Steam service that puts Newell on this list. As a software distribution system and multiplayer system, Steam is unparalleled in the PC world, with almost 1000 games and over 20 million user accounts. With computer gaming not nearly as focused as console gaming, there aren’t that many names and personalities who can bridge the various publishers and operating systems and hardware makes to be the face and the voice of quality PC gaming. One person who can do that and in many ways is doing that, is Gabe Newell.

Plus, like Bobby Kotick, the always outspoken Gabe Newell can be counted on to launch a couple of memorable verbal salvos every year, often using the PS3 as his favorite whipping boy. For whatever reason, Gabe just does not like the PS3.

You may have noticed that the CEO’s of Microsoft and Sony (Steve Ballmer and Howard Stringer respectively) didn’t make the list. While both men are significant and powerful, they oversee larger operations, and it’s hard to really see either of them as video game CEOs.