Gary Gygax the co-creator of the first role-playing game, Dungeons and Dragons, died yesterday (March 4th, 2008) at his home in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin at age 69 after years of suffering from health problems.  He recently had suffered an abdominal aneurysm. He is survived by his wife and six children.


Gygax, who began life as an insurance underwriter and later was also an author, writing several fantasy books, will be best remembered for being the co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons.  Reportedly part of the inspiration came to him in the '60s after getting interested in playing war-themed board games.


Then in 1974, along with co-creator Dave Arneson, he designed Dungeons and Dragons, little thinking that it would go on to become such an incredibly important game and part of youth-culture, and have such a major impact on the video game landscape for years to come, inspiring a slew of video games, books and movies.