Carmack is probably the only one who sticks out as he wasn't rich, connected or have early access.
Gates had super-early access to computers via his prep school. By the time he left high-school, he probably had more computer experience than almost all college graduates.
Markus Persson--(By 1994, Persson knew he wanted to become a video game developer, but his teachers advised him to study graphic design, which he did from ages 15 to 18. ... He never finished high school, but was reportedly a good student.) That's hardly a high school dropout. And, IIRC, studying something like graphic design in the system in Sweden is akin to an apprenticeship, no?
Gates had super-early access to computers via his prep school. By the time he left high-school, he probably had more computer experience than almost all college graduates.
Jonathan Blow spent almost 5 years at Berkeley and hooked up with the Tcl guys (Adam Sah sticks out). That's practially a graduate degree. see: http://number-none.com/blow/papers/rush_tcl94.pdf
Markus Persson--(By 1994, Persson knew he wanted to become a video game developer, but his teachers advised him to study graphic design, which he did from ages 15 to 18. ... He never finished high school, but was reportedly a good student.) That's hardly a high school dropout. And, IIRC, studying something like graphic design in the system in Sweden is akin to an apprenticeship, no?