Video game pioneer
Jerry Lawson: Google honors the “father of the video game cartridge”
The famous Atari 2600 gaming console is based on the work of Jerry Lawson. Later he also developed games for the Atari (icon image)
© Masante Patrice / Picture Alliance
On December 1, 2022, Jerry Lawson would have been 82 years old. The video game developer is credited with inventing the first game console, the Fairchild Channel F. Google created an interactive doodle in his honor.
Video game fans owe a lot to this man: Jerry Lawson. The African-American game developer is considered the “father of the video game cartridge”. Together with his team, he developed the first game console with exchangeable cartridges or modules. It went on sale under the name Fairchild Channel F in the mid-1970s. The device revolutionized the still young industry with a number of innovations, such as the eight-way joystick and a “Pause” button, with which you could continue the game even after minor disruptions.
Jerry Lawson: A Life for the Console
Even if the Fairchild Channel F was not able to establish itself commercially, the principle of interchangeable cassettes soon became the market standard. Thus, Lawson’s work made it possible for manufacturers to produce individual games. With this principle, another console became successful a year later: the Atari 2600, with games like Pac Man, which have sold over 30 million copies to date.
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After a few years at Fairchild, Jerry Lawson founded his own company, Videosoft, in 1980. There he successfully produced video games for the Atari consoles for years. In 2011, Jerry Lawson was recognized for his achievements as an Industry Pioneer by the International Game Developers Association. In the same year he died as a result of his severe diabetes. Jerry Lawson would have been 82 today.
Sources:t3n, Google watch blog