MegaDrive20XX
Segatron Genesis... call me the wizard.
Engineer, inventor and video game pioneer Jerry Lawson passed away Saturday of unknown causes.
Lawson was among the earliest video game engineers. His first arcade title, Chicago Coins' Demolition Derby, was developed in his garage in the early 1970s.
Lawson is remembered as the inventor of Fairchild Semiconductor's home video game console, the Channel F. Released in 1976, the Channel F is the first console with programmable game cartridges; before it, home video game systems only played the games that were built into them.
Until recently, Lawson's name was not very well known, even amongst the video game community. Fortunately, Lawson was honored by the International Game Developers Association's Minority Special Interest Group at the Game Developers Conference just last month.
Additionally, six previously-unreleased games for the Atari 2600 that Lawson worked on were finally released earlier this year.
A memorial service -- likely in the San Jose area -- is planned, with details forthcoming. Those interested should keep tabs on this discussion thread by computer historian David Erhart.
More information about Lawson and his accomplishments can be found at a fascinating 2009 interview.
Every single video game cartridge you ever held in your hands in your lifetime from the Atari 2600 until the Nintendo 64 was thanks to this wonderful man's invention of putting the game in a cartridge.
http://www.1up.com/news/video-game-pioneer-jerry-lawson-dies
Lawson was among the earliest video game engineers. His first arcade title, Chicago Coins' Demolition Derby, was developed in his garage in the early 1970s.
Lawson is remembered as the inventor of Fairchild Semiconductor's home video game console, the Channel F. Released in 1976, the Channel F is the first console with programmable game cartridges; before it, home video game systems only played the games that were built into them.
Until recently, Lawson's name was not very well known, even amongst the video game community. Fortunately, Lawson was honored by the International Game Developers Association's Minority Special Interest Group at the Game Developers Conference just last month.
Additionally, six previously-unreleased games for the Atari 2600 that Lawson worked on were finally released earlier this year.
A memorial service -- likely in the San Jose area -- is planned, with details forthcoming. Those interested should keep tabs on this discussion thread by computer historian David Erhart.
More information about Lawson and his accomplishments can be found at a fascinating 2009 interview.
Every single video game cartridge you ever held in your hands in your lifetime from the Atari 2600 until the Nintendo 64 was thanks to this wonderful man's invention of putting the game in a cartridge.
http://www.1up.com/news/video-game-pioneer-jerry-lawson-dies
