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Today’s Google Doodle is Special – Features Gerald “Jerry” Lawson

Today's Google Doodle Features the Inventor of Video Game Cartridges

Today, December 2, 2022, there’s an interactive Google Doodle depicting a man playing a cartridge game on a Fairchild Channel F video game console. On the controller, you can see a large joystick, paying homage to the 8-direction joystick that came with Channel F consoles.

Who was Gerald "Jerry" Lawson?

Arguably one of the most influential people in the gaming industry, Gerald (better known as Jerry) Lawson is credited for the development of the video game cartridge. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Jerry started his career working as an engineering consultant in San Francisco. 

While employed with Fairchild Semiconductor, Jerry developed his first game and designed the cartridge for the first home console to use cartridges, the Fairchild Channel F.

By this time, home consoles had been around for a while, but their programming had to be built into their hardware, not allowing for multiple games per system. However, this changed when Jerry and his team developed the ROM cartridge which allows you to swap out the games (software) in your console. 

Paving the Way for the Future

Though the Channel F console was the only one on the market at the time, it was not successful commercially. While Channel F had held the top spot for gaming consoles for some time, less than one year later, in 1977, Atari released the Atari 2600. Three years later, Jerry would leave Fairchild to found his own company, Videosoft, which made software for the Atari 2600, but closed in 1982, leading Jerry to take on consulting work.

Not long after the ROM cartridge was created, gaming giants like Atari and Activision would build their own flavors for their system. Even now, you can still see similar design and function with Nintendo Switch game cards. 

What's Today's Google Doodle?

So, if you’d to play around with game development, this Doodle is for you! It vaguely reminds me of the no-network connection game with the tiny T-rex jumping over obstacles.

In Conclusion

I don’t know about you, but video game cartridges just hit differently. I have many fond memories of digging out N64 and NES cartridges from what seemed like an endless box at the time. Ultimately, I’d like to give my most heartfelt, “Happy Birthday,” to Jerry – without you, the world of gaming would never be the same.

Want to learn more about Jerry? Check out this audiobook: Raising the Game: The Untold Story of Jerry Lawson by Anthony Frasier.

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