Jerry Lawson, gaming legend, on Google Doodle. He changed the video game market in the 1980s.

is a special, temporary logo change on the Google homepage. On December 1, the popular search engine greets us with the image of Gerald “Jerry” Lawson, who plays a video game console. After all, he revolutionized this device, which he symbolically appreciated on the 82nd anniversary of his birth.

Google Doodle commemorates Jerry Lawson

Lawson was born on December 1, 1940 in Brooklyn, New York. He was interested in electronics from an early age. His relatives recall how he repaired television sets in the neighborhood or created his own radio station. He attended Queens College and City College of New York before leaving to start his career in Palo Alto, California, where the famous Silicon Valley was just being formed.

Upon arriving in Lawson, he joined Fairchild Semiconductor as an engineering consultant. A few years later, he was promoted to director of engineering and marketing for Fairchild’s video division. There he led the development of the Fairchild Channel F system (the letter “F” meant fun – “fun” in English).

It was a revolutionary, though not very popular design at the time, as the Fairchild Channel F was the first home video game console to feature replaceable game cartridges, an 8-way joystick and a pause menu. Previously, games were stored in ROM, which meant you couldn’t add or remove anything. This system was later used by the most famous game producers, including .

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When Lawson joined the team and started working on the console, he was one of the few black game engineers in the world. Years later, his children pay attention to it. “Given the obvious challenges faced by African Americans at the time, his career achievements were quite remarkable,” reads his father’s birthday letter.

After the success of Fairchild Channel F in 1980, Lawson left Fairchild and started his own – VideoSoft. She was involved in creating software for the Atari 2600. As a result, the cartridge developed by Lawson and his team was popularized for good. Although the company closed five years later, it helped Lawson solidify his position in the video game market.

Jerry Lawson, gaming legend

In 2011, the International Game Developers Association recognized Lawson as an industry pioneer for his contributions to game development. This was just a month before his death. Jerry Lawson died on April 9, 2011 due to complications from diabetes.

In addition to the graphics in the popular search engine, Google has also prepared a special game in which we can play the role of Jerry Lawson and learn about his story. The game is maintained in the style of the times when Lawson revolutionized video games. The gameplay also gives players the opportunity, like today’s birthday boy, to try their hand at creating games [].

“May his story continue to inspire many young people around the world to achieve something extraordinary,” the Lawson children wish.