Black People in Gaming- Jerry Lawson

 In the month of February 2022, we're doing Black People in Gaming Month! And to kick it off, let's learn about that unsung hero of gaming, Jerry Lawson!

1 December 1940 - 9 April 2011

When it comes to the forefathers of gaming, we've got the names everyone knows (Shigeru Miyamoto, Bill Gates, Sid Meier), the names known to enthusiasts of gaming history (Ralph Baer, Roberta Williams), but then there's names only known to the hardcore historians of video game history. Jerry Lawson is one such name.

Born Gerald Anderson Lawson, Jerry is one of gaming's most important pioneers, but his beginnings were far humbler. From age thirteen, Jerry would make a living repairing TV sets in Queens, New York City, where he lived. With the money he earned, he'd build his own ham radio sets, and even built his own radio station! Although he went to Queens College, he never finished his degree.

By 1970, he got a job at Fairchild Semiconductor, a company based in San Francisco, as a consultant. While there, he used Fairchild's F8 microprocessors to make his own arcade game, Demolition Derby, in his garage. It was one of the first arcade games ever made with microprocessors.

His creation led to him being promoted to be the new Chief Hardware Engineer and Director of Engineering and Marketing for Fairchild's new video game department. Jerry Lawson led his team in creating a video game system like no other: one that could potentially have many, many playable games in it, with a potential life span of YEARS! 

The idea seemed ludicrous; after all, in the 1970's, video game consoles could only play ONE game at most! Even with some tweaks here or there, the best you could hope for was a system that could play a few variables of a single game! How, then, could a console have more than one game put in it? The answer: by swapping out one game for another using a new technology called the cartridge!

Jerry's idea was as simple as it was genius: the console would have the hardware needed to read the cartridge, plus the hardware needed to send and receive electric signals from the controllers and to the TV, respectively. The cartridge would be the part that would have the data needed for the game; all you had to do was take it out and put in the next one, and BAM! You could go from playing Pong to playing Baseball!

The console was called the Fairchild Channel F, which was short for Channel Fun. The console had two built-in controllers that were a joystick that could be moved up, down, left, right, and diagonally, plus it could be pressed downward. Simple, but effective for its time. The console is also notable for being one of the first, if not THE first console to have a PAUSE BUTTON! Hard to believe there was ever a time when you COULDN'T pause a game, right?

Actually, if you play competitive online games, you'd know what that feels like...

Back on topic, Jerry Lawson's console was far and away the most advanced console on the market when it first came out, akin to a Sega Genesis being released in the 8-Bit era. But that's the key phrase: when it first came out, in 1976. Although the technology was fantastic, the games themselves were a bit lacking in the fun department. By the following year, Atari would release its own Atari 2600, and would go on to completely and utterly dominate the home console market.

Although the Channel F console was a pioneer, it was also a commercial flop, once more confirming that age old truth: it's the games that sell the console, nothing else. But one must not forget that this console was the real trailblazer in gaming, pioneering the technology that would be used all the way to the 2000's.

Although his name isn't as well known as it should be, Jerry Lawson's place in gaming history is beyond question. The man was a trailblazer of the highest caliber, and his name DESERVES to be recognized as one of gaming's greats.

Jerry Lawson: the man who changed the game!