Google Lets You Design Video Games Like Pioneer In Fun Doodle
Can’t imagine life without the PlayStation, Xbox, or even SNES? You have Gerald “Jerry” Lawson to thank for. Not only was the electronic engineer one of the first Black people in the modern gaming industry, but he also led the team that created the first-ever home gaming system with swappable cartridges.
Lawson would have turned 82 years old on Thursday. To commemorate this game-changer, Google collaborated with his children, Anderson and Karen Lawson, and three guest artists and game designers—Davionne Gooden, Lauren Brown, and Momo Pixel—to create a series of video games… all playable within the Google logo. The special Doodle was displayed on the Google homepage on December 1, the pioneer’s birthday.
Gaming really leveled up when Jerry Lawson entered the chat 🕹
— Google Doodles (@GoogleDoodles) December 1, 2022
Lawson led the team that developed the first home video gaming system, which paved the way for modern game consoles.
Play today’s interactive game #GoogleDoodle & learn more about his life → https://t.co/UJoenjHGBz pic.twitter.com/cdxxUpfqkY
In this highly interactive Doodle, you’ll play the “father of video game cartridges” in a narrative, retro arcade-style game, journeying through exemplary moments of his career.
Once players have completed the first stage, the screen will turn into an editing tool, allowing them to create their own 70s-esque video games “and innovate like Jerry Lawson did,” explains Doodle guest artist Lauren Brown.
Lawson was born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 1, 1940. He was fascinated by electronics from an early age, and even helped fix his neighbors’ televisions. After college, Lawson moved to Palo Alto, California—a part of the promising area now known as Silicon Valley—where he worked as an engineering consultant at Fairchild Semiconductor. It was here that he was promoted to Director of Engineering and spearheaded the development of the Fairchild Channel F system, the first home video game console with interchangeable game cartridges. The ‘F’ in the Channel F system stood for fun, Google details.
“The Channel F paved the way for future gaming systems like the Atari, SNES, Dreamcast and more,” says the Google Doodles team.
Lawson would level up to achieve many other milestones—like start one of the first Black-owned video game development firms, where his company VideoSoft worked on software for Atari 2600, which in turn popularized his team’s game cartridge.
The engineer was recognized by the International Game Developers Association for being a trailblazer in the world of gaming. Unfortunately, he passed away from diabetes-related complications about a month later.
In his name, the University of Southern California launched a fund to support historically marginalized students who wish to study game design or computer science.
Lawson’s children, Anderson and Karen, believe they may have been the first to “fix” game cartridges by blowing into them, though Anderson Lawson stresses that doesn’t work.
“He loved what he did and did what he loved,” Lawson’s children remember. “Considering the obvious challenges for African Americans at the time, his professional achievements were quite remarkable.”
“Today, we celebrate what would’ve been Dad’s 82nd birthday with the world. We would like to thank Google for working with us to share our father's story in this Doodle. May his story continue to inspire numerous young people around the globe to achieve something remarkable,” Anderson and Karen Lawson write.
“Dad, you were our provider, motivator, teacher, inventor, mentor and friend. We are incredibly proud of you and miss you. The planet knows your story and you will never be forgotten! Happy Birthday, Pop! We love you!”
You can play the interactive Google Doodle here.
[via CNET, Forbes, Google Doodles, cover image via Google Doodles]
