Google Doodle Features Video Games Pioneer Jerry Lawson

VIVA – Today's Google Doodle features the pioneer of video games, Gerald Jerry Lawson. Google's display on Thursday, November 1, 2022, aims to celebrate Jerry Lawson's 82nd birthday through accessible interactive games.

The Doodle features games designed by three American guest artists and game designers: Davionne Gooden, Lauren Brown, and Momo Pixel. As information, Jerry Lawson is one of the fathers of modern gaming who led a team to develop the first home video game system with interchangeable game cartridges.

Google users will see Lawson's story designed in a game. Where they have to move the play pad to know the whole storyline. Not only that, but the game makers also created another simple game on Google Doodle where the instructions are to destroy blocks.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 1, 1940, Gerald Jerry Lawson began tinkering with electronic devices at an early age, repairing TVs and building his radio station from parts he purchased from local electronics stores.

After attending Queens College and City College of New York, Lawson moved to California and joined Silicon Valley pioneer Fairchild Semiconductor in 1970 as an application engineering consultant.

Jerry Lawson led the development of the Fairchild Channel F system (F stands for fun). It was the first home video game system console to feature interchangeable game cartridges, an 8-way digital joystick, and a pause menu. Channel F paved the way for future gaming systems such as Atari, SNES, Dreamcast, and others.

In 1980, Lawson left Fairchild to start his own company, VideoSoft, one of Black's earliest video game development companies. 

The company created software for the Atari 2600, popularizing the cartridges that Lawson and his team developed. Although they closed five years later, Lawson had established himself as a pioneer in the industry and continued to consult with various engineering and video game companies throughout the rest of his career.

In 2011, the International Game Developers Association recognized Lawson as an industry pioneer for his contributions to gaming. 

The University of Southern California also created the Gerald A. Lawson Fund to support underrepresented students who wish to pursue undergraduate or graduate degrees in game design or computer science.