Google has honored an American electronic engineer, Gerald Jerry Lawson, on the occasion of his 82nd birthday with a special Doodle which celebrates the achievements of video game pioneers, know his birthday and net worth
After seeing today’s Doodle, many are remembering the engineer who’s widely known as the pioneering figure in the video gaming industry.
Gerald Jerry Lawson Biography, Age, Birthday, Wife, First Video Game, Net Worth, Death Reason
Today's interactive game Doodle celebrates the 82nd birthday of Gerald "Jerry" Lawson, one of the fathers of modern gaming who led the team that developed the first home video gaming system with interchangeable game cartridges. https://t.co/uprLRCciKl pic.twitter.com/kPDaM4mpKB
— Kelsey Hightower (@kelseyhightower) December 1, 2022
Meanwhile many are wondering to know more about Gerald Lawson, so here’s all the details that you might need to know about.
Who was Gerald “Jerry” Lawson?
Gerald Lawson who led a team to invent the video game cartridge including the popular games like the Super Mario Bros, Pac-Man and Space Invaders, was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on December 1, 1940.
Even though in the modern world, these games are used anymore as their style has gone out, however, they are still remembered as one of the most important breakthroughs in the gaming industry.
Lawson has created a number of the original consoles such as Sega Mega Drive aka Genesis, Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo 64 (N64) among many more.
The first home entertainment game consoles which were created by him were made with interchangeable cartridges, which is noted as one of the important breakthroughs of his career.
Gerald’s father Blanton, was a longshoreman and mother Mannings Lawson, was an employee in New York City.
He developed interest in science when he was a youngster as he used to spend time in chemistry and with ham radio. He attempted to obtain a degree from Queens College along with City College of New York, however, dropped out from both colleges.
He started his career as an application engineering consultant with Fairchild Semiconductor.
Lawson created the first game of his career titled Demolition Derby while using Fairchild’s F8 microprocessors.
He was also a member of a group known as Homebrew Computer Club along with famous personalities such as Apple co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
He is also known as the founder of Videosoft, a company which made the popular software gaming console, Atari 2600. Though the company was closed after a short duration because Lawson started working as a consultant.
During the 21st Independent Games Festival, Lawson was honored with the ID@Xbox Gaming Heroes award. The Pioneer of the video gaming industry passed away back in April, 2011 due to several complications of diabetes aged 71.
With his wife Catherine, Lawson was father to two children, Karen and Anderson with his net worth at $2 million.
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