Game Changing Pioneer Inspires Atlanta Foundation To Diversify Video Game Industry

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Jerry Lawson invented the first video game cartridge for Fairchild Channel F

Before Atari, Nintendo and PlayStation there was Fairchild Channel F. The 1976 model heralded an innovation that changed the gaming industry forever: interchangeable cartridges for consumer gaming consoles. The literal game changer was the brainchild of Jerry Lawson. 

Lawson was one of the few African-American engineers working in Silicon Valley. He died in 2011.

Now, Lawson's children are honoring his legacy with the Lawson Foundation for Diversity in Technology. On Second Thought host Virginia Prescott spoke with Anderson and Karen Lawson about the foundation and their father's revolutionary invention.

On Second Thought host Virginia Prescott speaks with Anderson and Karen Lawson

Anderson is now working with the Apple Store to develop his own game called Ghost Attack 3D. The game is a recreation of his father's 1981 Atari VCS/2600 3D Ghost Attack prototype.

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