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hidden figures: jerry lawson invented the video game cartridge

February 8, 2017

Not all heroes wear capes and not all genius’s masterpieces go in museums. What better examples of unconventional genius than engineer and computer scientist Jerry Lawson, the innovator behind the video game cartridge. Now, I know what you’re thinking…why would a video game cartridge be a big deal? Well when video games were in their infancy, the game itself was built into the console. That means that if you were fortunate enough to buy the console, you could only play one game on it. I know, tragic. But Jerry Lawson revolutionized gaming when he introduced the concept of game cartridges in the Fairchild Channel F console. Rather than housing games in the hardware itself, he created the system by which individual games were in cartridges, and therefore interchangeable. His work paved the way for Atatri 2600, Nintendo, Xbox and Playstation to change and shape the lives of many today. We salute this Black brilliance and thank the gaming gods for his eternal wisdom. Jerry Lawson is a Hidden Figure no more!

By T. McLendon, AFROPUNK Contributor

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