On Friday the International Game Developers Association will honor Jerry Lawson for all he's done to move the state of the art forward.
The honor has been a long time coming.
It was back in the mid-1970s that Lawson developed the first video game console system, breaking ground in more ways than one. You see, Lawson, 70, is black. And while we often try to pretend that's neither here nor there, the truth is it is here -- and it was even more-so there, when Lawson arrived in the valley in 1968.
Lawson started at Fairchild Semiconductor in 1970, when there were very few black engineers working in the valley. Within a few years he was launching and running the new gaming division, where he developed the Fairchild Channel F, a console that allowed players to change out cartridges loaded with games like "Video Black Jack," "Maze, Cat and Mouse," "Spitfire" and "Space War."
To read the full, original article click on this link: Cassidy: Gaming industry finally recognizes the work of a pioneer - San Jose Mercury News
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