Netflix docuseries High Score examines the highs and lows of early video game history, from well-known facts to more obscure happenings. In Episode 1, "Boom & Bust," the series covers electronic engineer Jerry Lawson and how he changed video games forever -- by creating a home console system with interchangeable gaming cartridges.
When home consoles were first introduced, they had just one game apiece, relegating players to hours spent on a single title. In 1976, Lawson -- at the time, the only Black person working in Silicon Valley -- changed all of that, when he invented the Fairchild Channel F console. It was the first console that allowed players to purchase and play multiple games without having to purchase multiple systems.
Lawson's children, Anderson and Karen, talk about their late father's work in High Score. He had what Karen describes as a "mission control" set up in the garage, where he built an arcade game in his spare time. When his bosses at Fairchild Semiconductor caught wind of what he was doing, they invited him in to work on the technology for their next console.
"You're talking about a system that is revolutionizing how games are going to be manufactured and played, so it was kind of a top secret thing," Anderson explains of his father's work, also noting that "there is power in having the games programmed onto individual cartridges" because it allows gamers to grow their libraries exponentially.
It took six to eight months for the Channel F to be completed and it was released in November 1976, for a retail price of $169.95. There were six game cartridges available for the system at the time, with additional titles released in ensuing years. Lawson's work was the first of its kind -- so competitors soon followed up with their own interchangeable cartridge consoles, including Atari.
Atari released its 2600 console in 1977, with a whopping 20 games available on cartridges for the system. Atari was already a major name in the industry at the time, which meant its interchangeable cartridge console eclipsed anything that came before it -- including, unfortunately, the Channel F.
The Channel F was discontinued in 1983, with just under 30 titles available. Although Lawson completely revolutionized at-home consoles and the video game industry as a whole, his name has largely been lost to the sands of time, along with the Channel F. His children acknowledge that this is, frankly, quite sad -- but hopefully High Score viewers will remember and share his name, so his legacy can continue.
High Score is now streaming on Netflix.