I’ve been meaning to write about this interesting footnote at the intersection of automotive and video game history and interests for a while now, but I kept procrastinating because things always seem to work out that way. There’s something I want to write about, but so many other things come up that I forget. Well, thanks in part to today’s June 15th holiday, I finally remembered to write about this. This is what I believe to be the first application of a driving video game that includes the simulation of a standard H-pattern manual transmission. This is important!
So, you’re probably wondering what the possible angle from Juneteenth is to all of this, and I don’t blame you. It’s a bit complicated, but I think it’s still valid. As you may know, the first driving game to feature manual transmission shift simulation appeared on a cartridge, which was played on the Fairchild Channel F, the first video game system to use a replaceable cartridge containing its own game.
And Fairchild Channel F’s lead engineer was Jerry Lawson, one of the few black pioneers in the then-infant video game industry. Yes, Lawson is black, so Juneteenth seemed like a good time to spotlight this remarkable pioneer in the video game industry.
I happened to have an old but still mostly working Fairchild Channel F, so I created a little reel talking about Lawson and showing the system’s 9th video cart hosting a game known as Drag Race.
More on Drag Race later. First, I would like to talk a little more about Lawson. Because he’s a really interesting guy. He seemed to have found what he wanted to pursue in life, and in Lawson’s case, it was electronics. And he was one of those people who persevered and kept going, even when the world around him was tough. barely Ready. For example, Lawson may have been one of the first people to own an actual computer. at his housesometime between 1970 and 1972, Lawson worked for the semiconductor company Fairchild.
Remember, back then people just didn’t have computers in their homes. The first simple hobby home computer didn’t really arrive until 1974 with the MITS Altair. It was very different from what Lawson had. What Lawson had was a digital PDP-8 computer, about the size of a small refrigerator, minus the peripheral cabinet.
This is a promotional photo of a convertible VW Beetle with a PDP-8 mounted on the back. Just to give you an idea and give you an excuse to stick Beetle here.
He said in a 2009 interview:
“Before that, I had one too. Fairchild gave me a DEC PDP-8. I took the PDP-8 back to work. In fact, the PDP-8 was a story in itself, and I ended up running a school out of my garage. With the PDP-8, I had two tape units, a tape controller, a high-speed tape reader, and all the maintenance boards and backup spares for it. My garage became a service depot.
DEC said I had the only PDP-8 (straight 8) in operation west of the Mississippi River. And they asked me if they could hold a class using it in my garage. As a result, my PDP-8 was equipped with a control unit called TC01. And TC01 did not have all maintenance updates applied. They told me the update would cost about 10 grand, and I said, “Well, I’m not going to pay 10 grand.” So they said they would do the update for free if I was taking classes in my garage with the guys there. They did. The entire update is free. ”
As you can imagine, Lawson was pretty hardcore.
Lawson obtained a role leading the Skunk Works home video game machine project at electronic components company Fairchild after management discovered that Lawson had single-handedly manufactured its own arcade video game machine. Instead of getting sick over this potential moonlight, they gave him control of the project that became VES (Video Entertainment System), later renamed Channel F.
Lawson took a prototype from a company called Alpex, and he and his team refined the ideas contained in that crude start. They also adapted the machine to use Fairchild’s own two-chip F8 CPU, making Channel F the first console to use a microprocessor, which was also a major accomplishment. They improved the cartridge concept. This was something that had never been attempted before (putting a computer’s memory chips in a plastic shell that could be inserted and removed multiple times). Lawson replaced the clunky keypad controls with a hand controller that incorporates a joystick. and By combining features like paddles into one unit, he gave the console some personality. It can be seen in details such as how losing in early tic-tac-toe games was called a turkey. This is what Lawson enjoyed calling people.
The big problem was that the cartridge concept was never really tested. Lawson said in the interview:
“We were afraid. There were no statistics about multiple insertion and what it did and how to do it, because it just wasn’t being done. I mean, think about it. No one had the ability to plug in memory devices in bulk like in consumer products. No one.”
There’s also a nice part in the interview where Lawson explains that the day after Christmas in 1976, he was fielding complaints from game console buyers.
Yes, I will tell you what happened. The first year we released Fairchild video games, I made the mistake of going to work the day after Christmas. In the consumer industry, the day after Christmas is known as “Hell Day.” The reason it’s called “Hell Day” is because on that day everything goes back to the store and you can’t use it anymore.
Then I got a call. There was no one else in the factory except the security guard and me. I’m at the factory to process the paperwork. He started transferring calls to me. A man called me and wanted to know where his batteries were. I said, “I don’t have any batteries.” He took it apart and found a battery inside!
One man called and said, “The game was disrupted by dog urine.” The dog lifted his leg and peed on it!
And one of the things that was really frustrating was I was starting to get really tired of answering the phone. One woman got really pissed off and called me and said, “The game is so loud! Do you know why?” And I said, “That’s because you don’t know the language, girl.”
Good to know about dog urine.
Anyway, let’s get to the automotive part. Here is the 1977 video cart #9 game, Drag Race.
As seen on the label, Fairchild took care to include a diagram of the standard H-pattern four-speed shifter so that even children would know how to select gears. There is no clutch, but the controller changes gears. Rotate the knob on the controller like a throttle, which affects the tachometer. If you don’t change gears at the right time, the engine may blow or stall.
The way it works is that you look at the lights on the central “Christmas tree” and count down to red, blue, green, then red, blue, green again. Channel F didn’t have yellow, so blue took its place. When you hit the second green, shift into first gear, hit the throttle and start, being careful to shift up before the engine blows.
Here’s a really good video showing the game in action:
Simple? absolutely. fun? Huh, just a moment? By 1977 standards? of course! Anyway, back then everyone was getting high from the lead in gasoline. Really throughout the game teeth Manual transmission shifting! That’s the crux of it all! Watch the tachometer, listen to the engine, and shift at the right time. If you do better than your opponent, you win!
Good times, right? In fact, this might be the most manual shift-focused game ever. Well, even if you exclude the clutch part, still. How many Gen X kids got their first experience with a manual transmission in this game?
