Carol Shaw (video game designer)

Originally an Atari employee, Carol Shaw is said to be the first female video game designer (for her unreleased Polo game in 1978,[1] and 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe game in 1979). Shaw's official job title at Atari was Microprocessor Software Engineer.[2] Later she joined Activision, where she programmed her best-known game, River Raid.[3] According to the manual of River Raid, she is also a “scholar in the field of Computer Science.” With Keith Brewster she worked on the Atari Basic Reference Manual.[4]

She left Atari in 1980 to work for Tandem Computers. After 16 months she was contacted by an employee of Activision (possibly Alan Miller) with a job offer which would include stock options. She also attended an interview at Imagic but they did not offer her a position at the company on account of a lack of experience in writing action games. Shaw joined Activision in 1982.[5]

Carol Shaw left Activision in 1984 after designing Happy Trails for the Intellivision and River Raid for the Atari 800 and Atari 5200. Her other credits include Video Checkers in 1981 and 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe in 1980 for the Atari 2600. She also worked on Super Breakout.

From 1984-90 Shaw worked at her former employer, Tandem. She took early retirement in 1990 and subsequently did some voluntary work including a position at the Foresight Institute. She has credited the success of River Raid as being a significant factor in enabling her to retire early.[6]

Shaw lives in California and has been married to Ralph Merkle, a researcher in nanotechnology since 1983.[7][8]

Early life and education

Born in 1955, Shaw was born and raised in Palo Alto, California.[9] Her father was a mechanical engineer and worked at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. Shaw first became interested in computers in high school when she used a computer for the first time and discovered she could play text-based games on the system. Shaw attended the University of California, Berkeley and graduated with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 1977. She went on to complete a master's degree in Computer Science at Berkeley.[10]

Credits

Atari 2600

See also

References

  1. ↑ VC&G Interview: Carol Shaw, Female Video Game Pioneer, interview by Benj Edwards.
  2. ↑ http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/800
  3. ↑ Atari: 2600: River Raid. The Internet Archive Software Collection. ret. Mar 2014. https://archive.org/details/atari_2600_river_raid_1982_activision_carol_shaw_ax-020_ax-020-04
  4. ↑ Atari BASIC and PET Microsoft BASIC. A BASIC Comparison by Joretta Klepfer cites the draft as a source.
  5. ↑ http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/800
  6. ↑ http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/800
  7. ↑ My wife is Carol Shaw., Ralph C. Merkle
  8. ↑ http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/800
  9. ↑ http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/800
  10. ↑ http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/800
  11. ↑ http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-3-d-tic-tac-toe_18106.html Atari Mania - 3D Tic-Tac-Toe Directory Listing
  12. ↑ http://www.atarimania.com/2600/boxes/hi_res/3d_tic_tac_toe_color_cart_2.jpg Atari Mania - 3D Tic-Tac-Toe Cartridge
  13. ↑ http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-polo_14046.html Atari Mania - Polo Directory Listing
  14. ↑ http://www.atarimania.com/2600/boxes/hi_res/polo_i.jpg Atari Mania - Polo Cartridge
  15. ↑ http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-video-checkers_18381.html Atari Mania - Video Checkers Directory Listing
  16. ↑ http://www.atarimania.com/2600/boxes/hi_res/video_checkers_color_cart.jpg Atari Mania - Video Checkers Cartridge
  17. ↑ http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-river-raid_s6826.html Atari Mania - River Raid Directory Listing
  18. ↑ http://www.atarimania.com/2600/boxes/hi_res/river_raid_cart_5.jpg Atari Mania - River Raid Cartridge
  19. ↑ http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-chess_17436.html Atari Mania - Chess Directory Listing
  20. ↑ http://www.atarimania.com/2600/boxes/hi_res/chess_taiwan_cooper_black_cart_2.jpg Atari Mania - Chess Cartridge
  21. ↑ http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-othello_18288.html Atari Mania - Othello Directory Listing
  22. ↑ http://www.atarimania.com/2600/boxes/hi_res/othello_color_cart.jpg Atari Mania - Othello Cartridge
  23. ↑ http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-harbor-escape_8372.html Atari Mania - Harbor Escape Directory Listing
  24. ↑ http://www.atarimania.com/2600/boxes/hi_res/harbor_escape_cart_4.jpg Atari Mania - Harbor Escape Cartridge

External links