Carol Shaw
Carol Shaw | |
---|---|
Born | 1955 (age 68–69) |
Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley |
Occupation(s) | Computer programmer Video game designer |
Years active | 1978–1990 |
Known for | River Raid (Atari 2600) |
Spouse |
Carol Shaw (born 1955) is one of the first female
Early life and education
Shaw was born in 1955 and was raised in
Shaw first used a computer in high school 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 later completed a master's degree in computer science at Berkeley.[2]
Career
Atari, Inc.
Immediately after earning her Master's degree in 1978, Shaw was hired at Atari, Inc. to work on games for the Atari VCS (later called the 2600) with the title of Microprocessor Software Engineer.[2] Her first project was Polo, a promotional tie-in for the Ralph Lauren cologne.[3] The game reached the prototype stage, but Atari chose not to publish it.
Shaw's first published game was I would have to include Carol Shaw, who was simply the best programmer of the 6502 and probably one of the best programmers period....in particular, [she] did the [2600] kernels, the tricky bit that actually gets the picture on the screen for a number of games that she didn't fully do the games for. She was the go-to gal for that sort of stuff.[5]
Shaw worked on several projects for the Atari 8-bit computers. With Keith Brewster, she wrote the Atari BASIC Reference Manual.[6] She developed the programmable Calculator application, published by Atari on floppy disk in 1981.[7]
Activision
Shaw left Atari in 1980 to work for Tandem Computers as an assembly language programmer,[8] then joining Activision in 1982.[2] Her first game was River Raid (1982) for the Atari 2600, which was inspired by the 1981 arcade game Scramble.[2] The game was a major hit for Activision and personally lucrative for Shaw.[2]
Shaw also wrote Happy Trails (1983) for the Intellivision and ported River Raid to the Atari 8-bit computers and Atari 5200.[8] She left Activision in 1984.
After games
In 1984 Shaw returned to 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.[2]
In 2017, Shaw received the Industry Icon Award at
Personal life
Shaw lives in California and has been married to Ralph Merkle, a researcher in cryptography and nanotechnology, since 1983.[10][2] They are signed up for cryopreservation with the Alcor Life Extension Foundation.[11]
Works
Atari 2600
- 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe (Atari, 1978) [12]
- Othello (Atari, 1978) with Ed Logg[13]
- Video Checkers (Atari, 1980) [14]
- Super Breakout (Atari, 1981) with Nick Turner
- River Raid (Activision, 1982) [15]
Intellivision
- Happy Trails (Activision, 1983)
Atari 8-bit computers
- Calculator (Atari, 1981) [7]
- River Raid (Activision, 1983) port from 2600 to Atari 8-bit and 5200
Unreleased
- Polo, Atari 2600 (Atari, 1978) [3]
References
- ^ Suellentrop, Chris (19 August 2014). "Saluting the Women Behind the Screen". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "VC&G Interview: Carol Shaw, The First Female Video Game Developer".
- ^ a b "Polo". AtariProtos.com.
- ^ Hague, James. "The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers".
- ^ Spicer, Dag (November 12, 2012). "Mike Albaugh Interview" (PDF). Computer History Museum.
- ^ Atari BASIC and PET Microsoft BASIC. A BASIC Comparison by Joretta Klepfer cites the draft as a source.
- ^ a b "Calculator". Atari Mania.
- ^ ISBN 978-0241395066.
- ^ Alexander, Jem (8 December 2017). "Carol Shaw awarded 'Industry Icon' honour at The Game Awards". Develop. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
- ^ Ralph C. Merkle. "biography". ralphmerkle.com. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
My wife is Carol Shaw
- ^ Taya Maki (2022). "Notable Women in Cryonics" (PDF). Cryonics. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
- ^ "Atari 2600 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe", Atari Mania
- ^ "Atari 2600 Othello", Atari Mania
- ^ "Atari 2600 Video Checkers", Atari Mania
- ^ "Atari 2600 River Raid", Atari Mania