Carol Shaw facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Carol Shaw
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Shaw in 1983
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| Born | 1955 (age 69–70) |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley |
| Occupation | Computer programmer Video game designer |
| Years active | 1978–1990 |
| Known for | River Raid (Atari 2600) |
| Spouse(s) | |
Carol Shaw (born in 1955) is a famous computer programmer and video game designer. She is known as one of the first women to work in the video game industry. Carol Shaw is best known for creating the popular game River Raid for the Atari 2600 in 1982. She also worked at Atari, Inc. from 1978 to 1980. During that time, she designed games like 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe and Video Checkers. She stopped making games in 1984 and retired in 1990.
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Early Life and Education
Carol Shaw was born in 1955 and grew up in Palo Alto, California. Her father was an engineer who worked at a science lab. Carol mentioned in an interview that she loved playing with her brother's model trains. She also said she was very good at math when she was a kid.
Carol first used a computer in high school. She found out she could play games on it that used only text. After high school, she went to the University of California, Berkeley. She earned degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 1977. She later got a master's degree in computer science from the same university.
Carol Shaw's Career in Gaming
Working at Atari
Right after finishing her master's degree in 1978, Carol Shaw started working at Atari, Inc.. Her job was to create games for the Atari VCS, which was later called the Atari 2600. Her first project was a game called Polo. It was made to promote a cologne, but Atari decided not to release it.
Carol's first game that was actually sold was 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe in 1978. She also made Video Checkers in 1980. She helped with other games too, like Super Breakout and Othello. Her co-worker, Mike Albaugh, once called her one of Atari's "superstars." He said she was one of the best programmers for the Atari 2600. She was especially good at making the tricky parts of games that put the picture on the screen.
Carol also worked on projects for the Atari 8-bit computers. She helped write the Atari BASIC Reference Manual. She also created a calculator program that Atari released in 1981.
Joining Activision
In 1980, Carol left Atari to work at another company. Then, in 1982, she joined Activision, a new video game company. Her first game for Activision was River Raid (1982) for the Atari 2600. This game was inspired by an arcade game called Scramble. River Raid became a huge success for Activision. It also earned a lot of money for Carol.
Carol also created Happy Trails (1983) for the Intellivision console. She also helped bring River Raid to the Atari 8-bit computers and Atari 5200. She left Activision in 1984.
Life After Game Development
After leaving Activision in 1984, Carol Shaw went back to work at her previous company, Tandem. She decided to retire early in 1990. The success of River Raid helped her to retire at a younger age.
In 2017, Carol Shaw received a special "Industry Icon Award" at The Game Awards. In the same year, she gave many of her gaming items to the Strong National Museum of Play. These items included her old games, game boxes, and original game designs.
Personal Life
Carol Shaw lives in California. She has been married to Ralph Merkle since 1983. Ralph is a researcher who works with computer security and tiny technologies.
Games Designed by Carol Shaw
Atari 2600
- 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe (Atari, 1978)
- Othello (Atari, 1978) (with Ed Logg)
- Video Checkers (Atari, 1980)
- Super Breakout (Atari, 1981) (with Nick Turner)
- River Raid (Activision, 1982)
Intellivision
- Happy Trails (Activision, 1983)
Atari 8-bit computers
- Atari BASIC (Atari, 1979-1981) (technical writing)
- Atari Calculator (Atari, 1979-1981)
- River Raid (Activision, 1983) (ported from Atari 2600)
Unreleased Games
- Polo, Atari 2600 (Atari, 1978)
See also
In Spanish: Carol Shaw para niños
