( WIRED ) -- Gerald `` Jerry '' Lawson , creator of the first cartridge-based videogame console , died Saturday morning in a Mountain View , California , hospital , WIRED.com has learned . Lawson was 70 . As an engineer at Fairchild Semiconductor , Lawson designed the electronics of the Fairchild Video Entertainment System , later renamed the Channel F , in 1976 . Predating the release of Atari 's Video Computer System by a year , the Channel F was the first videogame machine that used interchangeable game cartridges , which Fairchild sold separately . Previous game machines like Atari 's `` Pong '' and the Magnavox Odyssey had all their games built into the hardware . Lawson 's pioneering design set the standard for the game consoles of today . `` Jerry was an amazing personality , '' said family friend David Erhart , who broke the news of Lawson 's death Monday on the Digital Press website . `` He created part of the videogame industry history in Silicon Valley and it was always a pleasure to hear his stories about back in the day . '' Much of Lawson 's background is discussed in a wide-ranging interview he gave Vintage Computing and Gaming in 2009 . A lifelong engineer and tinkerer , Lawson was born in 1940 and grew up in a federal housing project in Queens , New York . As a kid , he operated a ham radio ; as a teenager he earned money by repairing his neighbors ' television sets . In the 1970s , living and working in Silicon Valley , he joined the Homebrew Computer Club , a group of early hackers that included Apple co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak . Lawson 's contributions to videogames began with `` Demolition Derby , '' a coin-operated arcade machine that he created in his garage while working at Fairchild . `` Fairchild found out about it -- in fact , it was a big controversy that I had done that . And then , very quietly , they asked me if I wanted to do it for them , '' Lawson said in the Vintage Computing interview . Although similar machines were in development at Atari and RCA at the time , the console Lawson 's team built for Fairchild was the first cartridge-based gaming system that came to market . Although it seems simple now , making the technology work was n't easy . `` There was a mechanism that allowed you to put the cartridges in without destroying the semiconductors ... . We were afraid -- we did n't have statistics on multiple insertion and what it would do , and how we would do it , because it was n't done . I mean , think about it : Nobody had the capability of plugging in memory devices in mass quantity like in a consumer product . Nobody . '' Only 26 cartridges were ever released for Channel F , all simple games like `` Blackjack , '' `` Space War '' and `` Bowling . '' When Atari released its cartridge-based system , Channel F was quickly rendered obsolete . Years later , Lawson started his own company , Videosoft , to produce Atari 2600 cartridges , but only released one , a technician 's tool called `` Color Bar Generator . '' Last month , the International Game Developers Association honored Lawson 's pioneering efforts at Game Developers Conference in San Francisco . `` The whole reason I did games was because people said , 'You ca n't do it , ' '' he told the San Jose Mercury News last month . `` I 'm one of the guys , if you tell me I ca n't do something , I 'll turn around and do it . '' In later years , Lawson had suffered the severe effects of diabetes . He lost sight in one eye and lost one of his legs to the disease , leaving him confined to a wheelchair . On Wednesday , not feeling well , he was admitted into El Camino Hospital Mountain View . `` He continued building devices to control telescopes , lasers , tools , etc . up until the day he went to the hospital , '' said friend Erhart . `` His workbench had more tools than most people would even know what to do with . He taught me quite a bit and I 'll miss him sorely . '' At 6:15 a.m. Saturday , Lawson died after apparently suffering a heart attack . He is survived by his wife , son and daughter . The family is planning a memorial service in mid-May . Photo courtesy of Vintagecomputing.com via WIRED . Subscribe to WIRED magazine for less than $ 1 an issue and get a FREE GIFT ! Click here ! Copyright 2011 Wired.com .
Jerry Lawson passed away after suffering a heart attack . He was an engineer for Channel F. Channel F is the local news station in San Antonio