Age, Biography and Wiki
Carol Shaw is a pioneering computer programmer and video game designer. She is best known for creating the first ever console video game for the Atari 2600, River Raid. She was born in Palo Alto, California in 1955.
Shaw studied computer science at the University of California, Berkeley, graduating in 1978. She then went on to work for Atari, where she created River Raid. The game was released in 1982 and was a huge success, selling over a million copies.
Shaw left Atari in 1984 and went on to work for Activision, where she created Happy Trails, a game for the Atari 2600. She also worked on the Apple II version of the game.
Shaw left the video game industry in 1989 and went on to work as a software engineer for various companies. She is currently retired and living in California.
Shaw has been inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame and the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame. She has also been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Game Developers Association.
Shaw's net worth is estimated to be around $2 million.
| Popular As |
N/A |
| Occupation |
Computer programmerVideo game designer |
| Age |
68 years old |
| Zodiac Sign |
N/A |
| Born |
, 1955 |
| Birthday |
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| Birthplace |
Palo Alto, California, United States |
| Nationality |
United States |
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She is a member of famous with the age 68 years old group.
Carol Shaw Height, Weight & Measurements
At 68 years old, Carol Shaw height not available right now. We will update Carol Shaw's Height, weight, Body Measurements, Eye Color, Hair Color, Shoe & Dress size soon as possible.
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Not Available |
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Not Available |
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Not Available |
Who Is Carol Shaw's Husband?
Her husband is Ralph Merkle (m. 1983)
| Family |
| Parents |
Not Available |
| Husband |
Ralph Merkle (m. 1983) |
| Sibling |
Not Available |
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Not Available |
Carol Shaw Net Worth
Her net worth has been growing significantly in 2022-2023. So, how much is Carol Shaw worth at the age of 68 years old? Carol Shaw’s income source is mostly from being a successful . She is from United States. We have estimated
Carol Shaw's net worth
, money, salary, income, and assets.
| Net Worth in 2023 |
$1 Million - $5 Million |
| Salary in 2023 |
Under Review |
| Net Worth in 2022 |
Pending |
| Salary in 2022 |
Under Review |
| House |
Not Available |
| Cars |
Not Available |
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Carol Shaw Social Network
Timeline
In 2017, Shaw received the Industry Icon Award at The Game Awards. In the same year, she donated her gaming memorabilia, including games, boxes, source code, and designs, to the Strong National Museum of Play.
In 1984 Shaw returned to 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.
Shaw also wrote Happy Trails (1983) for the Intellivision and ported River Raid to the Atari 8-bit family and Atari 5200. She left Activision in 1984.
Shaw lives in California and has been married to Ralph Merkle, a researcher in cryptography and nanotechnology since 1983.
Shaw left Atari in 1980 to work for Tandem Computers as an assembly language programmer, then joining Activision in 1982. Her first game was River Raid (1982) for the Atari 2600, which was inspired by the 1981 arcade game Scramble. The game was a major hit for Activision and personally lucrative for Shaw.
Shaw worked on several project for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers. With Keith Brewster, she wrote the Atari BASIC Reference Manual. She developed the programmable Calculator application published by Atari on diskette in 1979.
Shaw was hired at Atari, Inc. in 1978, straight out of her Master's, to work on games for the Atari VCS (later called the 2600) with an official job title of Microprocessor Software Engineer. Her first project was Polo, a promotional tie-in for the Ralph Lauren cologne. The game reached the prototype stage, but Atari chose not to publish it.
Carol Shaw (born 1955) is one of the first female game designers and programmers in the video game industry. She is best known for creating the Atari 2600 vertically scrolling shooter River Raid (1982) for Activision. She worked for Atari, Inc. from 1978-1980 where she designed multiple games including 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe (1978) and Video Checkers (1980), both for the Atari 2600. She left game development in 1984 and retired in 1990.
Shaw was born in 1955 and was raised in Palo Alto, California. Her father was a mechanical engineer and worked at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. In a 2011 interview, she said she didn't like playing with dolls as a child, but learned about model railroading from playing with her brother's set, a hobby she continued until college. 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 went on to complete a master's degree in Computer Science at Berkeley.
