Joyce Weisbecker: The first indie game developer

Abstract

Joyce Weisbecker was always interested in her father Joseph’s work. What child wouldn’t be? Joseph was the inventor of the Think-a-Dot and other games, a writer, and a magician who loved learning and teaching. But that’s not all. Joseph was also the engineer who led RCA into a new technological era with his 8-bit microprocessor architecture. Throughout the 1970s, he prototyped and developed a number of programmable video games, educational systems, and game consoles, all showcasing what a game changer the microprocessor was going to be to a nascent consumer electronics industry. These included the hobbyist’s build-it-yourself COSMAC Elf articles and the Studio II programmable video game console. Weisbecker followed along with her father’s inventions, spending time with him in his at-home workshop, and in the summer of 1976, before her freshman year in college, she sold her car race game Speedway to RCA for its Studio II, making her the first indie game developer.