''My First Alphabet'' is an educational game for the

Atari 8-bit family The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, ...

of home computers. It was programmed by Fernando Herrera and published by the

Atari Program Exchange Atari Program Exchange (APX) was a division of Atari, Inc. that sold software via mail-order for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers. Quarterly APX catalogs were sent to all registered Atari 8-bit owners. APX encouraged any programmer, not j ...

in 1981. The game won the first

Atari Star Award Atari Program Exchange (APX) was a division of Atari, Inc. that sold software via mail-order for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers. Quarterly APX catalogs were sent to all registered Atari 8-bit owners. APX encouraged any programmer, not ju ...

and was moved to

Atari Inc. Atari, Inc. was an American video game developer and home computer company founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Atari was a key player in the formation of the video arcade and video game industry. Based primarily around the Sun ...

's product line. The award led to the creation of First Star Software and a string of games from Herrera.

Development

Herrera's son, Steve, was born with severe cataracts and was pronounced blind by medical specialists. Refusing to place his son in remedial classes, Herrera wrote a program to help his son learn the alphabet. After several months, his son made rapid progress, overcoming his handicap. The program later evolved into ''My First Alphabet''.

Reception

When Atari began recognizing the top APX submissions in 1981, ''My First Alphabet'' was the first

winner, including a $25,000 prize. Herrera used the money to found First Star Software. Herrerra wrote First Star's initial title, ''

Astro Chase ''Astro Chase'' is a multidirectional shooter written by Fernando Herrera for the Atari 8-bit family. It was published by First Star Software in 1982 as the company's first game. Parker Brothers licensed it, releasing cartridge versions for the A ...

'' (1982), as well as '' Bristles'' (1983). First Star was the publisher of '' Boulder Dash'' (1984) and '' Spy vs. Spy'' (1984).

External links

atariarchives.org
- Description of APX software
atarimania.com
Review - My First Alphabet

- "Fernando Herrera" - First Star in the Atari Universe 1981 video games Atari Program Exchange software Atari 8-bit family games Atari 8-bit family-only games Children's educational video games Video games developed in the United States Single-player video games {{edu-videogame-stub