Magnavox Odyssey
The
Magnavox Odyssey is the first home
video game console, predating the
Atari Pong home consoles by three years. The Odyssey was designed by
Ralph Baer, who had a working
prototype finished by
1968. This prototype is affectionately known as the "Brown Box" to classic
video game hobbyists. Unlike most video game consoles, the Odyssey is
analog rather than
digital, which makes its invention all the more amazing in spite of its rather crude
graphics and
controller responsiveness. Also, unlike any conventional console today, this system was powered by batteries. The Odyssey and its variants (excluding the
Odyssey²) also lack
sound capability (hence a silent console), which was not uncommon in early
Pong systems of that era.
The Odyssey uses a type of removable
circuit card that inserts into a slot similar to a
cartridge slot; these do not contain any components but have a series of jumpers between pins of the card connector. These jumpers interconnect different analog signal generators to produce the screen output. The system was sold with translucent plastic overlays that gamers could put on their
TV screen to simulate color graphics, though only two TV sizes were supported. Some of these overlays could even be used with the same cartridges, though with different rules for playing. It was also sold with plastic game tokens and score sheets to help keep score, much like traditional
board games.
The Odyssey was released in
May 1972. While it didn't perform badly, it didn't take long before the console succumbed to poor marketing by
Magnavox retail chains. One of their mistakes was misleading
consumers into believing that the Odyssey would work only on Magnavox
televisions. It did, however, prove that consoles for the home could be created. In addition, Magnavox won a court case against
Nolan Bushnell for
patent infringement in Bushnell's design of
Pong, as it resembled the
tennis game for the Odyssey.
The Odyssey was successful enough to support an add-on
peripheral, the first-ever commercial "
light gun" called the
Shooting Gallery. This detected light from the TV screen, however pointing the gun at a nearby light bulb also registered as a "hit".
Ralph Baer went on to invent the classic
electronic game Simon for
Mattel in
1978. Magnavox later released several other
Pong-like consoles based on the name Odyssey (which did not use cartridges or game cards), and at one point a truly programmable, cartridge based console, the
Odyssey², in 1978.
Nintendo's first venture in the console world was selling the Magnavox Odyssey in
Japan, before the company introduced its own consoles.
*
The Shooting Gallery Light Gun*
The story of the Magnavox Odyssey*
Magnavox Odyssey FAQ*
Ralph Baer's story of the development of the Odyssey*
The Dot Eaters entry on the history of the Odyssey
*
Magnavox Odyssey*
Odyemu - a Magnavox Odyssey emulator
