magnavox odyssey magnavox odyssey manufacturer magnavox product family odyssey series type home video game console generation first generation release date na september 1972 uk 1973 eu 1974 jp 1974 retail availability introductory priceus 99 equivalent to about 579 in 2017 discontinued 1975 units sold 350000 controller input two paddles successor magnavox odyssey the magnavox odyssey is the first commercial home video game console it was developed by a small team led by ralph h baer at sanders associates and released by magnavox in the united states in september 1972 and overseas the following year the odyssey consists of a white black and brown box which connects to a television set and two rectangular controllers attached by wires it is capable of displaying three square dots on the screen in monochrome black and white with differing behavior for the dots depending on the game played and with no sound capabilities players place plastic overlays on the screen to create visuals and the one or two players for each game control their dots with the three knobs and one button on the controller in accordance with the rules given for the game the odyssey console came packaged with dice paper money and other board game paraphernalia to go along with the games and a peripheral controllerthe first video game light gunwas sold separately the idea for a video game console was thought up by baer in august 1966 and over the next three years he along with bill harrison and bill rusch created seven successive prototype consoles the seventh known as the brown box was shown to several manufacturers before magnavox agreed to produce it in january 1971 after releasing the console in september 1972 through their dealerships magnavox sold between 69000 and 100000 units by the end of the year and 350000 by the time the console was discontinued in 1975 the console spawned the magnavox odyssey series of dedicated consoles as well as the 1978 magnavox odyssey one of the 28 games made for the system a ping pong game was an inspiration for ataris successful pong arcade game in turn driving sales of the console baers patents for the system and the games including what was termed by a judge as the pioneering patent of the video game art formed the basis of a series of lawsuits spanning 20 years earning sanders and magnavox over us100 million the release of the odyssey marked the end of the early history of video games and the rise of the commercial video game industry along with the start of the first generation of video game consoles design an odyssey controller the odyssey consists of a black white and brown oblong box connected by wires to two rectangular controllers the primary console box connects to the television set through an included switchbox which allows the player to switch the television input between the odyssey and the regular television input cable and presents itself like a television channel the controllers which are designed to sit on a flat surface contain one button marked reset on the top of the controller and three knobs one on the right side of the controller and two on the left with one extending from the other the reset button does not reset the game but instead is used by different games to reset individual elements such as making a players dot visible after it is turned off during a game the system can be powered by six c batteries which were included an optional ac power supply was sold separately the odyssey lacks sound capability and can only display monochrome white shapes on a blank black screen internally the odyssey architecture is composed of digital computing parts the circuitry is implemented in diodetransistor logic using discrete transistors and diodes rather than the newly emerging transistortransistor logic integrated circuits due to cost concerns the games themselves do not use cartridges like later consoles but instead use game cards composed of printed circuit boards that plug into the console these cards modify the internal circuitry like a set of switches or jumpers causing the odyssey to display different components and react to inputs differently multiple games use the same cards with different instructions given to the player to change the style of game plastic television overlays the odyssey is capable of displaying three square dots and a vertical line on the screen two of the dots are controlled by the two players and the third by the system itself the main console has two dials one of which moves the vertical line across the screen and one which adjusts the speed of the computercontrolled dot different games direct the player to adjust the dials to different positions for example to change the center line of a tennis game into the side wall of a handball game the games include plastic overlays which stick to the television via static cling to create visuals for the game different games that use the same game card can have different overlays which can change a game with the same controls from for example a mountain ski path to a movementbased simon says game in addition to the overlays the odyssey came with dice poker chips score sheets play money and game boards much like a traditional board game development in 1951 while working for military contractor loral electronics engineer ralph h baer was assigned to build a television set while doing so baer claims he had the idea to build something into a television set that the owner could control rather than only hooking it up to a remote television station baer did not pursue the idea but it returned to him in august 1966 while waiting for a bus baer then the head of the equipment design division at military contractor sanders associates came up with the concept of using a television to play games and the next morning wrote up a fourpage proposal for a us20 game box that would plug into a television screen and play games on it as channel lp had little to do with the typical military contracts sanders worked on rather than bring the idea to his bosses baer instead commandeered an empty room and assigned one of his technicians bob tremblay to work on it with him the brown box prototype baer spent the next few months designing further prototypes and in february 1967 assigned technician bill harrison to begin building the project harrison spent the next few months in between other projects building out successive modifications to the prototype baer meanwhile collaborated with engineer bill rusch on the design of the console including developing the basis of many games for the system the first game was developed by may a twoplayer game where the players repeatedly press a button in competition to fill or empty a bucket of water and by june multiple games were completed for what was then a second prototype box by august 1967 baer and harrison had completed a third prototype machine but had found that to even come near to baers initial aim of a us20 or 25 console would require so much to be excluded that the resulting console would not be very enjoyable baer additionally felt that he was not proving successful at designing fun games for the system to make up for this he formally added bill rusch who had helped him come up with the initial games for the console to the project the odyssey was packaged with board game accessories like dice and play money as well as game cards the team first approached the cable television industry and the prototype attracted the attention of teleprompter corporation who had seen it during a visit after a few months of talks cashflow problems forced teleprompter to back out in april 1968 magnavox designed the exterior of the machine and reengineered some the internals with some consultation from baer and harrison they removed the ability to display color used only the three dial controller and changed the system of selecting games from a dial to separate game cards that modified the consoles circuitry when plugged into the console reception the magnavox odyssey at the 2010 festival du jeu vido magnavox began advertising the odyssey in midseptember 1972 including an appearance on the game show whats my line on october 16 1972 as neither pong nor the term video game existed the company described the console as the new electronic game of the future and closedcircuit electronic playground there are conflicting reports between baer and magnavox employees as to whether magnavox produced 120000 or 140000 consoles in 1972 additionally odyssey product manager bob fritsche recalled selling 69000 units that year while baer recalled sales being closer to 100000 magnavox assistant product planner don emry said that the sales were in line with the original projections if not with the production run legacy ralph baer being given the national medal of technology in february 2006 as the odyssey was discontinued magnavox released the first successive dedicated consolesconsoles that could only play games built into the systemin the magnavox odyssey series the odyssey 100 and odyssey 200 as part of the first generation of video game consoles the odyssey 100 was only capable of playing the ping pong and hockey games from the original odyssey while it showed the potential of video game consoles and marked the end of the early history of video games and the beginning of the commercial video game industry the odyssey is not generally considered a major commercial success magnavox produced no more games for the console after 1973 and rejected baers proposals for an addon that would add sound to games a putting controller and associated golf game and console variants that would have been cheaper or supported up to four players in 2004 ralph baer was awarded the national medal of technology for his groundbreaking and pioneering creation development and commercialization of interactive video games which spawned related uses applications and megaindustries in both the entertainment and education realms lawsuits patent drawing for the magnavox odyssey in may 1972 nutting associates chief engineer nolan bushnell designer of the first commercial arcade video game computer space saw a demonstration of the odyssey at a dealership the judge ruled that baers more general patent for the odyssey constituted the pioneering patent of the video game art and held the defendants games as infringing the patents atari settled early on in the court case with magnavox and in return were granted a license in exchange for us15 million and access granted to magnavox to all technology produced by atari from june 1976 to june 1977 while the other defendants paid higher penalties list of games a total of 28 games distributed on 11 different game cards were released for the magnavox odyssey 13 games were included with the consolea set of 12 in america and a different set of 10 in other countrieswith 6 others available for purchase either individually for us549 or in a pack for us2499 the additional games primarily used the same game cards with different screen overlays and instructions another game percepts was available for free to players that sent in a survey card a light gun accessory shooting gallery was available for purchase and included four games on two cards that used the rifle a final four games were released for sale in 1973 designed wholly or in part by don emry title game card description us version international version table tennis 1 two players use paddles to knock a ball back and forth on a screen does not use an overlay included with console included with console ski 2 one player moves a dot representing a skier back and forth as they go down a mountain path players must keep track of their own time and penalties included with console included with console simon says 2 a three player game where two players must race to touch the body part of their chosen characters picture when the third player tells them to based on a deck of simon says cards included with console included with console tennis 3 two players use paddles to knock a ball back and forth on a screen uses an overlay of a tennis court and players are intended to follow the rules of tennis included with console included with console analogic 3 a math game where players can move to either squares depicted on the overlay based on if the number on the square is even or odd and is the sum of the other players move and another number included with console included with console hockey 3 two players use paddles to knock a ball back and forth on a screen uses an overlay of a hockey rink and players score only if the puck reaches the opponents goal on the overlay included with console included with console football 3 4 two players use a combination of onscreen movement dice and play cards to simulate a game of football kickoff passing and punting plays use card 3 while running plays use card 4 included with console na cat and mouse 4 a two player chase game played on a grid with the mouse attempting to return to its house before the cat catches it included with console sold separately haunted house 4 a two player chase game played on a haunted house overlay with the detective trying to collect all of the clue cards without being caught by the ghost included with console sold separately submarine 5 a target shooting game with one player moving a submarine along shipping lanes and the other player using their spot as a torpedo included with console included with console roulette 6 a game of chance where players bet with chips and randomly spin their controller dial to launch a spot at a roulette wheel overlay included with console sold separately states 6 an educational game played with an overlay of the united states and a deck of fifty trivia cards with questions about each state included with console na fun zoo 2 a racing game using an overlay of a zoo with a third player drawing animal cards for the players to race to sold separately na baseball 3 two players use a combination of onscreen movement dice and play cards to simulate a game of baseball sold separately na invasion 4 5 6 a combination of strategic moves made on a separate game board and tactical combat resolved on the screen different assaults use different cards sold separately na wipeout 5 a racing game using both a track overlay and a game board the game board keeps track of laps and the second players dot along with the ball dot keeps time sold separately included with console volleyball 7 two players use paddles to knock a ball back and forth on a screen uses an overlay of a volleyball court and players must knock the ball over the net for scores to count sold separately included with console soccer 8 two players use paddles to knock a ball back and forth on a screen uses an overlay of a soccer court and players score only if the ball reaches the opponents goal on the overlay na included with console handball 8 two players use paddles to knock a ball back and forth on a screen uses an overlay of a handball court and players are both on the same side of the screen with a wall on the other side sold separately na prehistoric safari 9 one player sets their dot on overlays of prehistoric animals while the other player attempts to shoot the dot with the light gun in as few shots as possible sold with light gun sold with light gun dogfight 9 one player moves their dot along a flight path on the overlay while the other player attempts to shoot it with the light gun sold with light gun sold with light gun shootout 9 one player is a bandit in an old west town and moves along a path stopping at windows for the other player to try to shoot with the light gun sold with light gun sold with light gun shooting gallery 10 the overlay contains rows of shooting gallery targets and the player attempts to shoot the computercontrolled dot with the light gun as it moves over them sold with light gun sold with light gun percepts 2 a racing game in which the overlay has squares containing patterns and symbols on them players race to the correct square when the corresponding card is drawn from a deck free with survey na brain wave 3 a complicated strategy game using cards and dice sold separately 1973 na win 4 players move their dot to symbols on the overlay to fill out their win card while their dot is invisible until the reset button is pressed sold separately 1973 na basketball 8 two players use paddles to knock a ball back and forth on a screen uses an overlay of a basketball court sold separately 1973 na interplanetary voyage 12 the player guides their dot which has momentum to planets to complete missions given by cards with a maximum number of moves allowed sold separately 1973 na demaria rusel wilson johnny l december 2003 high score the illustrated history of electronic games 2nd ed mcgraw hillosborne isbn9780072231724 donovan tristan 20100420 replay the history of video games yellow ant isbn9780956507204 goldberg marty vendel curt 20121125 atari inc business is fun syzygy press isbn9780985597405 wolf mark j p 20120605 before the crash early video game history wayne state university press isbn9780814334508 wolf mark j p 20071130 the video game explosion a history from pong to playstation and beyond greenwood publishing group isbn9780313338687 media related to magnavox odyssey at wikimedia commons vtevideo game consoles first generationtypes home video game console list handheld game console list microconsole list dedicated console list generations first 197280 second 197692 third 19832003 fourth 19872004 fifth 19932005 sixth 19982013 seventh 200517 eighth 2012present firstgenerationhome magnavox odyssey dedicated apf tv fun color tvgame gameroom telepong magnavox odyssey series pong coleco telstar video pinball second generation emulator game history list manufacturer vtehome video game consolesatari atari 2600 atari 5200 atari 7800 atari xegs atari jaguar atari vcs bandai super vision 8000 arcadia rx78 playdia apple bandai pippin casio pv1000 casio loopy commodore commodore 64 games system commodore cdtv amiga cd32 mattel intellivision hyperscan microsoft xbox xbox 360 xbox one nec turbografx16 pcfx nintendo nes snes n64 gamecube wii wii u switch philips magnavox odyssey odyssey videopac g7400 philips cdi sega sg1000 master system sega genesis sega saturn dreamcast snk neo geo neo geo cd sony playstation playstation 2 psx playstation 3 playstation 4 vtech vtech creativision socrates vsmile vflash others1970s apfmp1000 bally astrocade fairchild channel f rca studio ii interton vc 40001292 advanced programmable video system 1980s action max arcadia 2001 colecovision epoch cassette vision super cassette vision rdi halcyon vectrex viewmaster interactive vision 1990s 3do interactive multiplayer amstrad gx4000 cps changer fm towns marty laseractive super acan 2000s discover evo smart console game wave nuon xavix zeebo list 