Magnavox Odyssey
- For emulators, see Magnavox Odyssey emulators.
Magnavox's Odyssey was the very first commercial video game console. It was the brainchild of the legend Ralph H. Baer, who also co-created the Simon electronic toy.
As the first of its kind, it was a rather simplistic machine. Its graphics were so crude that they had had to be complemented by plastic overlays and board game trinkets. Its games were sold as circuit boards called "game cards"; however, they did not actually contain data (the Channel F would introduce ROM cartridges years later), working as sets of jumpers to change the machine's behaviors.
Still, it was a new experience, so the machine sold well. Subsequently Magnavox produced the "Odyssey series" of dedicated consoles, and the true successor, the Odyssey². Not only that, the company made a pretty penny on licensing patents to pretty much every other game console maker for the next two decades.
The list (adapted from Wikipedia[1])
[edit | edit source]A total of 28 games distributed on 11 different game cards were released for the Magnavox Odyssey. 13 games were included with the console—a set of 12 in America and a different set of 10 in other countries—with six others available for purchase either individually or in a bundle; 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. The console does not enforce game rules or keep track of scores for the games; that is left up to the players.
| Cover | Title | Game card | Description | Screenshot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Table Tennis | 1 | Two players use paddles to knock a ball back and forth on a screen; does not use an overlay | ||
| 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 | ||
| Simon Says | 2 | A three-player game where two players must race to touch the body part of their chosen character's picture when the third player tells them to, based on a deck of Simon Says cards | ||
| 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 | ||
| Analogic | 3 | A math game where players can move to either square depicted on the overlay based on if the number on the square is even or odd and is the sum of the other player's move and another number | ||
| 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 opponent's goal on the overlay | ||
| Football | 3, 4 | Two players use a combination of on-screen 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 | ||
| 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 | ||
| 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 | ||
| 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 | ||
| 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 | ||
| 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 | ||
| 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 | ||
| Baseball | 3 | Two players use a combination of on-screen movement, dice, and play cards to simulate a game of baseball | ||
| 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 | ||
| Wipeout | 5 | A racing game using both a track overlay and a game board; the game board keeps track of laps and the second player's dot along with the ball dot keeps time | ||
| 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 | ||
| Soccer | 3 | 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 opponent's goal on the overlay | ||
| Handball | 8 | Two players use paddles to knock a ball back and forth on a screen; it 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 | ||
| 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 | ||
| 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 | ||
| 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 | ||
| Shooting Gallery | 10 | The overlay contains rows of shooting gallery targets, and the player attempts to shoot the computer-controlled dot with the light gun as it moves over them | ||
| 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 | ||
| Brain Wave | 3 | A complicated strategy game using cards and dice | ||
| W.I.N. | 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 | ||
| Basketball | 8 | Two players use paddles to knock a ball back and forth on a screen; uses an overlay of a basketball court | ||
| 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 |
Videos
[edit | edit source]External links
[edit | edit source]- OdySim - recreations of Odyssey games on Windows
| First Generation | ||
| Consoles | Nintendo Color TV-Game - Magnavox Odyssey - Coleco Telstar | |
| Other | CDC PLATO - Old and Busted | |
- ↑ Text is available under the Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License; additional terms may apply.