History of video games/Platforms/Magnavox Odyssey

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  The Magnavox Odyssey and controller.

History

Background

A 1939 Station Guide for the New York City Subway, where Ralph BBaer was inspired to pursue an education in Electronics.

The Magnavox company was founded on the 5th of July in 1917, and mainly produced products such as radios, speakers, and televisions for consumers and the military.

Ralph Baer was born in 1922 in Germany, where he was soon denied an education under the increasing power of the Nazis. Baer and his family fled to the United States as refugees, fleeing persecution in Nazi Germany. A chance encounter on a subway in 1938 lead Baer to gain an interest in technology. Baer later was drafted into the American army to fight the Nazis in World War II.

Development

1969 TV Game Unit #7 / Brown Box prototype

Ralph Baer, now an engineer who specialized in television, thought of an interactive television game in 1966. In 1967 a prototype unit called TV Game Unit #1, which allowed a dot to be manipulated on a television screen. This test system used vacuum tubes instead of transistors, but was still compact due to its simplicity.

The following prototype TV Game Unit #2 allowed for two players, and was referred as the "Pump Unit" because of its unique up and down handle controller.

Ralph Baer with a reproduction Brown Box in 2010.

Baer convinced company leadership to fund his project with a $2000 budget. The TV Game Unit #7 prototype, called the "Brown Box" could play multiple games, and had two controllers with a design that, while unrefined, was quite similar to the gamepads used in the third and fourth generation of consoles. A prototype 1968 controller featuring a real golf ball on the end of a sturdy joystick was made, allowing the use of a standard golf club to be used in a golf game. A prototype plastic lightgun was also made for shooting games. Program card overlays served as a sort of game medium, indicating which switches needed to be pressed to access specific games.

Magnavox contracted Nintendo, then a Japanese company that made a number of consumer goods including toys, to produce the light guns for the Magnavox Odyssey in 1971, adapting an existing Nintendo light gun toy for this purpose.

On January the 27th, 1972 production of the Magnavox Odyssey began.

The name Odyssey was chosen as a nod to the Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Launch

Magnavox launched the Magnavox Odyssey in May of 1972. The cost of the Odyssey was $99.95, which included 12 pack in games.

For reasons unrelated to the Odyssey, Dutch company Philips acquired the American company Magnavox in 1974. The Philips company was founded in 1891, making it among the oldest companies to have a large involvement in the gaming industry.

The Magnavox Odyssey 100 was released in 1975, with used four integrated circuits to greatly simplify hardware.

Legacy

Production of the Magnavox Odyssey ended in 1975. The console was followed by the Odyssey series of dedicated consoles. The console would later receive a proper followup in the Magnavox Odyssey².

The Magnavox Odyssey sold less than 100,000 consoles its first year and about 350,000 total due to poor marketing. Magnavox salespeople would often incorrectly imply that a Magnavox Television was required to use the console to sell more Magnavox televisions, despite it's compatibility with nearly all televisions.

The Magnavox Odyssey would inspire Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell to have his company make Pong, eventually leading Magnavox to take legal action against Atari.

In 1973, following the launch of the Odyssey, Baer demonstrated a concept All Purpose Box console pioneered a number of concepts which are now common. The Multimedia Box would run games, including some which could be advertiser supported, educational content, and mail order shopping.

In 2021 Handball for the Brown Box prototype would be the first video game to be depicted on currency produced by the United States Mint.

Because it is commonly recognized as the first home game console, the Magnavox Odyssey is also nearly universally categorized as a first generation console.

Preservation

Due to it's wildly different technical architecture, and a reliance on physical objects, accurate emulation of the Odyssey relies on much different techniques compared to standard emulators.

In 2017 a team at the University of Pittsburgh began working to preserve Odyssey related materials.

Technology

Table Tennis on the Odyssey. Overlays were used to make the limited graphical capabilities of the Odyssey more expressive.

The Magnavox Odyssey lacked a computer, instead using analog circuitry and game cards that manipulate internal jumpers to achieve desired results. Display output was limited to a line and three white blocks, so color overlays and physical items were used to enhance gameplay. Overlays attached to the CRT televisions via either the static electricity generated by the television, or manually with tape.

The system is powered by six C type batteries., though an optional AC adapter was available. Inserting a game card turned on the power, so the unit lacks a power button.

Games

Because the Odyssey lacked a computer, and was primarily a graphics generating device, games for the Magnavox Odyssey were simple, and were often versions of real sports like tennis. Other games included a US Geography quiz game, and a roulette game. No matter the game, the Odyssey relies a lot on its players to use their imaginations, as well do things like keep score or enforce rules.

Gallery

Console

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  The front of the Odyssey. The thin slot near the front is where the jumper card is inserted.
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  The rear of the Odyssey with dials and ports accessible.
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  The console bottom, with the battery door closed. This console was made in the United States of America.
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  The console bottom, with the battery door open. Six batteries are used to power the console.

Controller

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  Controller front. The single stage vertical dial is visible.
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  Controller back and twelve pin plug. The two stage horizontal and "English" dial is visible.

Accessories

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  Odyssey Jumper card #1. Unlike a cartridge that contains software, this card simply manipulated internal circuitry to achieve the desired game mode.
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  Game boards were used for many Odyssey games.
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  Game accessories like cards, dice, game money, and casino style chips were used to add depth to games.
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  Display overlays came in different sizes, and were used to add color and graphics beyond what the Odyssey could generate on its own.
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  The Odyssey Video Cable connects the console to the switchbox.
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  The Odyssey switchbox is used to connect the Odyssey to a TV. It had to have two terminals screwed into the television.

Technology

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  An Odyssey motherboard viewed from the top. Jumper wires are used to bridge connections across the PCB.
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  An Odyssey motherboard viewed from the bottom. The smooth curves on the traces are typical of hand drawn PCBs.
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  Motherboard diagonal view, note the use of vertical modules that save horizontal space.
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  A patent showing the operation of the Odyssey.

Marketing

Odyssey wordmark.

External Resources

• MoMA - Magnavox Odyssey exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art.
• Smithsonian National Museum of American History - Magnavox Odyssey page featuring photo with Odyssey and packaging.
• Smithsonian National Museum of American History - Article about Ralph Baer and prototypes.
• Video Game Console Library - Magnavox Odyssey page with history and photos.
• Old Computers - Magnavox Odyssey Page with history and technical information.
• Centre for Computing History - Magnavox Odyssey page
• Video Game Kraken - Odyssey by Magnavox page
• Pong Story's website on the Odyssey.
• Video Game History Foundation - Page on the Odyssey focusing on the history of advertising the system.
• BBC Archive - Includes a video from 1973 which introduces the then novel concept of a video game.