![]() ![]() Versions were sold in Germany ( Odyssee), Mexico ( Odisea), the UK, Australia, Belgium, Greece, Canada, France, England, Israel, Switzerland, Italy, and Venezuala. When even agressive price slashing couldn’t save Odyssey, Magnavox regrouped and exported it around the world in 1974. Do you run out and get a new tv every time a new Xbox comes out? Well, I sure can’t on my salary! Light gun accessory sales also failed for much the same reason. In 1974 Dutch electronics giant Philips acquired Magnavox and released their own Odyssey versions as Philips Magnavox- Odyssey 200 (European release), Odyssey 2001 (1977), Odyssey 2100 (1978).Įventually sales fell, ultimately due to the worst move in marketing on Magnavox’s part- dealers gave the impression that the console only worked with Magnavox television sets which turned away many a would-be buyer. There were several models in the Odyssey line released in the 70s after discontinuation of the original model under Magnavox including Odyssey 100 (1975), Odyssey 200 (1975), Odyssey 300 (1976), Odyssey 400 (1976), Odyssey 500 (1976), Odyssey 2000 (1977), Odyssey 3000 (1977), Odyssey 4000 (1977), and Odyssey 5000 (prototype only) and a 4-player unreleased version. Like most other video game companies of the 1970s and 80s, Magnavox was in and out of court for patent infringement with Atari (in regards to Pong), Coleco, Mattel, Seeburg, Activision and Nintendo over Odyssey but overall suffered little damage from its competitors. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Ī smash hit, Odyssey sold nearly 100,000 units by 1972 with a total sales reaching around 350,000 within two years. ![]() Magnavox also looked into a prototype by Baer for an electronic rifle but never followed through on this.Įnglish: A Magnavox Odyssey, the world’s first video game console. Ah well, everybody likes a cheat in a video game. It had some flaws in sensitivity, notably that a player could rack up extra hits by shooting towards a light bulb. Not just the world’s first home console, Odyssey also featured the world’s first light gun accessory (think NES’s Duck Hunt), named Shooting Gallery. Odyssey featured plastic colour overlays in favour of Baer’s origininal backgrounds much like those the GCE Vectrex would later emulate it also boasted a wealth of over 300 total accessories including additional paper money, poker chips, score sheets and dice which made gaming with the Odyssey something of a hybrid between video and board game. Odyssey, the world’s first home video game console, came to sale in 1972 with that late-60s tennis game Baer’s creation beating Atari’s Pong by 3 years. Next came the Brown Box prototype, picked up by Magnavox which originally used colour electronic backgrounds but this proved costly and by the time Odyssey came to market this feature was nixed. Unfortunately it didn’t get into the sordid history of this console and Pong. In my opinion this is one of the most important pieces of video game history on display. English: The “brown box” prototype of the Magnavox Odyssey autographed by creator Ralph Baer. ![]()
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