1974 magnavox odyssey series#

The 200 system also broke new ground for the industry due to the fact that it was the first console which supported either two or four players. The 200 console also boasted a third game option which was known as Smash. The Odyssey 200 was also released during 1975 however this model did use the Texas Instrument’s single chip in its design making it superior to the earlier Odyssey release in a variety of facets. The system like its predecessor was also powered using batteries and it was possible to use either a 9 volt battery or 6 C batteries. The players would use 3 separate knobs in order to control horizontal movement, vertical movement, and the trajectory of the ball used in the games. Neither game contained the capability of on the screen scoring and they both shared the same simple buzzer sound as an audio component. The console was capable of playing two games, one was the Tennis game that became the inspiration for Pong and the other game was Hockey. The system did however use chips which were created by Texas instruments and used four multiple chip discrete components. At the time of this consoles release Magnavox was already considering the use of a single chip design but due to the desire to release the product as soon as possible the company elected not to wait for Texas Instruments to deliver their supply of single chips and pushed the system into production. This version of the console was released during the year of 1975 and used a multiple chip discrete component design which makes it the simplest of the consoles released after the original.

1974 magnavox odyssey series#

Baer 1972 ID Number 2006.0102.08 catalog number 2006.0102.08 accession number 2006.0102 Object Name video game system Physical Description plastic (overall material) Measurements overall: 3 3/4 in x 16 1/2 in x 16 1/2 in 9.525 cm x 41.91 cm x 41.91 cm Related Publication Baer, Ralph H.The system name of the Magnavox Odyssey was used on each of the consoles released by the company between the years of 19 which means that there are a number of consoles which fall into this series including the original designed by Ralph Baer, both the Magnavox and the Phillips models of the Odyssey, and finally the Odyssey ² which was released in 1978. Location Currently not on view Credit Line Ralph H. Despite these setbacks, Magnavox Odyssey made its mark by starting the video game console industry. Many potential consumers were under the impression-sometimes encouraged by Magnavox salesmen-that Odyssey would only work on Magnavox television sets. Among the contributing factors, poor marketing played a large role. With approximately 350,000 units sold, Magnavox Odyssey was not considered a commercial success, especially in comparison with Pong’s runaway popularity. These accessories were possibly included to make the Odyssey more like the physical games that existed at the time. Perhaps most surprising to modern gamers, the Odyssey also came with nonelectronic game accessories such as dice, decks of cards, play money, and poker chips.

Since the Odyssey had limited graphic capabilities and displayed only a few small white blocks and a vertical line on the screen, Magnavox included translucent color overlays to provide settings and layouts for the games. Additional games and accessories, like a lightgun, were sold in separate packages. However, months earlier, Magnavox had released its Magnavox Odyssey, a home video game system based on the “Brown Box,” a prototype invented by Ralph Baer.

manufacturer Magnavox Company Description When most people think about the first video game, they think of Pong, the ping-pong arcade game released by Atari in 1972.

Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, African Art.