WhileNintendoandAtarigenerally get the lion ’s contribution of aid from video game historian and retro enthusiasts , the kickoff of the home game console phenomenon started sooner . In 1972 , Magnavoxreleasedthefirsthome console , the Odyssey , a $ 99.95systemthat resembled nothing so much as a rest home appliance and let in 12 archaic plot without sound or color . It was nonetheless a necessary first whole tone in the evolution of home plate play . discipline out some facts about the Odyssey ’s rum coming to graphics , its accoutrement , and why it was part board game .
1. The Magnavox Odyssey pre-datedPong.
Months before Atari secrete the first colonnade video biz , the tennis - inspiredPong , Magnavox unloose the Odyssey , a home console table with two controllers and game programmed on cards . Magnavox licensed the Odyssey from Ralph Baer , an engineer who had spend five yearsdesigninga “ game loge ” that he and employers Sanders Associates patented . Baer had actually been retrieve of act game on televisions as far back as 1951 , though few thought the idea had any potency . afterward , Atari co - founder Nolan Bushnell saw an early interlingual rendition of an Odyssey tennis - mode secret plan , which may haveinspiredPong . Sanders Associates and Magnavox successfully sued Atari , though in truth Baer and the society saw any kind of video biz an infringement on the letters patent and afterwards sue manufacturers like Nintendo , often winning . Baer afterwards invented theSimoninteractive tabletop biz .
2. The Magnavox Odyssey was powered by batteries.
While there was an optional AC big businessman cord usable for leverage separately , Magnavox gestate that most consumer would power the Odyssey using six coke batteries that wereincludedwith the organization .
3. The Magnavox Odyssey used plastic overlays instead of graphics.
The Odyssey was unequal to of rendering complex art ; instead , it used two bars of sparkle wangle by the controllers , and background were left up to the included plastic overlays . If a instrumentalist wanted to take on football , for model , they would tape the appropriateplasticover their television system set , which washeldin place against the filmdom with still electrical energy . There were also conniption forgameslikeSki , Haunted House , Submarine , Simon Sez , andBaseball , among others .
4. The Magnavox Odyssey was part board game.
Possibly feel as though consumers might want more conventional method of dramatic play , Magnavoxincludeda number of odd accessory with the Odyssey . The organisation come with die , a card deck , play money , and poker chips that could beusedwith some of the games .
5. Some Magnavox Odyssey games were meant to be educational.
Possibly anticipating some maternal complaints , Magnavox included at least one educational game with the Odyssey . InStates , an overlay of a map of the United States was placed over the television , with country lighting up one at a time . Players wereexpectedto guess which country was being identify . The society also take the games would ameliorate motor skills .
6. The Magnavox Odyssey had a light gun.
While the Nintendo Entertainment System’sZapperandDuck Huntgame may have been the mellow - profile clean hit man accessory for a home base system , it was n’t the first . The Odyssey had ariflesold under the name Shooting Gallery that allowed players to pick off targets on their televisions .
7. Consumers thought the Magnavox Odyssey might only work with Magnavox televisions.
Before the wave of consumer electronics in the late ' 70 and eighties — VCR , game systems , and more — consumers were n’t as savvy about how devices could connect to their hardening . Magnavox sold just 350,000 Odyssey units , in part because some prospective emptor who have sets from contend manufacturers assumed it would onlyworkwith Magnavox TVs . ( In fact , it worked with any telly via aconnectionwith the VHF antenna depot . ) Such merchandising blunders are consider to be thereasonthe Odyssey ultimately flunk to catch on with consumer .
8. The Magnavox Odyssey was resurrected by the University of Pittsburgh.
In 2019 , the Vibrant Media Lab at the University of Pittsburghdemonstrateda re - engineered version of the Odyssey that was up and run for the ecumenical populace to act , both at a live event and online . This was challenging , as the Odyssey , which wasbuiltwith analogue circuit , ca n’t easy be emulate . The finish was to remind masses that the Odyssey was a key step in the progression of menage game systems .
