The company decided to focus on the numbers game in attracting the gamer: where the Super NES and Genesis were touting the cutting edge of 16-bit technology, the Atari Jaguar surpassed this with whopping 64-bits of raw processing power, the first of its kind in the home market! With the failure of the Atari 7800, and with the Atari Lynx on the losing side of the fight against Nintendo's Game Boy, Atari gave the videogame console market one last shot with the Atari Jaguar. But when it finally did come up on-screen, I could only imagine what kind of revolution this must have looked like in 1972." It took me a while to get the Ody hooked up to an older, fickle television. However, I can only imagine what my face must have looked like when I recently found one in mint condition in the original box with all screen overlays still packed with parchment paper between them - and for only $38. "I wasn't even a zygote when the Odyssey first came out, but played around with one years later found at a garage sale. But the precedent established by the Odyssey paved the way for subsequent systems - a legacy that has secured the console a place in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Due to the simplicity of the console, there weren’t any third-party games designed for it. The games for the Odyssey consisted of straightforward, single-function titles like Baseball, Basketball, Ski, and more. The Odyssey also launched the very first home light gun ever produced, called the Shooting Gallery. The controllers were essentially boxes with horizontal and vertical axis knobs on both sides with very dense wires between them and the base console. The Odyssey used a cartridge system, although the games more closely resembled computer chips than actual games. Although lacking color video output or sound, the Magnavox still managed to sell over 300,000 units. A hybrid of both analog and digital circuitry, the Odyssey is the absolute starting point for all subsequent gaming platforms. The Magnavox was the very first videogame console ever released, predating even the Atari Pong. Talmadge Blevins, Vice President, IGN Games Content It may not be as well-known as the Atari 2600, but I will always remember the Odyssey 2 with kind regard." Munchkin was so much better than Pac-Man, Pick Axe Pete was way beyond Donkey Kong on the 2600, and Smithereens was one of the most fun two-player games I had ever played at the time. "My best friend had an Odyssey 2, and I have to say that even though I loved my Atari 2600, I secretly wanted his console as well. Without Baer's original invention, it is likely that an entire industry would never have happened. Even so, the brand did enable Magnavox to move approximately one million systems in North America with approximately one million more sold overseas in markets like Europe and South America.Īlthough the Odyssey 2 has neither the influence cachet of the original Odyssey nor the runaway popularity of the Atari 2600, it remains an important machine because of its general legacy. Far more intriguing, though, are the Master Strategy games which shipped with board game accessories that were actually quite decorative.ĭespite the improvements, the Odyssey 2 never quite caught on like the Atari 2600. Magnavox produced just over 50 titles for the machine, including the Pac-Man clone KC Munchkin, one of the system's top-sellers. The Odyssey 2 hosted more games that the Odyssey, too. While the Odyssey 2's resolution is lower than the 2600, the console surpassed Atari’s in a handful of technical areas - such as the out-of-the-box inclusion of a full keyboard for easy programming and edutainment software and the availability of an optional speech synthesizer. It aped the blockbuster Atari 2600 - now its chief rival in 1978 - in many ways, such as using the then-traditional one-button joystick and interchangeable cartridges. The Odyssey was limited, though (all games were onboard, the paddle-like controller was clumsy compared to the joystick), and so Magnavox, the manufacturer of the console, pressed forward with the Odyssey 2. Others may have popularized it beyond measure, such as the Atari 2600 and NES, but the Odyssey series is truly the genesis. Ralph Baer's original Odyssey is the machine that started the home videogame industry.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |