The First Console (1972) and its 28 Games

[@otaking3582]

A Magnavox Odyssey is a big responsibility. You have to constantly maintain it, make sure you have the proper adapters, open it up to get it to work on your TV, take it on daily walks, don't feed it after midnight...

[@Chaos89P]

Don't get it wet, lest it replicates. On second thought, do get it wet, but responsibly.

[@XavierZara]

@@Chaos89P be careful though, for each replication causes more instability in mind and body

[@lorumipsum1129]

Xavier Zara ah, Gary...

[@awetistic5295]

Legend says if you feed it after midnight, it will turn into a CD-i.

[@masonasaro2118]

... but it's always after midnight...

[@Julian_Pepper]

Now, say it with me While this card comes with the Odyssey, the accessories in which to play it were sold seperately

[@Spider_Rico]

It was the DLC of the day.

[@derekmayse9335]

While this card comes with the Odyssey, the accessories in which to play it were sold separately.

[@a2pha]

THAT's how you market a product ! Include all the games with the system but no overlays or instructions. Then sell those separately.

[@maproductions9945]

While this card comes with the Odyssey, the accessories in which to play it were sold separately.

[@silverghost3063]

Kind of wild to think that the first ever home console had what would equate to today as DLC. I wonder why they chose to sell it separately? I mean aside from the obvious (money).

[@antonnym214]

I was a kid when this came out. My friend had one. I went over to his house and he didn't feel it was worth the effort to play any of the games. He was already tired of it. Then later, we got an Odyssey 200 for Christmas and that was fun until we got tired of playing the games it had on board. It had no cartridges. Then we got an Atari from Sears and that was terrific, for months and months. After it died, it was time to get a computer, so we got a TRS-80, and my dad and I wrote Games Pack One for it and that's a whole separate story. The point is that those primitive video consoles served as a gateway to computer programming for me. I went on from there to programming a boat-load of games and even designed two programming languages (R-code and LIM). Fond memories, all started with two square dots.

[@Domarius64]

That's pretty cool. I feel like your name should be more searchable than it is, if you made an official games pack and 2 languages. Would be cool to know more about the games.

[@antonnym214]

@@Domarius64 Anton Nym is not my real name. It's a play on "Anonymous". We're talking about 1979 and 1980, my last year of High School. My dad and I wrote the games in the built-in BASIC for the TRS-80 and I added my own z-80 assembly language subroutines where we needed speed. All our games had AI so you could play against the computer. We published through a shoe-string software house called Micro Pro International. We visited their office one day. It was one man doing it as a side job (He also worked at IBM) and the whole operation was a desk in the corner of a barn on a pig farm in Georgia. I don't know how searchable that is now, but I can tell you about the games. We did card games like Hearts, Spades, and Poker. Also a Battleship game that we had to call something like "Boat Battle". Our crowning achievement was Monopoly, running in 48K. It drew the board, rolled the dice for you, took care of all the deeds and banking, chance and community chest cards and trades and played against you if you wanted. I hope that helps. All good wishes.

[@Domarius64]

@@antonnym214 it does, that's fascinating :) it mystifies me that it's possible to combine 2 separate languages, such as basic and assembly (talk about two extremes) in one program. I suppose it depends on the capabilities of the compiler...

[@antonnym214]

@@Domarius64 It was easy on the TRS-80 to have assembly-language or machine language subroutines. Just took extra work. Often a z-80 program would fit inside a BASIC string variable, and there was a nice facility in the BASIC called VARPTR() which gave the address of the string in memory, so you could then jump to that address with your USR() function. That technique was called "String Packing". I used the same idea when I wrote what was probably the first virtual memory application for the TRS-80 (model I), which was a text editor that could edit a document up to the size of your diskette, and was not limited by RAM. I needed a very fast search to find the link for the next row of text, so I wrote that in assembly and called it as a subroutine and it was 60 times faster than doing it in BASIC alone.

[@Domarius64]

@@antonnym214 ah so it was specific to the language and the machine. That must have been super rewarding to have the search function happen so fast, at a time when we needed decent word processing software. Programming for computers has changed so much...

[@TheChefBoo]

Imagine if, for the 50th anniversary of the oddyssey, they released a mini-like system with all of the games.

[@DrNo64]

In my opinion nobody (or at least very few people) would want that, though, considering the technology we have today, they could probably make it a lot smaller

[@codprocamp4690]

@@DrNo64 they could make it inside a bb

[@DrNo64]

@@codprocamp4690 You're thinking too large.

[@highpineapple]

I say buy two laser pointers and call it a day.

[@rodrigofranca9787]

@@DrNo64 I would want

[@rmorren9207]

"Get ball past opponent" can definitely describe a large amount of sports. The Magnavox knew this and went with it. Hard.

[@jessragan6714]

Most of the pong games of the 1970s were the same way. Pong could become Racquetball or Jai Alai with the flip of a switch! What's the difference between Pong and Jai Alai on a pong console? Heck if I know. Gravity, I guess.

[@tankmchavocproductions6907]

I find it remarkable that they were able to create a video game console, let alone a working TV signal, before the invention of the microchip. This thing runs off of pure simple electronics, and, by today’s standards, isn’t a computer at all - just a series of components that create a working and changing television signal.

[@nowthatsjustducky]

And I find it remarkable that this did not cause the home video game industry to miscarry before it could even be born; under the concept of first impressions are lasting impressions.

[@m0rShh]

What really blows my mind is that the first consumer video game system came out before the first consumer VCR. The Odyssey came out in 1972, and the first Betamax player was released in 1975.

[@elimalinsky7069]

The Magnavox Odyssey uses discrete circuitry, but which is based entirely on digital binary arithmetic and logic internally, with only the output to the TV and input from the controllers being analog. The Odyssey is however fixed program and not Turing-complete, so it does not qualify for a computer in modern terms. The Pong circuit board on the other hand, while also being based on discrete logic, is technically (but not practically) programmable to a certain degree, but is not Turing-complete and is not Von Neumann compliant, so still not a computer in the modern sense. The first home video game console to be fully programmable, Turing-complete and built on the Von Neumann architecture was the Fairchild VES/Channel F released in November 1976. Back in the 1970s all of these could be called computers, but today most would agree a modern computer must be fully programmable, Turing-complete and Von Neumann compliant.

[@lothar71]

@@nowthatsjustducky At the time this was revolutionary. it's why it's so important to talk about. Gaming wouldn't be what it is without the Odyssey.

[@scottlarson1548]

The way they implemented these kinds of games with ordinary analog electronics is clever. They have voltages rising or falling to move things on the screen, a flip-flop to make something go the other direction when it hits something, and voltage comparers to detect when something has hit something else. Different games were little more than rewiring the components to make stuff happen on different parts of the screen.

[@not2tired]

1. This console needs a classic mini edition. 2. It completely blows away modern systems in terms of input lag, which can probably be measured in nanoseconds. 3. Finally we can appreciate what a masterpiece of a game "Stack Up" for NES is.

[@Samwow]

My dad's uncle actually worked on the Odyssey 2 and would bring him preproduction cartridges to play every thanksgiving, which were basically just circuit boards with paper labels on them that said the name of the game. I'm trying to see if I could get into contact with him to see if he still has any, because they could be prototypes or cancelled games, which would be an interesting you find.

[@vincells]

My dad works for Xbox and he says Fortnite 3 is gonna be announced in the next Nintendo Direct

[@SMARTBoardSBMInchInteractiveWh]

I know this is old but if he has them you should dump them because there might be a few prototypes

[@austenlangford]

Just make your own new games...I wanna see some dnd on here people!

[@SynGirl32]

My uncle works at Square Enix and he says you can bring Aerith back by licking the disc.

[@SomeBlokeOrWhatever]

Let's just take a moment to appreciate that Odyssey is an awesome name for an entertainment machine, and the very first video game console took it and now it can't be used anymore :D

[@k.j.hallingswest5231]

There is an episode of that 70s show where Red and Kelso mod a Pong console in order to make the paddles smaller because they both had mastered the system.

[@TubbyJ420]

Immediately what i thought of when i saw him adjusting the size of the pong paddles. It all makes sense now.

[@bryantsview1652]

same lmao I remembered Kelso at 7:20

[@marakarthegreat]

"when it comes to going back to the past... you can't go back much more than this!" -AVGN (2009)

[@zaburinaburi1705]

"Analogic - logic of my ass"

[@cyclops8238]

4:19 can somebody please tell me what this joke is I don't get it

[@nowthatsjustducky]

One might find it more desirable to have a buffalo take a diarrhea dump in one's ear instead of be subjected to one of these.

[@LITTLE1994]

That may be true, but the Atari 2600 has that title to me. This console...it feels cheap.

[@TheUplinkExperiment]

@@LITTLE1994 Well, this fucking thing was the first console, it feels cheap since the technology that the later Atari 2600 used literally did not exist yet. I'd give it credit for making a game console and games before microchips.

[@darkfalzx]

Never owned the original Odyssey, but its games remind me of that one time in the 80s my bro and I made our own analogue "videogames" with pen, paper and a Lego Technics set: )

[@bubbythebear6891]

Sounds fun!

[@captainnintendo]

Another great video. I was actually extremely fortunate of acquiring an Odyssey complete in box for a merely $50 like ten years ago or so. And now that I think back on it, I believe the reason no one else was bidding back then was because of a typo xD Another fun thing was that I got my hands on a book by Ralph Baer some years later and was actually able to get in touch with him and have my booked shipped to be signed with him. Even wrote a little back and forth with him. Pretty big honor. Fun thing was that like THE very next week after I got my book back with his autograph, that was when AVGN uploaded his review of the thing, which suddenly brought a lot of attention to it xD Hard to imagine that video game consoles will very soon officially be half a century old.

[@Pokarface7]

How lucky to be able to get a book with the author included

[@bsharpmajorscale]

When I was a kid, one of my hobbies was reading about the history of video games, including the fact that the Odyssey was the first home game console. Cool to see an in-depth look at the individual games.

[@radicaledwards3449]

Imagination was a killer app back in the day.

[@radicaledwards3449]

@Purple Poo So tell us about some of your designs, and ideas and programs.

[@johnny-becker]

Odyssey was pretty much a board game series with electronic television support.

[@PhoenixGuitars]

Trip down nostalgia lane! We had one when I was a kid and boy it was the bees knees! Turned me into the gamer I am today. Thank you for the time and effort you put into this. Cheers!

[@frankallen3634]

I was one of the 350,000 and I enjoyed the hell out of it. My TV was a black and white 12" admiral and I did have a hell of a time keeping the overlays on

[@goodolddoug889]

Oh, the days of routinely getting "mildly electrocuted" while working with old video games and CRT TVs. We had at least one set where the composite connectors weren't properly grounded, so it was a gamble every time you (un)plugged something.

[@MousePounder]

The end card is mesmerizing. Also, amazing job making this video while also adding to the youtube info on this console. I am one who knows of the odyssey from Avgn and you taught me new things and made this video super interesting. Hats off to you!

[@thepuzzlemaster64]

Question: since the odyssey doesn't use ROM chips in the game cartridges, shouldn't it be possible to recreate the missing card 11 by simply rewiring the jumpers on the cards?

[@MikeStavola]

Yes. And there was a pinout for all of the cards on geocities over 20 years ago. That means the info probably still exists on the internet.

[@megamix5403]

@@MikeStavola Web Archive

[@MikeStavola]

@@megamix5403 a huge chunk of geocities webpages were lost before the 2009 Yahoo purge. My page was wiped in 2005, without warning. I ran it since 1996. RIP my abandonware page.

[@megamix5403]

@@MikeStavola Yeah, that was sad. I remember browsing through GeoCities, AngelFire and Tripod. When GeoCities shut down, it was really the end of the era. What's more surprising is how long it lasted in Japan. It lasted well even past the 2009 Yahoo purge, and with Flash pretty much dead this year, it makes you wonder how much of the internet of old is left.

[@Moskito844]

@@MikeStavola yahoo sucks

[@StonerJames]

It's fun seeing how far graphics have come in almost 50 years.

[@SuperTrainStationH]

I find it interesting that the animals in "Fun Zoo" aren't just cartoony drawings of animals, but instead... they look like pixelated representations of what this game might have looked like on Intellivision. Funny.

[@_SereneMango]

Magnavox Odyssey: Makes the consumer debug games. And through hardware.

[@Thrakus]

it was the first fully digital game system based on tennis for two from 1958 witch was a addon for a Oscilloscope , Using a Model 30 analog computer to make the Oscilloscope act like Pong.

[@brunor.1127]

Hey FR! To solve that problem you have with recording old TVs you should set your shutter speed to 30 or 60th of a second!

[@adamrmoss]

Also have to sync to VBLANK.

[@LadyofStarlight]

That Ruby Gloom poster at 1:34 made my day. I'm glad to see that there are fans of it still out there

[@ZeroB4NG]

I'm confused... how do you buy Lootboxes on this thing and where do you enter your credit card information?

[@scantyer]

Hurr

[@KOTEBANAROT]

Father i cannot click the book

[@thetman0068]

You see, back in the day you had to write a check, lay it on a flat surface and place the Odyssey’s controller on top of it so it could scan the check and teletype it to Magnavox.

[@Asterra2]

In essence, this was a video game console mostly by accident. It was conceptualized as a high-tech board game that leveraged a typical household TV as its centerpiece. The era of the Pong clones followed soon after. It's a little frustrating to imagine how close Baer came to having the first home videogame mega-success. All he really needed to have done was pare down and tighten the controls on "Game 1". In complete fairness, though, it wasn't necessarily obvious without hindsight that the tennis program could be made into a fun twitch game. Fun footnote: Baer developed schematics for an Odyssey add-on board that made the ball perfectly round, and somebody built the thing, not expecting it to work... But it worked.

[@jetfrog4574]

Not quite sure I understand how this thing was "video game console by accident". Ralph Baer, it's creator, had conceptualized playing games on television(video games) as early as the 50's

[@Asterra2]

@@jetfrog4574 Perhaps if Ralph Baer, the creator of the Odyssey, had had enough faith in the Odyssey as a unit to sell it by itself, there'd be nothing to discuss. Instead, it was the centerpiece of a complicated series of board games. It's a simple truth that the more digital feel of Pong and the Pong clone army was a critical component of crossing that threshold into mass appeal. Basic sound, also. Baer got very close.

[@rightfiction6359]

It so crazy to see this on the modern giant flat tv

[@AJSSPACEPLACE]

The Odyssey is just getting cranky with age

[@MayheM_72]

I never had, or played, an Odyssey. But, my 1st game console was an Odyssey II.

[@joshuaupham5993]

We had an Odyssey that we got a rummage sale about 1982. Had all the extras in the box too.

[@leonbell5141]

These games make you appreciate the games we have today...how things have changed...thankfully 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@billgateskilledmyuncle23]

So Kelso and Red tinkering with the guts of their ping pong player to get larger paddles was an actual thing?

[@daesplays8737]

Tho this cartridge came with the Odyssey, the accessories for which to play were sold separately.

[@ariel78_]

Do you mean the cards and the overlays that you put on the tv?

[@paranoidgenius9164]

The "Game Cards" contained no circuitry or chips, I call them "Jumper Cards" each card had different tracer pin layouts, each card triggered different circuitry to tell the Odyssey which circuitry to activate.

[@mojoplayer8915]

I remember a radio ad on GTA Vice City saying that videogames from the 70s were just squares hitting other squares

[@brettelmore7855]

they weren't joking.

[@OmegaEnvych]

To be honest, I first learned about Magnavox from an article in a videogame magazine where author was telling actual history of videogames. It was very interesting read but until James' AVGN episode I never knew how console actually played or the fact that it was mostly overlays. It was a fun history trip to be honest.

[@sadasulna6056]

I love the amount of creativity that must have gone into making these games. I also like that as daft as these things were, figuring them out and playing them with the whole family would be an enjoyable thing in its own right - unlike today where everyone is ignoring each other and looking at their phones, stuff like this brought a family together who would be talking, teasing and having fun.

[@thecianinator]

5:45 To get rid of the scanning artifacts from filming a CRT, all you have to do is set your camera's shutter speed to a value that syncs up with your TV's refresh rate. Your NTSC TV refreshes at 60 Hertz, so set your shutter speed to 1/60 of a second. Sometimes multiples of the refresh rate also work (1/120, etc.), and some equipment even has a "synchro scan" option specifically for facilitating the filming of CRTs.

[@rileymcphee9429]

Wow, what a commendable achievement to do a full review of this system and every game on it. This is truly a treasure having everything in one video so i know for sure i never want to play this console or any of its games.

[@aeris2001]

In my head canon the Fair Child Channel F is the first video game console as it has actual swappable games. The first generation of pong consoles and the Magnavox which is just lights and board game style overlays props and no actual computer programming, don't count

[@LateNightPerson]

Back in middle school, me and my friend managed to replicate the Magnavox Odyssey experience using a piece of paper, a pencil, and our fingers

[@doclorianrin7543]

@2:24 In many sports "English" is a rotation put on a ball that over enough distance, will affect the path the ball is taking. Curve balls in baseball, trickshots in billiards, slicing in golf and the list goes on.

[@patrickmarlett4043]

Not sure if the Odyssey is different from the Odyssey 2, but with the 2, you can bypass the switch box by opening the console and replacing the “game cord” with a standard rf cable. Nice video man. Really enjoying the channel

[@FaintKarmatic]

Wow, just wow. I've been playing video games since 1981 and the 2600 (I bought the Sears Telegames version) I haven't seen a pong console since maybe '82. First time I've seen the odyssey. Nice job making the vid for future generations

[@DanaTheInsane]

Hospice means "doing ok" is pretty much over with.

[@akaffouni]

Dana W Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life by reducing pain and suffering.

[@batconker]

My biggest takeaway from the video: Framerater is one patient guy 😂 great vid!

[@OrangeHarrisonRB3]

The vertical scrolling didn't used to be such a problem considering analog TV sets back then had manual horizontal and vertical hold knobs. You would simply adjust the TV rather than have to open the console and adjust its output.

[@briangschneider9961]

You're videos are great! For what it's worth I'm a lifelong gamer starting out with one system before the Atari I think was from Sears that had about 8 non-changeable games. That system, Atari 2600, Commodore 64, TSR-80, NES, and many going forward. And a programmer for over 20 years who dabbles in game development as a hobby. So yeah your videos are great and very very entertaining - they have a certain quality to them that's awesome - I hope you continue for a long time

[@jesuszamora6949]

God damn, say what you will about the system, you gotta admire the ambition.

[@waltersobchak7275]

Me and that console was born in the same year. Man this is awesome I'm glad I found this.

[@AskDrannik]

I once saw one of those door-to-door Magnavox Odysseys for sale at People Play Games down in Chicago. They were selling it for $300, and if I were really interested in having a conversation piece, I would have found a way to have bought it since the only other time I saw an Odyssey in person was in a museum. However, I prefer to actually play my game consoles (which I have enough trouble doing with my Atari 2600 because of age and game simplicity), so I passed on that purchase. Sadly, I found out just now that People Play Games closed its doors back in 2018. That was one of the best retro game stores around that wasn't an eBay seller, and they will be missed.

[@Techno-Universal]

While Magnavox at the same time and throughout the 80s were mainly one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of cable TV hardware such as cable boxes, coaxial line repeaters and the coaxial cable itself! I’ve also seen a number of old cable TV line equipment from the 70s/80s that was all manufactured by Magnavox originally! :)

[@jerardocontreras1572]

Holy crap those helicopter effects got me

[@shawnrainer]

Cool video. This is the first comprehensive review of the original Odyssey that I really enjoyed. Great job!

[@outpostorange9580]

Wish Ralph Baer was given the green light to create some of the accessories that he had thought up

[@Xegethra]

It's great that computer/video games finally came to the home market. Before you had to contend with stuffy universities and the like. The system really did help to spur the interest and knowledge of such a device and things pretty quickly improved and advanced. I'll never play one, or really want to, but I do appreciate it and what it did, everything has a starting point.

[@gregoryl.levitre9759]

You worked your ass off to make this video! Mad respect!

[@algrundau9441]

This is AWESOME!!!....1972???....I thought it was Pong, a Tank game and then Atari 2600.....I had no idea it went this far back. Obviously we can look back and smile at these quaint early attempts....and yet,..... it's all here. Sports, Mazes, Castles, Battlefields, Haunted Houses, Board game classics and even Voyages to Outer Space! "Standing on the shoulders of Giants" as they say. They game video game designers of today were given the templates for what be copied and perfected again and again over the decades. Nostalgia aside, given the Worldwide influence of Video games today, the importance of this Game system should not be under estimated. Wow! Thanks for the Channel.

[@SuperRetro64]

Aw yeah, finally, the tic-tac-toe episode of FrameRater!

[@orangejuice732]

I think LGR had a video on fixing the flickering you were seeing when filming CRTs

[@arterialtribal]

00:26: Optically the odyssey looks like a hi-end-console from today that could challenge the PS5

[@sonicmastersword8080]

Its style was heavily inspired by the futuristic minimalism of the 60s-70s. I would not be surprised if it took notes from 2001: A Space Odyssey, released in 1968.

[@lucifersatoshi]

This was my first game console. My 2nd one was the Atari 5200 which I absolutely loved.

[@michaellosh1851]

My family had one of these when I was young, maybe early elementary school. 95 % of the time we just played pong/table tennis. I did like the haunted house game, but I don't remember if we played it according to the full rules... probably not! I think we only got the Odyssey because my grandfather sprung for it... money was a bit tight otherwise. We didn't get an Atari 2600 until 1979 or 1980, well after it was released.

[@railsrust]

I think issues you're dealing with is how analog that Odyssey is. It uses mostly transistors and diodes to create really simplistic logic. That means a lot of going from analog controller to simple digital decoding and back to an analog video output. All analog is, is the changes in voltage that can be measure and turned into electrical pulses the logic chips can understand. It wouldn't take much voltage to put the whole system out of whack. My guess is the particular logic array that creates the "table tennis" game has an iffy capacitor or resistor in there somewhere. I doubt it's anything complicated to fix. It's just knowing what specifically is causing it that will drive you nuts.

[@eddielegs344]

Thnx for the tip Odysim Simulator

[@StormsparkPegasus]

1972 is actually a bit deceptive...it's actually quite a bit older than that. The console was developed in 1966. Ralph Baer had to shop it around for YEARS before he found someone (Magnavox) willing to distribute it. So it was already 6 years old and out of date when it was released in 1972.

[@FrameRater]

And DOOM 3 came out in 2004, incredibly impressive for its time but was in development far earlier. Still makes it a 2004 game.

[@StormsparkPegasus]

@@FrameRater Not quite the same. Doom 3 was finished in 2004. The Odyssey was made, and complete, in 1966. It just took 6 years before he was able to find anyone to sell it. It didn't start development in 1966, it was finished then.

[@fabolous2006]

The Brown Box was the prototype for the Odyssey right?

[@StormsparkPegasus]

@@fabolous2006 Yes. The released product is actually identical internally, they just made it a bit more cosmetically appealing.

[@KairuHakubi]

It hasn't even been a decade and I forgot old TVs had actual static on the screen...

[@captainfury2007]

50 years from now people will be orbiting Earth in a space Hotel and be bored, then watch some videos about the PS5 and how primitive it was way back in 2020-2021. Great video!

[@deadmetalbr]

Wait, the Odyssey gun was made by frickin' _Nintendo?!_ And Frame doesn't know that ball spin is called 'English'? This video's a heck of a ride. I mean, I know Nintendo has been invested in light guns since the '60s and had, like, electromechanical Duck Hunt and proto-arcades combining light guns and film projectors. But that the Odyssey's light gun was _literactually_ the Zapper's Grandpappy has blown my mind.

[@KevinTuyau]

The Odyssey would of been more useful if it a had a random number generator. A number grid overlay could be put on the screen, then randomly light up a square when pressing reset. Different types of overlay could be made. Such as different colors (Twister) or trivia categories.

[@PSPMan]

Building up to this video I was worried that the gun games wouldn't be covered due to the physical technology as well as not understanding the odyssey has an emulator, but yeah, you got literally everything on this console. It's weird to think about but the odyssey has a staggering amount of genre varity contained within it's small library and rather limited hardware. Technically speaking, it's also the first appearance of horror, gambling, RPGs, extreme sports and shooting games too, but I'm not sure if you could really call them that. I mean, idk if you could truly argue Pong is a sports title even tho it technically is. There's a conversation to be had there. Anyways, fantastic video. I was extremely hyped for this one and you didn't disapoint. I have such a strange fondness for this console despite knowing nothing about it outside of AVGN's video, and I think yours provides a well of information on it's own. The Odyssey provides such a stark contrast with how far gaming technology really has come, and personally i find that aspect of it beautiful.

[@shibolinemress8913]

How well I remember Saturday afternoons playing the tennis game with my friend Jill on her TV back then! Don't knock the fun factor; for us as kids it was like scifi! Thanks for the memories! 😊

[@SchardtCinematic]

I have this system and the gun and overlays. My dad bought it in the mid 70's. before we upgraded to the Atari vcs in 1978

[@Firing_Order]

Jeez, are those real Tropical Fish caps in there!? Those things are awful. They crumble up the moment you look at them wrong. Never thought I'd see it in a game console though. Wow! I've had the misfortune of repairing vintage italian electric organs and they always have those damn Mullards. I almost always shotgun them out, and even then they mostly just crumble up and fall out.

[@teh_supar_hackr]

I get this very odd unexplainable errie feeling when watching footage of an Odessy console on a tv without the overlay with it's usual no sound. Now to replicate this while in the dark with the only thing I can see the glow of the tv...

[@gordoncameron8222]

This video is awesome. Thanks for doing it.

[@pferreira1983]

The Odyssey really was ahead of it's time. It's much more forward thinking than we sometimes give it credit for since the games today can be compared to interactive board games although it doesn't use VHS or DVD. So I'd say the Odyssey is still relevant.

[@zadock6370]

the way those squares move so smoothly makes me want to buy this and try it out for a few days before I get bored with it.

[@Odelayderado]

The vinyl overlay he put on the flatscreen TV was so funny to me

[@johneygd]

These internals are interesting to look at , i wish you explained how the oddusey works because for what i,ve read, the oddesey is completely analogue based, if that’s true then am curious how that hit detection works,non the less it’s pretty clever what they did.

[@DeathInTheSnow]

You can't say the console wasn't influential. The game at 25:40 shares some loose concepts, including the name (and arguably aesthetics) with a certain 1990s PlayStation game series...

[@intel386DX]

the most informative and cool review about Odyssey out here :)

[@thecomicsario]

This is such an interesting and awesome video, one of the few actual videos that I'm putting on favorites

[@sbuppy8713]

What if you wanted to go to heaven, but god said *"while the game card comes with the oddessy, the accessories of which to play it where sold seperately"*

[@cubeface7208]

The only zoomer I trust with retro gaming. And he does it often better than older guys. Cheers Framerater

[@FrameRater]

Well, besides the occasional irrelevant helicopter crashing. Haha, thanks!

[@Xianpaul0523]

I think the most enjoyable part of owning it is not the game itself but how to make it work.

[@alicesavage69420]

I remember Odysseys only costing a couple hundred bucks a while back, now each unit is thousands upon thousands of dollars Wtf

[@dovid384]

Kyle Ashby old and rare enough to be collected,so of course the price went up.

[@RetroDoneRight]

@@dovid384 except they didn't. complete in box they sell for like $250 still.

[@mariogamefreak1]

For a game console that has two square dots it has a lot of DLC

[@xelandriadarkhros3516]

Hearing Rayman 3 was a treat.

[@Athiril]

I’ve had that vertical movement on old games as a kid on a tv, you had to dial it in on the tv with a knob, there was a way to do it on the tv itself

[@GSK1126]

Great video, I have this system as well, never attempted to hook it up yet wasn't sure how to on a flat screen. Looks simple yet complicated.

[@LucasIsHereYT]

If this came out a few decades before, this could've been sold as an alternative to sports for kids with polio.

[@StevenVillman]

I didn't realize here that the Magnavox Odyssey was as primitive as it actually was way back then (at least the Atari VCS/Atari 2600 was a *_proper_* video game system!). I mean - you actually need to have board game accessories like the overlay, which had to be placed on the T.V. screen (which often fall off right after you put it on, there), with me in laughing out loud here!

[@tijuanatacotoker]

I tried out this emulator on my Wii and was like "damn! People in the 70s were easily entertained! "

[@niche8137]

Sorry for asking, but seeing it's on the Wii, would the object (I'd say character, but I'd feel that'd make what I'm saying really vague) be controlled by the Wiimote's pointer?

[@Magisktification]

Well same goes for the original Playstation to be honest. I had it and loved it, but lets be honest it does not really hold up well today. None of. The first real 3d generation consoles are in my opinion.

[@wintermute8315]

@@Magisktification You're really comparing PSX to the Odyssey haha? I could easily go back and play some PSX games today. Whereas this thing is barely a console.

[@Magisktification]

@@wintermute8315 no i didnt compare shit, just pointed out a similarity, thats hardly making a comparison. So the haha is on you for not paying attention just because you just cant wait for an opportunity to put yourself above someone. Pathetic.

[@Justinjaro]

FrameRater... you gotta change the shutter speed of the camera to get the lines to match up. Set to either 1/30 for 60hz usually.

[@AshNonokPlays]

SpongeBob Says: "Use your Imagination" Squidward:Fuck! This I'm going back to my Xbox!