Later game makers adapted and modified the Odyssey's capabilities to create an enormous home video game system for the television and later the personal computer. It demonstrated that the home console system would work and that there was a viable market. The Odyssey brought the arcade experience into the home and helped pave the way for the next generation of home video games such as the 1970s icon Pong. Production ceased in 1975 after 350,000 systems were sold. A major reason was that some consumers believed that the Odyssey only worked with Magnavox televisions, which was not the case. Sales were solid but the Odyssey was not a major hit. The Odyssey originally included twelve games, with eleven more games and a shooting gun attachment marketed shortly thereafter. The Odyssey and its later versions did not have sound capability. In that way the Odyssey was very similar to traditional board games. In reality, games were mostly played with the accessories instead of the simple graphics on the screen. Depending on the game, the light, which showed through the overlay, could be a race car, a baseball, a hockey puck, etc.ĭifferent games could be played on the same circuit card by simply changing the acetate television screen overlay, which simulated background color graphics, and by using a different set of accompanying accessories: game boards and pieces, scorecards, chips, maps, etc. Rather, it altered the signal path in the machine to change the light output coming through the television screen. The card did not contain the actual game program, though. To play a game, one inserted a circuit card (similar to a game cartridge) into the console. The game console looks similar to today's games, but its functions were not. Magnavox released it in the fall of 1972, but Baer had already created a functional prototype a few years earlier. Ralph Baer, often considered the "father of video games" designed the Odyssey. They brought it with them when they moved to Cedarburg, Wisconsin the next year and played the game system during the 1970s. The Odyssey made for the perfect purchase as the Gyarmatis did not have much space for other larger items in their college apartment, and it was something they both really wanted. The year 1972 saw the release of the Magnavox Odyssey, a technical marvel that’s considered the World’s first commercial home video game console. Days later they used some of their wedding gift money to purchase their Odyssey just in time for Christmas. Susan Hunzinger of Brookfield, Wisconsin and John Gyarmati of Mishawaka, Indiana wed December 21st, 1974 while students at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana. Simple and crude by today's standards, its release was nonetheless met with much anticipation. This Odyssey Home Video Game System, made by Magnavox between 1972-1974, was one of the earliest video games created for the home. Magnavox Odyssey Home Video Game System played by Susan and John Gyarmati of Cedarburg, Wisconsin during the 1970s. Source: Image courtesy of John and Susan Gyarmati The happy couple used some of their wedding gift money to purchase the Odyssey just in time for Christmas. John and Susan Hunzinger Gyarmati on their wedding day, December 21, 1974. Enlarge John and Susan Hunzinger Gymarmati, 1974
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