#1974 MAGNAVOX ODYSSEY SERIAL NUMBERS#
#1974 MAGNAVOX ODYSSEY SERIES#

Original German Export Model made in 1973.Ĭomes with only 10 games, translated in German.Ĭomes with only 10 games, trilingual playing cards. Late specimens have a Magnavox logo on front side. Second model made between mid-1974 and fall 1975. MAGNAVOX ODYSSEY 1TL200 PRODUCTION BETWEEN 19 All of these models differ by small electronic changes, and sometimes with minor variations of game accessories

#1974 MAGNAVOX ODYSSEY SERIAL NUMBERS#

Serial numbers start from 06xxxxxx to 11xxxxxx although the 0 was not printed. Only specimens sent back to Magnavox to have the warranty renewed had their model updated to 1TL200BL99 (the original BLAK serial, if sticked inside the unit, was left, and the new serial was sticked over the original under the unit). The RUN number stands for the production run, the US model is either 1TL200BLAK, 1TL200BK12 or 1TL200BL99. The model, serial and RUN numbers are written on the under side of the unit. Power: The system uses 6 batteries (original batteries were branded Eveready) or AC. 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. 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.

For that reason, most later 'Pong' games had an explanation on their box saying 'Works on any television set, black and white or color'. Sales of the console were hurt by poor marketing by Magnavox retail stores, in addition to many consumers being led to believe that the Odyssey would work only on Magnavox televisions.

While inferior graphically and with a smaller library than it’s competitors, the Odyssey2 managed to last until the crash of 1983. When the Fairchild Channel F and the Atari 2600 released in 19 respectively, which both featured programmable ROM cartridges, Magnavox responded with the Odyssey2 (also known as the Philips Videopac G7000 or the Philips Odyssey).

#1974 MAGNAVOX ODYSSEY SERIES#

However, the games were all included on the circuitry the cartridges were nothing more than a series of jumpers to select the game. Magnavox released the first video game console, the Odyssey, in September 1972, predating the Pong machines by three years.

1974 magnavox odyssey