History- In 1966, Ralph Baer, an engineering manager at the defense contractor Sanders Associates, came up with the idea of playing electronic games on a TV. He created a small team at Sanders that would work on bringing his vision to life. Although most of his managers did not believe anything would come of his gaming device, he continued to work on it. In 1968, a working prototype of his game machine, called the Brown Box, was complete.

The Brown Box, unlike modern gaming consoles, did not utilize a microprocessor (or CPU) to run the device. Instead, a mish-mash system of diodes and discrete transistors controlled the logic and display settings of the console. Game cartridges came with the system, but did not function like the modern carts. No ROM data was contained on the Brown Box carts. They were instead merely jumper packs that, when inserted into the console, altered the connections between the internal transistors. The Brown Box was only capable of displaying small, but controllable, dots on the playfield. Inserting different cartridges changed the way the dots were displayed, thus changing what "game" was being played on the system. The system was also powered by batteries, instead of an AC adapter. Because of this primitive technological setup, Baer's console is not considered by some to be a true "digital" game system.

The Brown Box was shown to various cable TV companies, who expressed interest but ultimately did not agree to buy the technology. Baer and Sanders then turned to the TV manufacturers themselves. RCA nearly signed on to manufacture and distribute the Brown Box, but pulled out at the last second. A member of the RCA team went to work at Magnavox and in 1971 brought the Brown Box to his new employer's attention. Magnavox management was impressed with Baer's design and agreed to purchase the as yet unnamed gaming machine.

Magnavox drastically changed Baer's design, eliminating the color and audio capabilities in a cost cutting measure. The new machine, now called the Odyssey, was finished in the fall of 1972 and was released nationwide through Magnavox's chain of company stores. The Odyssey was given an initial retail price of a little under $100 and came with a dozen games. The console also came with a variety of different sized color overlays, that when placed over the TV, would provide a stationary color background for each particular game. A large number of game pieces were also included, giving the Odyssey more of a board game feel. Subsequent games also came with their own TV overlays and game pieces.

Although the Odyssey was well received by the public, a number of advertising mistakes hindered the console's success. TV and print ads only showed the console playing on Magnavox TVs and did not mention that the Odyssey was compatible with TVs from all manufacturers. This, coupled with the fact that the Odyssey was only available at Magnavox company stores, led consumers to believe that the console was only compatible with Magnavox TVs. Magnavox seemed to believe that they could sell more TV's by being ambiguous about the Odyssey's compatibility. However, most people were unwilling to purchase a brand new TV just to play the Odyssey, which made console sales suffer.

The Odyssey would be sold until 1975, when it was discontinued in favor of a line of simpler and cheaper dedicated PONG clones, starting with the Odyssey 100. During it's short lifetime, the Odyssey brought the idea of TV based electronic games into the public consciousness. Despite this, incompetent management of the product by Magnavox hamstrung their chances at becoming a driving force in the emerging home video game industry. Instead, Nolan Bushnell and Atari would take up that mantle.

Console Variations- There was only one US version of the Odyssey, which was manufactured in 4 separate productions runs. These runs can be identified by the serial numbers on the console itself. The earliest run was manufactured in 1972, and is the most valuable, with successive runs taking place through 1974. The internal design of the Odyssey was slightly modified after the first two production runs. Therefore the second two production runs are considered to be a different model.

An export version of the Odyssey was made in 1974, intended for release in Europe. This version came with a different variety of pack-in games and accessories, along with multilingual manuals. A number of European clones were also released, the most notable being the Odyssee by ITT Schaub-Lorentz.

Magnavox Odyssey-1972

The first ever video game console

ITT Schaub-Lorentz Odyssee-1974

A German version of the Odyssey.

"Overkal"-1973

A very interesting system from Spain. This isn't a licensed version of the Odyssey, but instead a very well made pirate console. The internal components are completely different and the controllers are hardwired to the system. No game carts are used, they have been replaced by a series of switches that function the same way as the carts do.

Games- A total of 12 games were included with console itself along with the plastic overlays and many accessories, as well as the 6 jumper cartridges needed to play the games. An additional game, Percepts, was available free by mail order when the console was registered with Magnavox. 11 other games were sold separately at Magnavox retail stores. Some of the additional games came with their own jumper carts, although many did not. The other games came in long boxes, along with their own plastic overlays and accessories. Magnavox also sold games in special 5-packs with their own special boxes.

Peripherals- The only peripheral released for the Odyssey was the Shooting Gallery light gun set. The light gun, which resembled a pump action shotgun, worked by sensing light sources from the TV, registering a "hit" if it was pointed at a light source while being "shot". Clever gamers would soon discover that pointing the gun at any light source, like a lit candle, will cause the gun to register a hit.

4 special games came with the Shooting Gallery. These early light gun games were played by placing an overlay, which contained a number of targets, on the TV. The player would score if they shot the targets as they lit up.

Collector's Guide- Because the Odyssey is the very first home console ever released, it is a very valuable collector's item.

There are two different console models, each consisting of two different print runs. Serious collectors prefer the first run of the first model, which was the only run produced in 1972. (The two models are distinguished by their model numbers, which are printed on the console itself along with it's serial number and run number. The first model number is 1TL200BLAK, while the later one is 1TL200BK12.)

Because the original console came with so many accessories, like overlays and board game pieces, it can be hard to put together a complete set. (A full list of the contents of the original Odyssey set can be found here.) Some collectors will even consider the system incomplete unless it comes with the 6 original red Eveready batteries that were originally included with the console.

Games that were sold separately from the Odyssey are also difficult to find complete because they contain a large number of pieces. It's important to note that only a few of these extra games came with cartridges. In many cases, the cart needed to play the game was already included with the original Odyssey system.

The Shooting Gallery peripheral is perhaps the most sought after Odyssey accessory. Because only 80,000 were made, finding one is much more difficult than the console itself. A special carrying case for the console and accessories was also sold separately. This is incredibly rare and almost impossible to find.

Expect to pay between $100-150 for a complete Odyssey set on Ebay or Craigslist. There are almost always a few specimens up for auction. Finding one in the wild is nearly impossible, but every so often one pops up at garage sales or flea markets. Separate games and the Shooting Gallery set are much harder to find, rarely showing up online and are often bundled with the console itself.

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