The First Console (1972) and its 28 Games

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 มิ.ย. 2024
  • The Magnavox Odyssey is the world's first home video game console, selling 350,000 units. Here's a look at each available game on the system. I trimmed out some redundancies, the library now begins at 8:40.
    Note: I later tried the 2600 adapter, but the Odyssey didn't react to it at all.
    ► Console library videos: • FR's Console Libraries
    • Channel Membership: / @framerater
    • Patreon Support: / framerater
    • Follow my X page for updates: x.com/tvframerater
    0:00 - What is Odyssey?
    1:53 - Setting it up
    3:23 - Troubleshooting
    8:57 - 1. TABLE TENNIS
    9:30 - 2. SKI
    10:11 - 3. SIMON SAYS
    10:52 - 4. FUN ZOO
    11:21 - 5. PERCEPTS
    12:10 - 6. TENNIS
    12:54 - 7. ANALOGIC
    13:30 - 8. HOCKEY
    14:05 - 9. BASEBALL
    15:00 - 10. BRAIN WAVE
    16:02 - 11. FOOTBALL
    17:01 - 12. CAT AND MOUSE
    17:49 - 13. HAUNTED HOUSE
    19:41 - 14. W.I.N.
    20:24 - 15. INVASION
    22:03 - 16. SUBMARINE
    22:39 - 17. WIPEOUT
    23:29 - 18. ROULETTE
    24:03 - 19. STATES
    25:21 - 20. VOLLEYBALL
    25:42 - 21. HANDBALL
    26:05 - 22. SOCCER
    26:01 - 23. BASKETBALL
    26:41 - 24. PREHISTORIC SAFARI
    27:40 - 25. DOGFIGHT
    28:03 - 26. SHOOTOUT
    28:32 - 27. SHOOTING GALLERY
    28:51 - UNKNOWN GAME
    29:39 - 28. INTERPLANETARY VOYAGE
    31:04 - Reflection
    33:03 - Its future
    Outro Music: Launch Base Rearranged - Savaged Regime
    Background Music:
    Painted Pentathlon - Rayman OST
    Ribbetopia - RibbitKing OST
    Mac Tonight - Saint Pepsi
    Overworld (Extended Mix) - Fish64
    The Charleston - Jazz Ensemble
    Pong - Eisenfunk
    Ice Cap Zone Act 2 - Sonic 3 OST
    Club Villain Instrumental - YourFavoriteMartian
    Ducksu Remix - VineRooms OST
    RicePirate Remix - Jay T
    Athletic - Super Mario Land 2 OST
    Vergnügungspark - SpongeBob Production Music
    Nie ma mocnych na Mariolę - MIG
    CatGroove - Parov Stelar
    Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry - Duke Nukem II OST
    Unknown I - Sonny Moore
    Mystic Cave Zone - Sonic 2 OST
    Spazzmatic Techno - Kevin Macleod
    Invaders Must Die - The Prodigy
    Overworld (Extended Mix) - Fish64 (Second use of this track)
    Wipeout - Fat Boys & The Beach Boys
    Smooth Criminal - Moonwalker OST
    America, **** Yeah! - Team America OST
    Treetop - Super Mario Land 2 OST
    Spring Yard (Slowed Down) - Sonic the Hedgehog OST
    What Does the Fox Say (Instrumental) - Ylvis
    Main Theme - Rogue Squadron II OST
    Wow Wow (Instrmental) - Neil Cicierega
    DOOM E1M1 Sega Genesis Remix - EvilTelephone
    Beach Walk - Whitewoods (MIDI)
    Krabonance (Vaporwave Remix) - Chris Kogos
    Counterfeit Mermaids - Shantae Half-Genie Hero OST
    Marble Garden Act 1 - Sonic 3 OST
    Hill Top Zone - Sonic 2 OST
    Coral Islands - Rayman Raving Rabbids OST
    #retrogames #magnavox #vintage
  • เกม

ความคิดเห็น • 666

  • @otaking3582
    @otaking3582 4 ปีที่แล้ว +728

    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
      @Chaos89P 4 ปีที่แล้ว +66

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

    • @XavierZara
      @XavierZara 4 ปีที่แล้ว +30

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

    • @lorumipsum1129
      @lorumipsum1129 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Xavier Zara ah, Gary...

    • @awetistic5295
      @awetistic5295 3 ปีที่แล้ว +39

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

    • @masonasaro2118
      @masonasaro2118 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

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

  • @antonnym214
    @antonnym214 4 ปีที่แล้ว +320

    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
      @Domarius64 3 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      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
      @antonnym214 3 ปีที่แล้ว +36

      @@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
      @Domarius64 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      @@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
      @antonnym214 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      @@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
      @Domarius64 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@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...

  • @Julian_Pepper
    @Julian_Pepper 4 ปีที่แล้ว +223

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

    • @Spider_Rico
      @Spider_Rico 4 ปีที่แล้ว +46

      It was the DLC of the day.

    • @derekmayse9335
      @derekmayse9335 3 ปีที่แล้ว +17

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

    • @a2pha
      @a2pha 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

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

    • @maproductions9945
      @maproductions9945 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

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

    • @sagittarianwolf8513
      @sagittarianwolf8513 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      While high end phones need power charge to work
      You need to buy the adaptor separately

  • @TheChefBoo
    @TheChefBoo 4 ปีที่แล้ว +280

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

    • @DrNo64
      @DrNo64 3 ปีที่แล้ว +41

      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
      @codprocamp4690 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@DrNo64 they could make it inside a bb

    • @DrNo64
      @DrNo64 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      @@codprocamp4690 You're thinking too large.

    • @highpineapple
      @highpineapple 3 ปีที่แล้ว +50

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

    • @rodrigofranca9787
      @rodrigofranca9787 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@DrNo64 I would want

  • @tankmchavocproductions6907
    @tankmchavocproductions6907 4 ปีที่แล้ว +139

    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
      @nowthatsjustducky 3 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      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
      @m0rShh 3 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      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
      @elimalinsky7069 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      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
      @lothar71 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@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
      @scottlarson1548 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      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.

  • @Samwow
    @Samwow 4 ปีที่แล้ว +121

    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
      @vincells 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

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

    • @SMARTBoardSBMInchInteractiveWh
      @SMARTBoardSBMInchInteractiveWh 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

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

    • @austenlangford
      @austenlangford 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

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

    • @SynGirl32
      @SynGirl32 3 ปีที่แล้ว

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

  • @rmorren9207
    @rmorren9207 3 ปีที่แล้ว +39

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

    • @jessragan6714
      @jessragan6714 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      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.

  • @marakarthegreat
    @marakarthegreat 4 ปีที่แล้ว +95

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

    • @zaburinaburi1705
      @zaburinaburi1705 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      "Analogic - logic of my ass"

    • @cyclops8238
      @cyclops8238 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

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

    • @nowthatsjustducky
      @nowthatsjustducky 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      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
      @LITTLE1994 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

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

    • @TheUplinkExperiment
      @TheUplinkExperiment 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@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.

  • @not2tired
    @not2tired 4 ปีที่แล้ว +27

    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.

  • @SomeBlokeOrWhatever
    @SomeBlokeOrWhatever 4 ปีที่แล้ว +39

    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

  • @radicaledwards3449
    @radicaledwards3449 4 ปีที่แล้ว +22

    Imagination was a killer app back in the day.

    • @radicaledwards3449
      @radicaledwards3449 3 ปีที่แล้ว

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

  • @johnny-becker
    @johnny-becker 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

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

  • @k.j.hallingswest5231
    @k.j.hallingswest5231 4 ปีที่แล้ว +19

    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
      @TubbyJ420 3 ปีที่แล้ว

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

    • @bryantsview1652
      @bryantsview1652 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      same lmao I remembered Kelso at 7:20

  • @MousePounder
    @MousePounder 4 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    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!

  • @goodolddoug889
    @goodolddoug889 3 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    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.

  • @bsharpmajorscale
    @bsharpmajorscale 4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    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.

  • @darkfalzx
    @darkfalzx 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    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: )

  • @_SereneMango
    @_SereneMango 4 ปีที่แล้ว +28

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

  • @thepuzzlemaster64
    @thepuzzlemaster64 4 ปีที่แล้ว +134

    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
      @MikeStavola 4 ปีที่แล้ว +52

      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
      @megamix5403 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@MikeStavola Web Archive

    • @MikeStavola
      @MikeStavola 4 ปีที่แล้ว +33

      @@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
      @megamix5403 4 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      @@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
      @Moskito844 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@MikeStavola yahoo sucks

  • @captainnintendo
    @captainnintendo 4 ปีที่แล้ว +32

    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
      @Pokarface7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

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

  • @frankallen3634
    @frankallen3634 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    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

  • @paranoidgenius9164
    @paranoidgenius9164 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    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.

  • @Thrakus
    @Thrakus 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    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.

  • @PhoenixGuitars
    @PhoenixGuitars 3 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    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!

  • @SuperTrainStationH
    @SuperTrainStationH 4 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    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.

  • @Asterra2
    @Asterra2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    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
      @jetfrog4574 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      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
      @Asterra2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@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.

  • @shawnrainer
    @shawnrainer 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

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

  • @rightfiction6359
    @rightfiction6359 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

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

  • @ZeroB4NG
    @ZeroB4NG 4 ปีที่แล้ว +76

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

    • @scantyer
      @scantyer 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Hurr

    • @KOTEBANAROT
      @KOTEBANAROT 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Father i cannot click the book

    • @thetman0068
      @thetman0068 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      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.

  • @thecomicsario
    @thecomicsario 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

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

  • @LadyofStarlight
    @LadyofStarlight 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

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

  • @StonerJames
    @StonerJames 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

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

  • @AJSSPACEPLACE
    @AJSSPACEPLACE 4 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    The Odyssey is just getting cranky with age

  • @LateNightPerson
    @LateNightPerson ปีที่แล้ว +3

    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

  • @MayheM_72
    @MayheM_72 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

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

  • @leonbell5141
    @leonbell5141 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

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

  • @ghettoasmrexposed54
    @ghettoasmrexposed54 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thankyou for all of your time and hard work always great to see how far computers have come and brings many memories ❤️

  • @joshuaupham5993
    @joshuaupham5993 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

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

  • @intel386DX
    @intel386DX 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

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

  • @mojoplayer8915
    @mojoplayer8915 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

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

  • @thecianinator
    @thecianinator 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    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.

  • @DanaTheInsane
    @DanaTheInsane 4 ปีที่แล้ว +34

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

    • @akaffouni
      @akaffouni 4 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      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.

  • @sadasulna6056
    @sadasulna6056 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    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.

  • @CustomsByOrangeH
    @CustomsByOrangeH 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    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.

  • @billgateskilledmyuncle23
    @billgateskilledmyuncle23 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

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

  • @gregoryl.levitre9759
    @gregoryl.levitre9759 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

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

  • @GSK1126
    @GSK1126 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    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.

  • @doclorianrin7543
    @doclorianrin7543 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    @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.

  • @aeris2001
    @aeris2001 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    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

  • @OmegaEnvych
    @OmegaEnvych 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    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.

  • @gordoncameron8222
    @gordoncameron8222 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This video is awesome. Thanks for doing it.

  • @brunor.1127
    @brunor.1127 4 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    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
      @adamrmoss ปีที่แล้ว

      Also have to sync to VBLANK.

  • @patrickmarlett4043
    @patrickmarlett4043 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    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

  • @MegaKisiel
    @MegaKisiel 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Great video, sir!

  • @batconker
    @batconker 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

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

  • @jerardocontreras1572
    @jerardocontreras1572 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Holy crap those helicopter effects got me

  • @daesplays8737
    @daesplays8737 4 ปีที่แล้ว +12

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

    • @ariel78_
      @ariel78_ 3 ปีที่แล้ว

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

  • @Bear-nu8xm
    @Bear-nu8xm 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Great video J.

  • @waltersobchak7275
    @waltersobchak7275 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

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

  • @AskDrannik
    @AskDrannik 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    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.

  • @briangschneider9961
    @briangschneider9961 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    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

  • @shibolinemress8913
    @shibolinemress8913 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    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! 😊

  • @FaintKarmatic
    @FaintKarmatic ปีที่แล้ว +2

    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

  • @KairuHakubi
    @KairuHakubi 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

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

  • @rileymcphee9429
    @rileymcphee9429 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    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.

  • @arterialtribal
    @arterialtribal 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

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

    • @sonicmastersword8080
      @sonicmastersword8080 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      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.

  • @jesuszamora6949
    @jesuszamora6949 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

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

  • @Xegethra
    @Xegethra 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    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.

  • @Techno-Universal
    @Techno-Universal 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    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! :)

  • @zadock6370
    @zadock6370 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

    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.

  • @PSPMan
    @PSPMan 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    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.

  • @StormsparkPegasus
    @StormsparkPegasus 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    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
      @FrameRater  3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      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
      @StormsparkPegasus 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@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.

  • @shartlord
    @shartlord ปีที่แล้ว

    This was very interesting! Reminds me of the fact that my school still has magnavox tvs in almost every classroom.

  • @outpostorange9580
    @outpostorange9580 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

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

  • @sbuppy8713
    @sbuppy8713 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    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"*

  • @mariogamefreak1
    @mariogamefreak1 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

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

  • @railsrust
    @railsrust 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    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.

  • @teh_supar_hackr
    @teh_supar_hackr 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    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...

  • @lucifersatoshi
    @lucifersatoshi ปีที่แล้ว +2

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

  • @Xianpaul0523
    @Xianpaul0523 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

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

  • @SchardtCinematic
    @SchardtCinematic 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    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

  • @KevinTuyau
    @KevinTuyau 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    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.

  • @eddielegs344
    @eddielegs344 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Thnx for the tip Odysim Simulator

  • @pferreira1983
    @pferreira1983 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    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.

  • @kanalcanal770
    @kanalcanal770 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Cool video man :D

  • @DeathInTheSnow
    @DeathInTheSnow 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    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...

  • @michaellosh1851
    @michaellosh1851 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    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.

  • @orangejuice732
    @orangejuice732 4 ปีที่แล้ว +15

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

  • @Skrillerwolf
    @Skrillerwolf 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    That's a pretty incredible story of the seller. What a cool piece of history!

  • @xelandriadarkhros3516
    @xelandriadarkhros3516 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Hearing Rayman 3 was a treat.

  • @LucasIsHereYT
    @LucasIsHereYT 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

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

  • @Athiril
    @Athiril 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    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

  • @sideburn
    @sideburn 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Haha! Nice rescue on fractalus comparison! I witnessed THAT jump scare back in the 80s...

  • @MousePounder
    @MousePounder 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    This looks to be a good time!

  • @alicesavage69420
    @alicesavage69420 4 ปีที่แล้ว +18

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

    • @dovid384
      @dovid384 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

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

    • @RetroDoneRight
      @RetroDoneRight 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

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

  • @Odelayderado
    @Odelayderado 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

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

  • @SchardtCinematic
    @SchardtCinematic 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I always loved the overlay for Hsunted House. I never really played it properly with the cards. I just used to move around th ER screen lighting up the windows and doors as if I was a ghost.

  • @SuperRetro64
    @SuperRetro64 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

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

  • @deadmetalbr
    @deadmetalbr 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    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.