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 Shown with two wired joysticks | |
| Also known as |
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|---|---|
| Developer | Magnavox Philips |
| Manufacturer | Magnavox Philips |
| Product family | Magnavox Odyssey series Philips Odyssey series |
| Type | Home video game console |
| Generation | Second generation |
| Release date | |
| Lifespan | 1978–1984 |
| Introductory price | US$179 (equivalent to $862.94 in 2024) |
| Discontinued | 20 March 1984 (1984-03-20)[2] |
| Units sold | 2 million[5] |
| CPU | Intel 8048 |
| Memory | 192 bytes RAM (64 in the CPU, 128 external), 1024 bytes ROM in the CPU |
| Removable storage | ROM cartridge |
| Display | Intel 8244 |
| Graphics | 160×200 pixels, 16 colors (4-bit RGBI) |
| Controller input | Joysticks |
| Predecessor | Magnavox Odyssey/Philips Odyssey 2100 |
| Successor | Philips Videopac+ G7400 |
TheMagnavox Odyssey 2 (stylized asMagnavox Odyssey2), also known asPhilips Odyssey 2, is ahome video game console of thesecond generation that was released in 1978. It was sold in Europe as thePhilips Videopac G7000, in Brazil and Peru as thePhilips Odyssey and in Japan asOdyssey2 (オデッセイ2odessei2). The Odyssey 2 was one of the five major home consoles prior to the 1983video game market crash, along withAtari 2600,Atari 5200,Intellivision andColecoVision.
In the early 1970s,Magnavox pioneered the home video game industry by successfully bringing the first home console to market, theOdyssey, which was quickly followed by a number of later models, each with a few technological improvements (seeMagnavox Odyssey series). In 1978, Magnavox, now a subsidiary ofNorth American Philips, decided to release an all-new successor, Odyssey 2.
In 2009, the video game websiteIGN named the Odyssey 2 the 21st greatest video game console, out of its list of 25.[6]
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The originalOdyssey had a number of removablecircuit cards that switched between the built-in games. With the Odyssey 2, each game could be a unique experience, with its own foreground graphics, gameplay, scoring, andmusic (some Odyssey 2 games were later re-released for theG7400 with added background and updated foreground graphics that the Odyssey 2 was not capable of displaying). The potential was enormous, as an unlimited number of games could be individually purchased; a game player could purchase a library of video games tailored to their own interest. Unlike any other system at that time, the Odyssey 2 included a fullalphanumericmembrane keyboard, which was to be used foreducational games, selecting options, or programming (Magnavox released a cartridge calledComputer Intro! with the intent of teaching simplecomputer programming).
The Odyssey 2 used the standardjoystick design of the 1970s and early1980s: the original console had a moderately sized silver controller, held in one hand, with a square housing for its eight-direction stick that was manipulated with the other hand. Later releases had a similar black controller, with an 8-pointed star-shaped housing for its eight-direction joystick. In the upper corner of the joystick was a single 'Action' button, silver on the original controllers and red on the black controllers. The games, graphics and packaging were designed by Ron Bradford and Steve Lehner.[7]
During the time of Odyssey 2's manufacturing, some came with controllers that could be plugged and unplugged from the back of the unit via their DB9 connector, while others had their controllers hardwired into the rear of the base unit itself.
One of the strongest points of the system was itsspeech synthesis unit, which was released as an add-on for speech, music, and sound effects enhancement. The area that the Odyssey 2 may be best remembered for was its pioneering fusion ofboard and video games:The Master Strategy Series. The first game released wasQuest for the Rings!, with gameplay somewhat similar toDungeons & Dragons, and a storyline reminiscent ofJ. R. R. Tolkien'sThe Lord of the Rings. Later, two other games were released in this series,Conquest of the World andThe Great Wall Street Fortune Hunt, each with its own gameboard.
Its graphics and few color choices, compared to its biggest competitors at the time—theAtari 2600, Mattel'sIntellivision and theBally Astrocade—were its "weakest point".[8] Of these systems, the Odyssey 2 was listed byJeff Rovin as being the third in total of sales, and one of the seven major video game suppliers.
The console sold moderately well in the U.S. Prior to the nationwide release of theMattelIntellivision in 1980, the console video game market was dominated by the competition between the Odyssey 2 andAtari 2600.[9] It remained one of the three primary consoles from 1980 to mid-1982, though a distant third behind the Atari 2600 and Mattel Intellivision.
To sell would-be customers on its resemblance to ahome computer, the Odyssey 2 was marketed with phrases such as "The Ultimate Computer Video Game System", "Sync-Sound Action", "True-Reality Synthesization", "On-Screen Digital Readouts" and "a serious educational tool" on the packaging for the console and its game cartridges. All games, aside from Showdown in 2100 AD, produced by Magnavox/Philips ended with an exclamation point, such asK.C. Munchkin! andKiller Bees!.[10]
Nothird-party game appeared for the Odyssey 2 in the United States untilImagic'sDemon Attack in 1983.[11] The lack of third-party support kept the number of new games very limited, but the success of the Philips Videopac G7000 overseas led to two other companies producing games for it:Parker Brothers releasedPopeye,Frogger,Q*bert andSuper Cobra, whileImagic also releasedAtlantis.
InEurope, the Odyssey 2 did very well on the market. The console was most widely known as thePhilips Videopac G7000, or just theVideopac, although branded variants were released in some areas of Europe under the namesPhilips Videopac C52,Radiola Jet 25,Schneider 7000, andSiera G7000.Philips used their own name rather than Magnavox's for European marketing. A rare model, thePhilips Videopac G7200, was only released in Europe; it had a built-in black-and-whitemonitor. Videopac game cartridges are mostly compatible with American Odyssey 2 units, although some games have color differences and a few are completely incompatible, such asFrogger on the European console, being unable to show the second half of the playing field, and Chess on the American model, as the extra hardware module could not work with the console. A number of additional games were released in Europe that never came out in the U.S.
In Brazil, the console was released simply asPhilips Odyssey (since theoriginal Odyssey had had only a limited release by a local company, Planil Comércio, under license[12]). The Odyssey 2 became much more popular in Brazil than it ever was in the U.S.;[13] tournaments were even held for popular games likeK.C.'s Krazy Chase! (Come-Come! in Brazil). Titles of games were translated into Portuguese, sometimes creating a new story, likePick-axe Pete!, that becameDidi na Mina Encantada! (Didi in the Enchanted Mine) referring toRenato Aragão's comedy character, and was one of the most famous Odyssey games in Brazil.
The Odyssey 2 was released inJapan in December 1982 by Kōton Trading Toitarii Enterprise (コートン・トレーディング・トイタリー・エンタープライズ, a division of DINGU company) under the nameオデッセイ2 (odessei2). "Japanese" versions of the Odyssey 2 and its games consisted of the American boxes withkatakana stickers on them and cheaply printed black-and-whiteJapanese manuals. The initial price for the console was¥49,800, which is approximatelyUS$200 (equivalent to about $650 in 2024). It was apparently not very successful; Japanese Odyssey 2 items are now very difficult to find.
Anopen source Odyssey 2console emulator calledO2EM is available forWindows,Linux, and as part ofOpenEmu,Mac OS X.
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