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2022: 50 Years since the Odyssey 1 and of home video games and collecting


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I'm one of the few collectors that has a full set for the original Magnavox Odyssey 1, and even have a lot of the homebrews, but even back in the 90's and early 2000's I rarely ever saw it in the wild. The very first videogame collectors were the people who purchased the system back in 1972 and kept up with the additional releases, though few if any of them are still around and still collecting. Nonetheless, videogame collecting has been a thing for half a Century as of the upcoming Odyssey 1 anniversary. 

An Odyssey 1 was recently on an episode of Pawn Stars, but I haven't seen much other mention of this upcoming cultural milestone. Does anyone here think that there's about to be any renewed attention towards the system, complete with price spikes?

Additionally, I'd like to ask if anyone here has ever found Odyssey 1 stuff in the wild, at house sales or thrift stores and the like. 

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May 1972 & Magnavox Odyssey certainly is an important nodal point and an interesting one to anyone concerned with the history of this phenomenon and history in general.  But I wouldn't recommend holding out for any huge fireworks or price spikes.  It's already quite expensive, especially when considering the console's limitations.  Anyone who grew up with one, very likely realized their nostalgia for the machine sometime in the last couple of decades and has either already acquired it or dismissed that particular nostalgia.  Expecting anyone who didn't grow up with it to get excited would be like asking a bunch of gun enthusiasts to get excited about the first time a sling shot came with a pistol grip.

I'm pretty sure I've seen an Odyssey 1 for sale at one of the bigger/better game shops I frequent.  It most likely would have been priced high and waited a good while for that right person to come along.  Personally, I've had the Odyssey2 on my maybe-radar for a while now and saw one recently in a typical 2nd hand game shop but had to pass on it for condition/circumstance issues.  Thing is, I probably was that potential "right person" and now that console is most likely going to have to wait even longer for the right person again and it's already been front and center in this shop for about 6 months.

At any rate it's worth a mention.  If I knew anyone who had one, I'd insist on trying it out.  For that matter, if anyone in my neck of the woods wanted to throw a "50-years-of-interchangeable-video-gaming-party", I'd totally show up AND bring beer.

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I am an Odyssey 1 fan also. I found my CIB/almost new system at an estate sale in Anaheim Hills, CA in 1999. Paid $30 for it. Paid another $25 for the Rifle set at the same sale. Based on the wear I think the rifle is the only thing they used, but used it a ton lol.

 

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Edited by RpgCollector
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Nice stuff guys.

Didn't the Odyssey only sell in the range off 100k units?  Successful for the time but in comparison to the numbers that later consoles sold at, there can't be too many to have survived intact for 50 years.

 

I think, in the long run, the Fairchild F is going to have more demand on it from collectors.  The Odyssey is just too ancient & obscure

 

Edited by dogbowl
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8 hours ago, Chaos Control said:

Does anyone here think that there's about to be any renewed attention towards the system, complete with price spikes?

Probably not. It's way too niche. The Magnavox brand doesn't hold the same weight as Nintendo or Sega.

I think most gamers acknowledge its place in history, but few if any will try to get ahold of a system.

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Here's a question - The Odyssey shipped with like 6(?) games as "pack ins"

When were the other games released?  Were they all at once at launch or did the concept of 'purchasing a new game' come later?  And if later, then what title would have the honor of being the very first 'cartridge' sold for a video game system?

 

 

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Can they actually be considered "cartridges"? There's no code on them, they just alter the logic of the machine slightly. Heck the prototype did that with switches. And some games used the same card, and the overlay was what dictated gameplay.

Anyway, I would say the Table Tennis game was probably the first one, since it was card number one, and a tennis game makes sense for an early video game (think Pong, which came out the same year.) I think most of the cards were available the same year, maybe even at launch, but some sold separately. The rest came out the next year.

 

 

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22 hours ago, Chaos Control said:

An Odyssey 1 was recently on an episode of Pawn Stars, but I haven't seen much other mention of this upcoming cultural milestone. Does anyone here think that there's about to be any renewed attention towards the system, complete with price spikes?

Additionally, I'd like to ask if anyone here has ever found Odyssey 1 stuff in the wild, at house sales or thrift stores and the like. 

I've only ever see the console and gun in the wild, maybe a few games at shows. Game collecting has always been largely focused on nostalgia and rarity over history though. Many more people want Super Mario 3 or Panic Restaurant than Space Invaders. The Odyssey is an ancient afterthought to almost everyone and I don't see the way people collect changing soon. I think it's super cool though.

14 hours ago, dogbowl said:

I think, in the long run, the Fairchild F is going to have more demand on it from collectors.  The Odyssey is just too ancient & obscure

Man, not that anyone cares, but I don't think the Fairchild has a single decent original game. If you care about the history, Odyssey is where it's at. If you care about games, Atari 2600 is. If the Channel F didn't pioneer cartridges, it would just be another entirely forgotten Bally Astrocade or Gizmondo, which it basically already is.

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That episode is thirteen years old. Hell, it premiered on Game Trailers, which died six years ago. Trust me, everyone who has a even a remote interest in the Odyssey has seen it by now.

And where's the lame pun or microscopically related pop culture reference you usually include? I feel cheated! 😛

Edited by Tulpa
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On 5/18/2022 at 6:39 AM, DefaultGen said:

 

Man, not that anyone cares, but I don't think the Fairchild has a single decent original game. If you care about the history, Odyssey is where it's at. If you care about games, Atari 2600 is. If the Channel F didn't pioneer cartridges, it would just be another entirely forgotten Bally Astrocade or Gizmondo, which it basically already is.

The hockey game built in isn't too bad. It at least makes full use of the controller.

I'm just impressed someone managed to homebrew a not terrible port of Pac-Man to it. 

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