Console Debate #22 Magnavox Odyssey^2

[fox | 1,667]

aka Philips Odyssey 2, Philips Videopac G7000, Philips Odyssey, Odyssey2

[Vectrex28 | 366]

Way too primitive, even compared to the 2600. No good games afaik. Bin

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,104]

Never played it, not really interested.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,521]

I have 1000 games that need playing, and none of them are on this.

[mbd39 | 2,020]

I've never seen an Odyssey 2 in person. It seems much weaker than the Atari 2600.  On the other hand, it has a computer keyboard which is pretty cool.

This is supposed to be Popeye.

 

Edited April 2, 2021 by mbd39

[nrslam | 474]

Gave it a 3. It's got a few good points, like a built-in keyboard and sprites that don't flicker, and the combined board/video games were an interesting idea.  Otherwise, it's pretty meh for the time.  The small library does make it easy to collect for.

Edited April 2, 2021 by nrslam
Rating added.

[TDIRunner | 2,734]

I got a really good deal on one years ago and it included about 25 complete games.  I later found a voice module, so I was able to play a lot of games and experience a lot of what the console had to offer.  Overall, it's a fun system, and it surprisingly does lots of things better than the Atari 2600.  However, this generation of gaming is like many others in that the better console doesn't always get the best games.  At the end of the day, the Atari 2600's library beats out the Odyssey2 and for me, the games are more important than what the console is capable of.  This is one of the rare instances that I decided to sell the console and games because I just don't have much interest in the first and second generations of gaming, and what little gaming from that generation that I enjoy comes from the 2600.  I highly recommend anyone try this system out if you have the opportunity, but I don't recommend shelling out the money for one unless you really like to own something from every system.  

Also, the box are is amazing, but I think everyone knows that already.  

Edited April 2, 2021 by TDIRunner

[mbd39 | 2,020]

Oh yeah. while the O2 was much weaker over all, KC Munchkin looked much better than the original Atari 2600 Pac-Man. Atari famously filed a lawsuit over it.

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

3/10, maybe a little better than it gets credit for but worse than everything but unplayable old crap in the grand scheme of things. Talk about small libraries, literally half the O2 games were made by one dude! The controller is sturdy and reasonably comfortable at least, which is kind of rare for the time. Pick Axe Pete and Quest for the Rings are my favorite games out of the few to choose from.

[mbd39 | 2,020]

1 hour ago, TDIRunner said:

I got a really good deal on one years ago and it included about 25 complete games.  I later found a voice module, so I was able to play a lot of games and experience a lot of what the console had to offer.  Overall, it's a fun system, and it surprisingly does lots of things better than the Atari 2600. 

 

I wonder how true that is. Maybe the O2 has an advantage in terms of sprite flicker. But Atari 2600 versions of games look much better than those ported to the Odyssey. I would like to see anything on the O2 that comes close to Solaris or Keystone Capers or even River Raid.

But then only one guy worked on most Odyssey games while the 2600 had much more support in its day as well as a thriving homebrew scene.

 

 

[Webhead123 | 675]

As much as I appreciate and admire early video games, I have to be honest and admit that there are more than a few early consoles that I will never play and won't lose any sleep over. The Odyssey 2 is one of them. I'm sure it has its fans but I feel zero incentive to invest my time and money in a creature such as this.

[TDIRunner | 2,734]

3 minutes ago, mbd39 said:

 

I wonder how true that is. Maybe the O2 has an advantage in terms of sprite flicker. But Atari 2600 versions of games look much better than those ported to the Odyssey. I would like to see anything on the O2 that comes close to Solaris or Keystone Capers or even River Raid.

But then only one guy worked on most Odyssey games while the 2600 had much more support in its day as well as a thriving homebrew scene.

 

 

I'm not familiar with any Atari 2600 games that were ported to the Odyssey, so I can't comment on those, but for the games that were made for the Odyssey that were clearly copied off Atari games, they usually looked and sounded better than the Atari counterparts.  Unfortunately, they usually controlled or played worse than their Atari counterparts.  

[mbd39 | 2,020]

10 minutes ago, TDIRunner said:

I'm not familiar with any Atari 2600 games that were ported to the Odyssey, so I can't comment on those, but for the games that were made for the Odyssey that were clearly copied off Atari games, they usually looked and sounded better than the Atari counterparts.  Unfortunately, they usually controlled or played worse than their Atari counterparts.  

Popeye

 

 

Demon Attack

 

 

Qbert

 

 

 

Atlantis

 

[TDIRunner | 2,734]

23 minutes ago, mbd39 said:

Popeye

 

Demon Attack

 

 

Qbert

 

 

Atlantis

 

Like I said, I can't comment on those games, but I still stand by my opinion, that the games made specifically for the O2 to compete against Atari 2600 games (copied if you will), still look and sound better than their rivals.  It's just unfortunate that they were not necessarily more fun to play.

I don't know enough about the specific hardware to say what was more powerful, but I would argue that it seems the O2 had more potential than the 2600.  But history has shown that it really doesn't matter.  The most powerful console has rarely, if ever been the best selling console in any given generation.  

[AstralSoul | 502]

I've never played one, never emulated it, never even seen one in person, and if my interest level could go below a zero, it would. Fun to read about on a historical level but to actually play I would not enjoy it in the slightest. It's funny to me to think that the Atari 2600 is more evolved than this and the 2600, to me, is ancient to the point that it might as well be just a rock and two sticks banging against each other like a caveman.

[glazball | 168]

O^2 was the first game console I ever had when I was probably about 6 or 7.  It was enjoyable, but even back then (early 80s) we all knew that Atari blew it out of the water with more playable games like Space Invaders and Frogger.  I was elated when I later got an Atari 2600, which would have been a year or two before the video game crash.

Sadly, many of the games aged poorly but not as badly as say, Channel F.  They have a certain charm and I think the boxart/logo looks cool.  The K.C. games, Smithereens, Pick Axe Pete, UFO and few others are still fun to pop in now and then.  Most games only allow for 1 life (or try) each play, which is quite unusual now in hindsight.  Controllers aren't the sturdiest but have a nice spring to them and get the job done.  The keyboard certainly helped me get started typing at a young age.  Fun little system but can't give it higher than 5/10 if comparing to everything that's come since!

 

[Strange | 1,700]

I can’t bring myself to rate it. I like the console because 1. I enjoy old-ass consoles and primitive graphics because I enjoy the history of the medium and 2. It has the coolest boxes/artwork/cartridges bar-none.
 

From a collectibility standpoint? It’s great. Like I said, I genuinely love to look at the boxes and cartridges. From a playability standpoint? Meh. Killer Bees is legitimately fun imo. And I wish some form of Smithereens was on the 2600 or NES.
 

I got really into it in my early collecting days because it’s cheap and cool looking and relatively easy to complete the set. But my rose tinted glasses would stop me from giving this one an objective rating, so I’ll abstain this time.

Edited April 2, 2021 by Strange

[CMR | 519]

My grandad bought one of these at a yard sale when I was a little kid.  I played the crap out of it.  I would sit and play pick axe pete for hours.  This was pre nintendo for me and I loved it.  There are some unique games for it, but I don't expect people here to care much for it.  It definitely had it's own charm though.

[Kguillemette | 1,544]

I feel like this is one of those things I don't need to have any experience with to know it sucks. Even for the time it looks like it sucked.

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,012]

I've played the odyssey 2 I had such came with about 10 games. After about an hour of trying all the games, I had fulfilled my want to ever play the system again. 

[Dr. Morbis | 2,088]

Okay, I just want to say two things about the O^2: first, the box-art is outrageously awesome in that 70's sort of way that only Atari box-art can match, and second, did you guys know that like half the library was programmed by a single dude?  I remember reading an article about it like twenty years ago, so I no longer remember the particulars, nor do I give two shits to look into it again, but imagine being an engineer in a back room doing projects for some company, and every time you finish a project, your manager comes along and says something random like, "Okay, now make a game where you use a pick axe!"

[asmikace | 68]

On 4/2/2021 at 8:02 PM, Dr. Morbis said:

Okay, I just want to say two things about the O^2: first, the box-art is outrageously awesome in that 70's sort of way that only Atari box-art can match, and second, did you guys know that like half the library was programmed by a single dude?  I remember reading an article about it like twenty years ago, so I no longer remember the particulars, nor do I give two shits to look into it again, but imagine being an engineer in a back room doing projects for some company, and every time you finish a project, your manager comes along and says something random like, "Okay, now make a game where you use a pick axe!"

I own an Odyssey 2 and the best thing I can say about it is the packing art and box construction is really well done. Also they had some games that came in a large box and used the pieces along with the game. I have the Stock market game and the quest of rings but I never mess with it  http://www.brooklynboysgames.com/odyssey2/Quest_for_the_Rings.jpg

Other than the packaging, the system is pretty lackluster as Magnavox never had the output as Atari or Mattel so is a 4 for me. It didn't help the fact their big game KC Munchkin got halted due to an lawsuit with Atari. I haven't touched it for years but still keep it since its not big money and not worth me selling it like I did with my Atari 5200.

[Inzoreno | 102]

Odyssey 2 unfortunately falls into the same category as the Atari 2600 in that the vast majority of the games available just do not hold up today. However, the Odyssey lacks the historical significance that the Atari 2600 had, so I ended up giving it a 3. It's certainly not the worst thing on the market, but there are far, far better consoles in existence and there's really no reason to go back to this system unless you had a personal connection to it or you just collect everything and anything. 

[fox | 1,667]

Graphically better than the 2600 and has some more faithful arcade titles.  But the small library of mostly ports lacks variety or much of an identity.

The box art is groovy AF.  Put a couple of those under your black light and fire up the vinyl for the ultimate trip.

[T-Pac | 7,539]

I love this generation of consoles, but I just can't get into the Odyssey 2.

The reason why is super dumb, though:
I like computers that look like home consoles (Atari XEGS), but I can't stand home consoles that look like computers (Odyssey 2).

If there was some kind o sleek, modern Odyssey clone system, I'd be down.

-CasualCart