Magnavox Odyssey

Project Magnavox Odyssey Rebuild
the worlds first Video Gaming system
Status	Stalled
Contact	mahjongg
Last Update	2016-09-05

The Magnavox Odyssey was actually the worlds first Video Gaming system, the precursor of all game computers and consoles. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Magnavox-Odyssey-Console-Set.jpg/1024px-Magnavox-Odyssey-Console-Set.jpg see wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnavox_Odyssey

It was actually also the first system to feature "cartridges" It featured 27 games, on 8 different cartridges. Still it wasn't a computer, but a system built out of logical timing blocks and digital logic, using discrete transistors. One of the 27 games was "Tennis", and an Atari employee upon seeing it decided it was good enough to clone. So they added on-screen scoring and built their own (fully digital) system. And as history tells us it was their PONG that was the start of all electronic gaming. but the odyssey came before it and was its inspiration.

Recently I acquired a full set of schematics (several of them in fact) of the original Magnavox Odyssey and its later German Version.

I think it is worth my while to re-create a PCB containing the logic of the Magnavox Odyssey using modern components, in the same way I did my ZX-81 clone. For the cartridges I will use a simple female pinheader (like used on the Arduino) so that it can be stuffed with 8 types of "cartridges", which consists of nothing more than male pinheaders with interconnect wires.

September 2016

Project stalled for now until I find the time for it.