Do you have an Odyssey 2?

[Mirage]

Well, here's a decent deal right now... it even has The Voice:

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=138669

 

Recently there was someone selling a really nice setup for around $100, but I've lost the link now... that was a great deal too. If you look around and watch marketplace here, or CTCW, I'd bet it wouldn't be long before you found one. Personally, I'd hold out for something like the above, with Voice, console, and a few games. Will save you on shipping, then look for some lots of carts rather than buying them one at a time. They can be had so easily and cheaply, this will save you time and money.

 

Just over the last couple months, I sold and gave away every last one of my O2 doubles (I had a lot of them taking up space), so now I just have one complete boxed set of US releases except PowerLords.

[Seob]

I love my videopac as the o2 is called in europe. If you would like more info about the system you can go to www.videopac.nl/forum where the o2 scene is.

[Galactus]

Thanks for the input. I think I'm going to go for it if the right deal pops up.

 

Thanks again.

[sl0re]

Thanks for the input. I think I'm going to go for it if the right deal pops up.

 

Thanks again.

 

Cool, I second this list someone else posted:

"U.F.O.

K.C.'s Krazy Chase

Killer Bees

Attack Of The Timelord

Monkeyshines

Invaders From Hyperspace

Pick-Axe-Pete"

 

Those are most of the best games. They're the ones I play when I hook the system up... Monkeyshines is especially fun because there are some tricks you can do for new moves... Jumping off other players or kicking against the edge of the screen being a couple.

[the.golden.ax]

I'd like to see a doubledown mini OD2... too bad he doesn't care for it much The only bad thing about OD2 was it is HORSE size.

 

AX

[Seob]

You should also try robot city. It will be released this year. I have one of the 3 know proto's and i really like this game. To bad it was never released back in the days.

[Mazerati]

in 1982 i had an Intellivision and my best friend had an O2 and i remember being so bored when i would stay by his house lol

i use to find the games sooooo boring lol...altho Turtles was good

[Rik]

I remember my friends sister getting an O2 for Xmas.I also remember my friend still wanting to come over to my place to play 2600 Asteroids and Pitfall.He wished they got a 2600 instead.I insisted the O2 was a great system also and shouldnt feel so bummed out.All systems have their strengths and weaknesses.Sure some games look pretty primitive compared to the 2600 and others,like Popeye for example,but had other real good games for it like K.C. Munchkin,which blew 2600 Pac-Man out of the water,IMO.I'd get an O2,but i just dont have the room.Its worth getting IMO.But,im glad i got a 2600 back then instead of the 02.

Edited February 16, 2009 by Rik

[littleman jack]

I have an O2, and I like it a lot, but it just doesn't have the number of great titles of other systems.

 

However, it does have some gems, like the games listed in a few earlier posts.

 

The sports games (at least baseball and football) are fun with two players. Smithereens is fun with two players.

 

Plus it has a very good homebrew scene (KTAA--Kill the Attacking Aliens--is a great game) compliments of Packrat Video Games. And there is a multi-cart out there with European games and Imagic games that work on American consoles. I can't recall the site from memory, but if you google Odyssey2/Videopac multicart, it should come up. That website also includes Vectrex homebrews and Colecovision homebrews.

[Lee9977]

for the simple reason that the controllers have a nice flow compared to those stiff @ss 2600 buggers. I usually get my vintage fix from my O2 and get my 2600 fix from my xbox anthology, hahahaha, sacrilige i know.

[famicommander]

I plan on getting one eventually, but it will have to wait until I move out (I'm in my senior year in high school). With my Colecovision which should arrive at my house this week, I'll officially be out of space. I still need a Magnavox Odyssey 2, Atari 5200, Turbo CD, Jaguar CD, PS3, N-Gage QD, and Bandai SwanCrystal. Then my console collection will be complete, and I can focus on LaserDiscs and actual games.

[Gorf]

I don't want to rain on anyone's parade (not that my opinion actually matters), but my neighbor had the O2, and I HATED it :-)

We had the 2600 at our house, and I can remember being bored to tears at Grant's house, with his O2, knock-off titles. I remember having to press REALLY hard on that "keyboard" thing, too. I suppose it's a nice piece of nostalgia, but I didn't find any of the titles that my neighbor had very fun at all.

 

Though some of the titles are edu-warish and kidish in nature....

 

'KC Munchin!' is definitely better than 2600 Pac man. The court awarding Atari this suit is a mockery of justice.

There was plenty defferent about this game and the original court ruling agreed. Money buys you the justice you

want it seems. Glad I bought mine when it fisrt came out!

 

I find 'UFO!' more fun than 2600 Asteroids.

 

Freedom Fighters is too different from defender but long lasting value and a great game.

 

Attack of the Timelords is a great Phoenix like clone.

 

The strategy games are definitely superior on the O2.

 

Take The Money and Run! is a great game.

War If Nerves is really fun with a friend or the computer.

 

As far as specs....you 2600 fans might want to be careful...

 

The O2 can have 28 objects on screen with no fancy cycle counting

and not a drop of flicker. Unfortunately 24 are limited to the built

in character set. The other four are the sprites which allow you to set

your own patterns and allow for acouple of effects. It also has a back

ground grid of horizontal bars, vertical bars and blocks. These are at

NO cost to the processor once set. Not nearly as flexible as some of

the stuff you can fake on a 2600 but very clean and efficient.

 

The O2 has in hardware, 4 sprites, 12 characters and four quad characters.

The quad characters are four characters right next to each other horizontally.

They are good for score and text printing. The more flexible single characters

are better suited to moving objects.The foru sprites have RAM for there images

so you can make them anything you want.

 

You can use the built in character set to allow for two half characters to make

a new character. Not as flexible as a player but I still have 6 (as they

need to use two each)to the 2600's 2 before I have to start reusing

objects.

 

The 2600 has just 2 player/missiles and a ball and a playfield. The playfield

requires a degree in processor cycle counting to get anything interesting

but is does offer a more flexible back drop. The O2 can do this as well but

it requires a lot of interrupt control. Thankfully the O2 has a few interrupts

and specifically a horizontal line interrupt which allows for some interesting

stuff.

 

Im working on a few titles now that should prove to show the O2 is a sweet

machine with plenty of potential left. No one has ever dug deep into the O2

like you have had with the 2600 guru's around here. No, I dont plan to code

the O2 on this level but there are a few folks in the O2 Homebrew scene doing

just this. Very interesting stuff so far.

 

http://odygames.blogspot.com/

 

Its in portugese but after the first three O3 shots, are all O2 projects

being worked on. Im looking forward to seeing these products finished.

[RickO2]

Cool stuff Gorf. I know the O2/Videopac fans are happy to see the work you are doing. It's a much smaller fan base but we all share the same passion for classic gaming.

 

Earlier in the thread ( I think it was this thread ) someone mentioned they are glad to see people appreciating the Odyssey2 more. I think, as time goes on, more people are trying different systems. I did not have an Atari when I was growing up and my biggest exposure to it was playing pacman and football at my friends house. Today I know those are potentially two of the worst games made for the system but back then that was my only impression. Not a good one to say the least. Today I own a 2600 (broke ) , a 7800 (working ) and a colecovision expansion port. I have had a chance to play several other Atari games and I really enjoy it. My first love will always be the Odyssey2 because that was my first gaming system. As I have gotten older and more exposure to other systems I have come to appreciate many other systems.

[Ransom]

Some day, I'll have to try an O2 again. It's one of the two classic systems that I would consider to be mainstream which I don't have (CV being the other). The only time I've owned an O2 was back in the early 90s, when I picked one up at a flea market (complete with many CIB games) for a few bucks. It was fine, but when I downsized my collection in the late 90s, I couldn't find any reason to keep it, so I sold it on useNET and never looked back.

 

I've since tried some of the games in emulation, and while they're fine games, they don't seem strong enough to justify adding another "mouth" to feed.

 

Of course, I've never played the strategy/board type games. Maybe that's the key.

[BSA Starfire]

Well I just got my Philips G7000 with 7 games inc, crazychase & complete quest for the rings, it cost me £18 in total, everythings boxed and in excellent working order, a real bargain!

This is my first experience of the machine & I'm quietly impressed, the graphics are very simple for the most part, but smooth, the joysticks are neat & Crazy Chase is a blast to play.

Quite why they didn't fit a power switch to the UK models is beyond me, it's a pain having to unplug the mains everytime you change a game but otherwise a nice old system.

I also picked up a Vectrex & couple of games this week so my retro gaming has been in nirvana!

Two great systems I have never owned before in one week, awesome!

 

Best,

Chris

[Seob]

All european g7000 models lack the powerswitch. But u don't have to unplug the unit in order to plug in a new game. The cartridges are build in a way that they can be changed without powering down. They are really build kid proof, something m$ should look at with there systems.

[kirin jensen]

Some day, I'll have to try an O2 again. It's one of the two classic systems that I would consider to be mainstream which I don't have (CV being the other). The only time I've owned an O2 was back in the early 90s, when I picked one up at a flea market (complete with many CIB games) for a few bucks. It was fine, but when I downsized my collection in the late 90s, I couldn't find any reason to keep it, so I sold it on useNET and never looked back.

 

I've since tried some of the games in emulation, and while they're fine games, they don't seem strong enough to justify adding another "mouth" to feed.

 

Of course, I've never played the strategy/board type games. Maybe that's the key.

I suspect the 'key' might be sticking to the Challenger series of games. And enjoying them as the games they are. If you think of, say, K.C. Munchkin! as being "just like Pac-man", you're going to miss a lot of what makes K.C. Munchkin! so much fun. The games on the O2 may be similar to another popular game, but they often play in ways that make them very unique.

 

So play around with the maze editor on K.C. Munchkin! or K.C.'s Crazy Chase! Enter your name when you get high score. Definitely try some of the homebrews in emulation.

Edited February 20, 2009 by kirin jensen

[Rik]

I can recall something pretty funny when the O2 1st came out.All of my friends parents who went out to buy a gaming system for their kids birthdays,Xmas,etc,came home with an O2 instead of the intended 2600,all of them.I swear the salesmen were coached by Magnavox on how to persuade folks to buy the O2 instead of the 2600.The biggest selling point the O2 had over the 2600 was the keyboard from what i heard.I often overheard department store salesmen touting the O2 superior to the 2600,just like a sideshow barker.I'm glad i bought my 2600 anyway.

Edited February 26, 2009 by Rik

[Ransom]

I can recall something pretty funny when the O2 1st came out.All of my friends parents who went out to buy a gaming system for their kids birthdays,Xmas,etc,came home with an O2 instead of the intended 2600,all of them.I swear the salesmen were coached by Magnavox on how to persuade folks to buy the O2 instead of the 2600.The biggest selling point the O2 had over the 2600 was the keyboard from what i heard.I often overheard department store salesmen touting the O2 superior to the 2600,just like a sideshow barker.I'm glad i bought my 2600 anyway.

 

All I know is, the Odyssey2 only works with Magnavox televisions.

 

I'd by a VCS or one of those new Intellivisions, but I can't find a TV by Atari or Mattel!

[supercat]

The O2 can have 28 objects on screen with no fancy cycle counting

and not a drop of flicker.

 

The biggest limitation with the O2 is its poor selection of colors (second only to a SECAM 2600). There are eight background colors and eight foreground colors (which are lighter version of the eight background colors). That's it. The sound also makes the 2600's seem brilliant by comparison (one channel, without even a real volume control).

[nathanallan]

If I could find a beater unit that isn't in the greatest of shape I would see if I could upgrade it-- add ports of different kinds, regular qwerty keyboard, just go through the whole system hardware wise and make it better. This is kind of pie-in-the-sky stuff, because I doubt that I'll ever 1)find a beater that works and 2)have time to do something fun like that.

 

Magnavox made a mistake by not keeping on the gaming train with an upgraded Odyssey console. Ah, history...

[BSA Starfire]

All european g7000 models lack the powerswitch. But u don't have to unplug the unit in order to plug in a new game. The cartridges are build in a way that they can be changed without powering down. They are really build kid proof, something m$ should look at with there systems.

 

 

Thanks for that, make life a lot less tedious. It does seem wrong to rip a cart out with the power on however, just all those years of being instilled not to I guess.

[nathanallan]

Looks liek I'm picking up a beater unit O2 for dev/modding purposes. Nice trade, spare Sega power base converter in straight up trade. Not bad. I'm gonna try to talk him into a game, too. Just want one, I know he must have doubles.

[Gorf]

Cool stuff Gorf. I know the O2/Videopac fans are happy to see the work you are doing. It's a much smaller fan base but we all share the same passion for classic gaming.

 

The O2 is clearly as classic a machine as you can get. I think the two biggest reasons

I fell for the system originally was that keyboard and the square headed men characters!

Just always loved thier robotic look.

 

Those men turn out to be a detriment as well....they are what they are. If only that ROM

set was a RAM set. That would have really given the 2600 something to be afraid of. The

back drop grid would have been better served as a pixel back drop. There are enough

unused bytes on the VDC to give it at least a 2600 resolution. The grid is not to bad though.

 

The true beauty of the 2600 hardware is NOTHING is set in stone. The trouble is you need

a phD in Stella kernel coding to make it doo something special.

 

Nonethehless, I still love those little square headed men to this day.....will use them in my

upcomming O2 game 'The Wizard of Odyssey Square'

 

For those who liked Wiz of Wor and similar games, this will hopefully be worthy to stack up

against them when completed(on the console level at least.)

 

The 8048? I wish it were a Z-80 but I guess Im dealing with the challenge of having

to use 'add' instructions to do subtracts and compares. I tell ya too, I do miss those

index registers on the 6502.

 

My first love will always be the Odyssey2 because that was my first gaming system. As I have gotten older and more exposure to other systems I have come to appreciate many other systems.

 

It was not my first but it still competes with my 2600 IMO.

 

 

The 7800 and CV are great next gen systems and I own both.

I hope to code the CV someday too.....maybe correct the injustice

that was done to gorf.