How did the Odyssey 2 stand ground in an Atari dominated market.

[Nesbroslash]

Just wondering, how exactly did the Odyssey 2 stand chance against the 2600? It's not like it was HD but the 2600 had much better graphics, so how long did the Odyssey 2 endure and why?

[Cebus Capucinis]

http://tinyurl.com/2ahvwsc

[VectorGamer]

Just wondering, how exactly did the Odyssey 2 stand chance against the 2600? It's not like it was HD but the 2600 had much better graphics, so how long did the Odyssey 2 endure and why?

 

Kids with Odyssey 2s were viewed as "Losers" BITD...

[monzamess]

You know how, when you were little (like last week?) and you asked your parents for something as a gift... they'd often get something close to what you wanted but not quite... even if you gave them the exact brand and model number. Maybe it's because the other item was cheaper, or because a salesman convinced them it was better (ooh look, it has a keyboard with letters and junk!). These are people who kept the Odyssey2 going as long as it did. Just my theory.

[Cebus Capucinis]

You know how, when you were little (like last week?)

 

[Nukey Shay]

http://seemedlikeagoodideathetime.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/dumberdolls30hq7.jpg

[Atari Joe]

http://seemedlikeagoodideathetime.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/dumberdolls30hq7.jpg

 

 

Blahaha that reminds me of my uncle gary

[kool kitty89]

The O2 came onto the market well before the VCS was really huge, so the market was a good bit more open at the time, though also crowded with a good number of competitors. (RCA Studio II, Channel F, Astrocade, then the VCS and O2 -granted the first 2 weren't particularly competitive, but then the Intellivision came along too)

[chrisbid]

well

 

it was marketed as a console and computer. to a clueless parent or family the keyboard alone made it look more sophisticated than the vcs.

 

most of the o^2 lineup doesnt look significantly better or worse than the early vcs lineup.

 

remember, space invaders wasnt released until 1980, that was the moment the vcs took off and became a juggernaut

 

gaming wasnt seen a mega industry at the time. sure atari became a billion dollar company, but its doubtful magnavox needed to sell millions of copies of each game to turn a nice tidy profit.

[Chris Leach]

The O2 had a keyboard so it wasn't looked at as a gaming system, but an educational tool!

[Classic Pac]

And it did have the game UFO which was the very first game where enemies attacked from all directions

[superdevil]

Honestly, if I was to have walked into a store with both a VCS and o2 set up side by side on display in 1978, I would have went with the o2. The 2600 didn't hit its stride until later, and I prefer the o2 joysticks over the Atari's any day.

[atari181]

http://tinyurl.com/2ahvwsc

LOL +1

[Animan]

Personally, I think the O2 had a great library of games. In fact, if K.C. Munchkin wasn't pulled from the market, the O2 probably would have lasted another year or two. That really hurt the O2 a lot, despite having a "sequel" to K.C. later on.

[nathanallan]

The O2 would have done even better had Magnavox bothered to develop it further-- it has a socketed processor that could have been upgraded, a tiny mainboard that is very easily replaced, and tons of other internal things that can be upgraded.

 

Also, love the link also, +1!

 

That's my big project when I can get to it (life is pounding me really hard right now). I intend to make the O2 more computer-like and give it a lot of features that are really, really easy to implement.

 

/edit Also having more than one developer would have helped the O2 out a lot. I'd love to see how Defender or Joust would have fared on the unsung hero that is the Odyssey 2.

Edited September 11, 2010 by nathanallan

[Seob]

/edit Also having more than one developer would have helped the O2 out a lot. I'd love to see how Defender or Joust would have fared on the unsung hero that is the Odyssey 2.

True, they had a single programmer on the job to long. More third party support would have been better for the sales. Although in europe we had parker brothers and imagic.

 

The odyssey2 named videopac was far more popular in europe. Here the prototype odyssey3 got released as the g7400 videopac+ and had updated graphics, and was compatible with all videopac games.

[JagDiesel]

/edit Also having more than one developer would have helped the O2 out a lot. I'd love to see how Defender or Joust would have fared on the unsung hero that is the Odyssey 2.

True, they had a single programmer on the job to long. More third party support would have been better for the sales. Although in europe we had parker brothers and imagic.

 

The odyssey2 named videopac was far more popular in europe. Here the prototype odyssey3 got released as the g7400 videopac+ and had updated graphics, and was compatible with all videopac games.

I agree on their needing more 3rd party development, people who would try to push the O2 to do more. Look at the Imagic and Parker games.

We had an O2 growing up and I still enjoy having one today. If you have the time to play around on games like the KC Munchkin games and Monkeyshines, you can program custom mazes. Also, the Master Strategy games were pretty unique to mix a board game with the system game.

I have a G7400+ and will eventually get one of John D's multicarts to try it out. It'll be interesting to play around and see what we missed with the O3 never hitting the market (yep, my folks had plans to buy one).

[Gabriel]

You know how, when you were little (like last week?) and you asked your parents for something as a gift... they'd often get something close to what you wanted but not quite... even if you gave them the exact brand and model number. Maybe it's because the other item was cheaper, or because a salesman convinced them it was better (ooh look, it has a keyboard with letters and junk!). These are people who kept the Odyssey2 going as long as it did. Just my theory.

 

That's my story in a nutshell. I had wanted an Odyssey 2 and Quest for the Rings. I got an Atari 2600 instead.

 

But there was also a time when the Odyssey 2 wasn't completely incomparable to the Atari 2600. At the time 2600s were being demoed with games like Air-Sea Battle/Target Fun and Combat. The Odyssey games can compare fairly well against the stuff like that.

[Rik]

I'm not trying to cut down the O2, it had some good games, and lots of potential IMO.Back in the early 80's, many friends that went to the store intending to buy a 2600, came back with an O2.According to my friends, who most also went with their parents, were persuaded to buy the O2 because of its educational potential because of the keyboard, which was a winner with parents of course.The keyboard was the major seller for the O2 according to what i heard.But....many realized it didn't matter, the 2600 had more games, better arcade ports, IMO, a better game system.I believe if the O2 was given a chance, it could have achieved greatness.The crash prevented a lot of gaming improvements and greatness to come to fruition for the O2 and many other systems.I think great stuff could have been done because of the keyboard on the O2.

[ledzep]

I'm not trying to cut down the O2, it had some good games, and lots of potential IMO.Back in the early 80's, many friends that went to the store intending to buy a 2600, came back with an O2.According to my friends, who most also went with their parents, were persuaded to buy the O2 because of its educational potential because of the keyboard, which was a winner with parents of course.The keyboard was the major seller for the O2 according to what i heard.But....many realized it didn't matter, the 2600 had more games, better arcade ports, IMO, a better game system.I believe if the O2 was given a chance, it could have achieved greatness.The crash prevented a lot of gaming improvements and greatness to come to fruition for the O2 and many other systems.I think great stuff could have been done because of the keyboard on the O2.

 

I don't know how it survived, either. Sure, the early Atari games were crude but I remember going into a store (Macy's?) and seeing an Odyssey 2 on display in their tiny electronics area. I tried to play that thing more than once with friends. Absolutely could not get into the games or the control setup (not the controllers, those were fine) and except for some space game that we tried to play more than once there was nothing about it that seemed attractive. I never "got it" and I'm curious as to why since I could get into most of those older console systems. I'm sure it's also partly a bias for Atari since my friend's Intellivision was obviously a more powerful game system, with better graphics in the games (loved Sea Battle, Armor Battle, Baseball, among others) yet I still preferred my old Atari 2600. When that same friend got a 5200 I liked that better, too. So Atari owns me, apparently, haahaha.

[desiv]

For my parents, it was the keyboard that did it..

And for us, we loved the games.. I loved (still do) the joysticks..

Yeah, we didn't have a lot of games, but had they bought a 2600, we still wouldn't have had a lot of games.

 

We had about as many as we could afford. And it was enough..

Strange thing was, as prevalent as the 2600 was, I had the O2 and my friend had the Intellivision.

 

In my neighborhood, there just weren't a lot of Atari's, until the computer era kicked in at least..

 

I have an O2 now, and I think it's great still..

UFO will always be one of my favorite games...

 

Yes, the graphics weren't as good, but.. Haven't we heard the "graphics don't make a game better, just purtier" argument a few million times already?

 

desiv

[+doctorclu]

In Dallas, TX the Magnavox game system seem strangely common. I remember two growing up, one with a friend down the street as we played Pick Axe Pete and KC Munchkin. I remember that there was the controversy over KC Munchkin so we felt privileged to have the game and play this Pac-Man clone on the game system.

 

Later my cousins had an Odyssey 2 at a Thanksgiving at my grandmothers. I remember playing Quest for the Rings for hours.

 

To me the Odyssey 2 had very responsive sounds. Always bigger and slightly blockier graphics than the 2600, but fun.

 

Over the years since the 80's I have seen other Odyssey 2 game systems in flea markets and around the area. A friend found one and bought it for me for Christmas a few years back.

[Rolo]

• The influence of sellers and shop assistants was big, too. Parents those days never had seen a computer before (except on Star Trek). Most of them knew absolutely nothing about them. They bought, what the shop people had in their shelves or wanted them to buy.

In Germany the Odyssey (and its cartridges, too) was/were cheaper than Atari VCS. "Telespiele" (game consoles) were extremely expensive, compared to other toys. Parents were not used to spend so much money on Christmas toys. The price difference was quite important.

Things like better graphics were not important, since the systems were soley considered as toys for kids, who would loose interest within a couple of months anyway. Parents did not know, that video games would become this big, and that those consoles would run for 35 years:) Toys were not important, they were just for kids and for temporarily use.

And of course, the keyboard as an "educational symbol", even if it was not used for much on the system. Parents did not know.

[Seob]

In Dallas, TX the Magnavox game system seem strangely common. I remember two growing up, one with a friend down the street as we played Pick Axe Pete and KC Munchkin. I remember that there was the controversy over KC Munchkin so we felt privileged to have the game and play this Pac-Man clone on the game system.

 

Later my cousins had an Odyssey 2 at a Thanksgiving at my grandmothers. I remember playing Quest for the Rings for hours.

 

To me the Odyssey 2 had very responsive sounds. Always bigger and slightly blockier graphics than the 2600, but fun.

 

Over the years since the 80's I have seen other Odyssey 2 game systems in flea markets and around the area. A friend found one and bought it for me for Christmas a few years back.

If i'm correct, i think the Odyssey2 manufacturer plant was situated in Texas. Could explain why they can be found more easy over there. Plant workers buying on for there kids.