Pong, the famous arcade ping-pong game released by Atari in 1972, marks the date on which we marked the first game console in history, albeit a few months earlier. The Magnavox company released its Magnavox Odyssey, a home video game system based on a prototype invented by Ralph Baer.
Since the Odyssey had limited graphics capabilities and only displayed a few small white blocks and a vertical line on the screen, Magnavox included translucent color overlays to provide settings and layouts for games. Perhaps most surprising to today’s gamers, the Odyssey also came with non-electronic gaming accessories, such as dice, decks of cards, play money, and poker chips. Possibly these accessories were included to make the console look more like the physical games that existed at the time.
With approximately 350,000 units sold, Magnavox Odyssey was not considered a commercial success, especially compared to the runaway popularity that Pong caused. Among the factors that contributed to this failure, poor marketing played a significant role. Many potential consumers were under the impression, sometimes encouraged by Magnavox salespeople, that Odyssey would only work on Magnavox televisions. Despite these setbacks, Magnavox Odyssey made its mark by starting the game console industry.
This system was black and white, had two wired controllers, and although it had no cartridges, you could select one of several games. It also had no sound and the screen could only show 3 dots and a vertical line. The system cost $ 100 (not including the optional light gun). However, adjusting the value of the coin from 1972 to the present, it would be approximately $ 600.
It was not an impulsive purchase, and the differentiation between games was mainly an exercise in imagination as we see. However , the Magnavox Odyssey brought computing technology into the home and that was exciting. It showed that there was a market for home video games.
Baer made up to seven prototypes of the console and the seventh, called “the brown box,” was the one that Magnavox agreed to produce and market. He also received patents on the idea, which would become a turning point in history years later.
The controllers had a reset button and 3 buttons. A button on the console allowed you to move the vertical line that could be the center of a tennis court or a wall in a handball game.
Many companies were offered the new device. None were interested, although an RCA executive was impressed and when he went to Magnavox, he convinced the company to look at the new device. Magnavox made a few changes like removing the color output and adding the game cards for setup and voila.
Although Magnavox is the one that gets the credit for the console, the truth is that the real invention lies with Ralph Baer and his vision, as well as his ability to convince a company that had no reason to produce a piece of consumer electronics to do so. anyway. He received the National Medal of Technology for his contribution to the video game industry.
Baer continued to work in the field of electronic entertainment creating the well-known game ‘Simon’ in the late 1970s.
Image credit: National Museum of American History
Special mention: 25th anniversary of the PlayStation
True, it is neither the first nor the second desktop console in history, but it is one of the most important and has most clearly defined the subsequent evolution in the world of video games .
The PlayStation , the original, went on sale in the Japanese market on December 3, 1994 and has turned 25 years being a true icon that has been thrown back a quarter of a century and dozens of great titles with which many gamers had their first contact with video games. On its first day in Japan, it reached 100,000 units sold and was the first home console to exceed 100 million units, a not inconsiderable figure. Jim Ryan , CEO and president of Sony Interactive Entertainment , explained that PlayStation “offered experiences that no one could imagine were possible on a home console .”
It was on PlayStation where titles like Crash Bandicoot , Spyro , Metal Gear , Final Fantasy or the Tekken fighting saga became popular.
True, it is neither the first nor the second desktop console in history, but it is one of the most important and has most clearly defined the subsequent evolution in the world of video games.
The PlayStation, the original, went on sale in the Japanese market on December 3, 1994 and has turned 25 years being a true icon that has been thrown back a quarter of a century and dozens of great titles with which many gamers had their first contact with video games. On its first day in Japan, it reached 100,000 units sold and was the first home console to exceed 100 million units, a not inconsiderable figure. Jim Ryan, CEO and president of Sony Interactive Entertainment, explained that PlayStation “offered experiences that no one could imagine were possible on a home console.”
It was on PlayStation where titles like Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Metal Gear, Final Fantasy or the Tekken fighting saga became popular.
