View source for Engineering:Magnavox Odyssey²

{{Infobox information appliance
| name = Magnavox Odyssey²
| title = 
| aka = Philips Odyssey² ({{wipe|United States}})
Philips Videopac G7000 ([[Earth:Europe|EU]])

Philips Odyssey ({{wipe|Brazil}})
Odyssey2 ({{wipe|Japan}})
| logo = Magnavox Odyssey 2 logo.svg
| image = Magnavox-Odyssey-2-Console-Set.jpg
| caption = The Magnavox Odyssey² and its two hard-wired [[Engineering:Joystick|Joystick]]s
| developer = [[Company:Magnavox|Magnavox]], [[Company:Philips|Philips]]
| manufacturer = [[Company:Magnavox|Magnavox]], [[Company:Philips|Philips]]
| family = Magnavox Odyssey series/Philips Odyssey series
| type = [[Engineering:Home video game console|Home video game console]]
| generation = Second generation
| releasedate = {{vgrelease|EU|December 1978<ref name = "The Next Level">{{cite web|title=The Odyssey² Timeline|url=http://www.the-nextlevel.com/odyssey2/articles/timeline/index.php}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com.au/books?id=8ZkOsqK-X5AC&lpg=PA445&dq=%22Videopac%22&pg=PA445#v=onepage&q=%22Videopac%22&f=false Courtesy titles], New Scientist 10 May 1979, Page 445, ''...The Phillips G7000 Videopac will be on sale in the UK this summer at around...''</ref>|NA|February 1979<ref name = "The Next Level"/>|JP|September 1982<ref name = "The Next Level" />|BR|May 1983<ref name = "VGDB">{{cite web|title=The Odyssey²|url=http://www.vgdb.com.br/consoles/odyssey-2/}}</ref>}}
| lifespan = 1978–1984
| price = {{USD|179|1978}}
| discontinued = {{End date|1984|03|20}}<ref name = "The Next Level" />
| unitssold = 2 Million<ref>{{cite book |last=Forster |first=Winnie |title=The encyclopedia of consoles, handhelds & home computers 1972 - 2005 |year=2005 |publisher=GAMEPLAN |isbn=3-00-015359-4|page=30}}</ref>
| unitsshipped = unknown
| media = 
| os = 
| power = 
| soc = 
| cpu = [[Engineering:Intel MCS-48|Intel 8048]]
| memory = 64 bytes RAM, 1024 bytes ROM
| storage = 
| memory card = [[ROM cartridge]]
| display = 
| graphics = 
| sound = yes
| input = 
| controllers = Joysticks
| camera = 
| touchpad = yes
| connectivity = 
| platform = 
| service = no
| dimensions = 
| weight = unknown
| topgame = unknown
| compatibility = 
| predecessor = Philips Odyssey 2100
| successor = Philips Videopac+ G7400
| related = 
| website = <!--{{URL|example.org}}-->
}}
The '''Magnavox Odyssey²''', also known as '''Philips Odyssey²''', is a second generation [[Engineering:Home video game console|home video game console]] that was released in 1978. It was sold in [[Earth:Europe|Europe]] as the '''Philips Videopac G7000''', in {{wipe|Brazil}} as the '''Philips Odyssey''' and in {{wipe|Japan}} as '''Odyssey2''' (オデッセイ2 ''odessei2''). The Odyssey² was one of the major three home consoles prior to the 1983 video game market crash, along with [[Engineering:Atari 2600|Atari 2600]] and [[Engineering:Intellivision|Intellivision]].

In the early 1970s, [[Company:Magnavox|Magnavox]] pioneered the home video game industry by successfully bringing the first home console to market, the [[Engineering:Magnavox Odyssey|Odyssey]], which was quickly followed by a number of later models, each with a few technological improvements (''see Magnavox Odyssey series''). In 1978, Magnavox, now a subsidiary of [[Company:Philips#North America|North American Philips]], decided to release an all-new successor, Odyssey².

In 2009, the video game website IGN named the Odyssey² the 21st greatest video game console, out of its list of 25.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ign.com/top-25-consoles/21.html |title=Magnavox Odyssey 2 is number 21 |website=IGN |accessdate=2012-07-28}}</ref>

==Design==
[[File:Philips Videopac G7200 with integrated monitor (RetroMadrid 2017).jpg|thumb|The Videopac G7200, unlike Videopac G7000, had a 9" (23 cm) black & white display built in.]]
The original [[Engineering:Magnavox Odyssey|Odyssey]] had a number of removable [[Engineering:Printed circuit board|circuit cards]] that switched between the built-in games. With the Odyssey², each game could be a completely unique experience, with its own background graphics, foreground graphics, gameplay, scoring, and music. The potential was enormous, as an unlimited number of games could be individually purchased; a game player could purchase a library of video games tailored to their own interest. Unlike any other system at that time, the Odyssey² included a full [[Alphanumeric|alphanumeric]] membrane keyboard, which was to be used for educational games, selecting options, or programming (Magnavox released a cartridge called ''Computer Intro!'' with the intent of teaching simple computer programming).

The Odyssey² used the standard [[Engineering:Joystick|joystick]] design of the 1970s and early 1980s: the original console had a moderately sized silver controller, held in one hand, with a square housing for its eight-direction stick that was manipulated with the other hand. Later releases had a similar black controller, with an 8-pointed star-shaped housing for its eight-direction joystick. In the upper corner of the joystick was a single 'Action' button, silver on the original controllers and red on the black controllers. The games, graphics and packaging were designed by Ron Bradford and Steve Lehner.<ref>[http://odyssey2.classicgaming.gamespy.com/articles/bradford/article.php Electronic Game Wizards] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308053639/http://odyssey2.classicgaming.gamespy.com/articles/bradford/article.php |date=8 March 2008 }}</ref>

One other difference in these controllers is that the earliest releases of the silver joystick were removable. They could be plugged and unplugged from the back of the unit, while all later silver and all black controllers were hardwired into the rear of the unit itself (although the joysticks still can be easily replaced, but not without dismounting the cover deck).

One of the strongest points of the system was its [[Speech synthesis|speech synthesis]] unit, which was released as an add-on for speech, music, and sound effects enhancement. The area that the Odyssey² may be best remembered for was its pioneering fusion of [[Engineering:Board game|board]] and video games: ''The Master Strategy Series''. The first game released was ''Quest for the Rings!'', with gameplay somewhat similar to ''Dungeons & Dragons'', and a storyline reminiscent of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. Later, two other games were released in this series, ''Conquest of the World'' and ''The Great Wall Street Fortune Hunt'', each with its own gameboard.

Its graphics and few color choices, compared to its biggest competitors at the time—the [[Engineering:Atari 2600|Atari 2600]], Mattel's [[Engineering:Intellivision|Intellivision]] and the [[Engineering:Bally Astrocade|Bally Astrocade]]—were its "weakest point".<ref>"The Complete Guide to Conquering Video Games" by Jeff Rovin, Collier Books, 1982</ref> Of these systems, the Odyssey² was listed by Jeff Rovin as being the third in total of sales, and one of the seven major video game suppliers.

==Market life==

===United States===
The console sold moderately well in the U.S. It was one of the three primary consoles prior to mid-1982, though a distant third, after the [[Engineering:Atari 2600|Atari 2600]] and Mattel [[Engineering:Intellivision|Intellivision]]. By 1983 over one million Odyssey² units were sold in the U.S. alone.

To sell would-be customers on its technical abilities as a computer-based console, the Odyssey² was marketed with phrases such as "The Ultimate Computer Video Game System", "Sync-Sound Action", "True-Reality Synthesization", "On-Screen Digital Readouts" and "a serious educational tool" on the packaging for the console and its game cartridges. All games produced by Magnavox/Philips ended with an exclamation point, such as ''K.C. Munchkin!'' and ''Killer Bees!''.<ref>{{cite web |title=HYPE! |author=William from The Odyssey 2 Homepage |url=http://www.the-nextlevel.com/odyssey2/articles/hype/index.php |date= |accessdate=February 2, 2010}}</ref>

No third-party game appeared for the Odyssey² in the United States until [[Company:Imagic|Imagic]]'s ''[[Software:Demon Attack|Demon Attack]]'' in 1983.<ref name="eg198306">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/electronic-games-magazine-1983-06/Electronic_Games_Issue_16_Vol_02_04_1983_Jun#page/n37/mode/2up | title=Programmable Arcade | work=Electronic Games | date=June 1983 | accessdate=6 January 2015 |author1=Katz, Arnie |author2=Kunkel, Bill | pages=38–42}}</ref> The lack of third-party support kept the number of new games very limited, but the success of the Philips Videopac G7000 overseas led to two other companies producing games for it: [[Company:Parker Brothers|Parker Brothers]] released ''[[Software:Popeye (video game)|Popeye]]'', ''[[Software:Frogger|Frogger]]'', ''[[Software:Q*bert|Q*bert]]'' and ''[[Software:Super Cobra|Super Cobra]]'', while [[Company:Imagic|Imagic]] also released ''[[Software:Atlantis (video game)|Atlantis]]''.

===Europe===
[[Image:Videopac-pete-screen-800px.jpg|right|thumb|European models had no power button, and black action buttons]]

In [[Earth:Europe|Europe]], the Odyssey² did very well on the market. The console was most widely known as the '''Philips Videopac G7000''', or just the '''Videopac''', although branded variants were released in some areas of Europe under the names '''Philips Videopac C52''', '''Radiola Jet 25''', '''Schneider 7000''', and '''Siera G7000'''. [[Company:Philips|Philips]], as Magnavox's Dutch parent company, used their own name rather than Magnavox's for European marketing. A rare model, the '''Philips Videopac G7200''', was only released in Europe; it had a built-in black-and-white [[Engineering:Computer display|monitor]]. Videopac game cartridges are mostly compatible with American Odyssey² units, although some games have color differences and a few are completely incompatible, such as [[Software:Frogger|Frogger]] on the European console, being unable to show the second half of the playing field, and Chess on the American model, as the extra hardware module could not work with the console. A number of additional games were released in Europe that never came out in the U.S.

===Brazil===
In Brazil, the console was released as the '''Philips Odyssey'''; the [[Engineering:Magnavox Odyssey|Magnavox Odyssey]] was released in Brazil by a company named "Planil Comércio", not affiliated with Philips or Magnavox. Odyssey became much more popular in Brazil than it ever was in the U.S.; tournaments were even held for popular games like ''K.C.'s Krazy Chase!'' (''Come-Come'' in Brazil). Titles of games were translated into Portuguese, sometimes creating a new story, like ''Pick-axe Pete'', that became ''Didi na Mina Encantada'' (Didi in the Enchanted Mine) referring to Renato Aragão's comedy character, and was one of the most famous Odyssey games in Brazil.

===Japan===
The Odyssey² was released in {{wipe|Japan}} in December 1982 by Kōton Trading Toitarii Enterprise (コートン・トレーディング・トイタリー・エンタープライズ, a division of DINGU company) under the name '''オデッセイ２''' (''odessei2''). "Japanese" versions of the Odyssey² and its games consisted of the American boxes with katakana stickers on them and cheaply printed black-and-white [[Social:Japanese language|Japanese]] manuals. The initial price for the console was ¥49,800, which is approximately US$200 in 1982, but roughly $500 in 2018. It was apparently not very successful; Japanese Odyssey² items are now very difficult to find.

==Games==

==Technical specifications==
*[[Central processing unit|CPU]]
**[[Engineering:Intel MCS-48|Intel 8048]] 8-bit [[Engineering:Microcontroller|microcontroller]] running at 1.79 [[Megahertz|MHz]]
*Memory:
**CPU-internal [[Random-access memory|RAM]]: 64 [[Byte|byte]]s
**CPU-external [[Random-access memory|RAM]]: 128 [[Byte|byte]]s
***External [[Random-access memory|RAM]] can be accessed by switching P14 on IO port #1 (see [http://www.atarihq.com/danb/o2.shtml Dan Boris's Odyssey 2 Tech Page] )
**Audio/video RAM: 128 bytes
**[[BIOS]] [[Read-only memory|ROM]]: 1024 bytes
*Video:
**[[Engineering:List of Intel microprocessors#Intel 8048|Intel 8244 (NTSC) or 8245 (PAL)]] custom IC
**160×200 resolution (NTSC)
**16-color fixed palette; sprites may only use 8 of these colors
**4 8×8 single-color user-defined sprites; each sprite's color may be set independently
**12 8×8 single-color characters; must be one of the 64 shapes built into the ROM BIOS; can be freely positioned like sprites, but cannot overlap each other; each character's color may be set independently
**4 quad characters; groups of four characters displayed in a row
**9×8 background grid; dots, lines, or solid blocks
*Audio:
**Intel 8244/8245 custom IC
**mono
**24-bit shift register, clockable at 2 frequencies
**noise generator
**NOTE: There is only one 8244/8245 chip in the system, which performs both audio and video functions.
*Input:
**Two 8-way, one-button, digital [[Engineering:Joystick|joystick]]s. In the first production runs of the Magnavox Odyssey and the Philips 7000, these were removable and replaceable; in later models, they were permanently attached to the console.
**[[Engineering:QWERTY|QWERTY]]-layout membrane keyboard
*Output:
**[[Engineering:RF modulator|RF Audio/Video connector]]
**Péritel/[[Engineering:SCART|SCART]] connector (France only ''Videopac C52'')
*Media:
**ROM cartridges, typically 2 KB, 4 KB, or 8 KB in size.
[[Image:Videopac with chess module.jpg|right|thumb|Videopac with chess module]]

*Expansion modules:
**The Voice: provides speech synthesis and enhanced sound effects. Unlike Intellivoice, games compatible with The Voice did not require it; Danny Goodman of ''Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games'' predicted "that eliminates any incentive to buy the $100 voice module".<ref name="goodman1983spring">{{Cite magazine |last=Goodman |first=Danny |date=Spring 1983 |title=Home Video Games: Video Games Update |url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/cva/v1n1/vgupdate.php |magazine=Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games |page=32}}</ref>
**Chess Module: the Odyssey² did not have enough memory and computing power for a decent implementation of [[Software:Computer chess|chess]] on its own, so the C7010 chess module contained a secondary CPU with its own extra memory to run the chess program
**Videopac+/Jopac-compatible only, Microsoft Basic. <small>The rare ''C7420 Home Computer Module'', made available in 1983 by Philips, was a costly extension for the newer Videopac+ and Jopac consoles only. It went with a thick A4 manual, and required an optional external tape recorder to save the programs. This module was the sole valuable justification of the presence of a so-called keyboard, which was supposedly designed to look like a hybrid educational toy, as read in header lines describing earlier this family of pluri-purpose consoles, even in the TV commercials that echoed the slogan written on these brand-new machines: “Video Computer”. Unfortunately, this late niche concept, even limited to learning game code contrary to the more professional packaging, could not resist at all the already overwhelming market of the real 8-bit home computers, where the Atari 400 shared the same look in 1979, surprisingly. [The latter was advertised itself: « The affordable home computer that's easy to use even for people who've never used a computer before ».] This expensive module is not to be confused with the cheap cartridge #9: ''Computer Intro!''</small>)

==Emulation==<!-- This section is linked from O2EM -->
An open source console emulator for the Odyssey² called ''O2EM'' is available. It includes Philips Videopac G7400 emulation among other features. The emulator works on [[Software:Linux|Linux]], [[Software:Microsoft Windows|Microsoft Windows]], [[Engineering:DOS|DOS]] and other platforms, and is included within [[Software:OpenEmu|OpenEmu]] for [[Software:Mac OS X|Mac OS X]]. ''O2EM'', (originally not open source) was created in 1997 by [[Computer programming|computer programmer]] Daniel Boris and further enhanced by André Rodrigues de la Rocha.

The open source multi-platform multi-system emulator MESS has Odyssey² support, and is the only emulator to emulate The Voice expansion module without using sound samples.

==See also==
*Magnavox Odyssey Series
*[[Engineering:Magnavox Odyssey|Magnavox Odyssey]]
*Philips Videopac + G7400

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.dadgum.com/halcyon/BOOK/AVERETT.HTM Ed Averett] - Programmer of 24 game titles for the Odyssey².
* [http://www.the-nextlevel.com/odyssey2/ The Odyssey2 Homepage!] - William Cassidy's Odyssey² site.
* [http://www.atarihq.com/danb/o2.shtml Dan Boris's Odyssey 2 Tech Page] - technical documents on the Odyssey²'s hardware by the author of O2EM
* [http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/pg70-odyssey2.htm Video Game Console Library entry] on the Magnavox Odyssey2 / Philips Videopac
* [http://thedoteaters.com/?p=5870 The Dot Eaters article] on the history of the Odyssey² ("Taking a Journey With the Odyssey²". December 9, 2013.)
* [https://www.hardwaresecrets.com/inside-the-magnavox-odyssey2/ Inside the Magnavox Odyssey²] (By Gabriel Torres -  April 30, 2012. 8-page feature.)

{{Second generation game consoles}}
{{Home video game consoles}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magnavox Odyssey2}}
[[Category:Home video game consoles]]
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{{Sourceattribution|Magnavox Odyssey²|1}}