September 1972 · Computer or hardware
Magnavox Odyssey (1972)
The first commercial home video game console, built on Ralph Baer's design. It introduced the idea of playing games on a TV set at home.
Its cards did not hold software but rewired the console's internal circuits, and plastic overlays stuck to the TV supplied the visuals. A table tennis game seen on it inspired Atari's Pong, and Magnavox later won more than $100 million in patent litigation. It was followed by the Odyssey 100 and 200.
See 1972 in the interactive timeline
Facts
- Date
- September 1972
- Kind
- Computer or hardware: Home console
- Maker or publisher
- Magnavox
- CPU
- Discrete transistor/diode logic
- Graphics
- Monochrome; 3 square dots and a line
- Media
- Game cards + TV overlays
- Units sold
- about 350,000
- Generation
- 1st
- First sold in
- North America
- Notable games
- Table Tennis; Tennis; Hockey; Football; Submarine; Ski
Source: Wikipedia
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Guides: How to fix a dead vintage computer · Retro PC starter kit: the gear worth buying
Related
- Atari 2600 (VCS) (successor, 1977)
- Fairchild Channel F (rival, 1976)
Also in 1972
- Pong Game
- Gottschalk v. Benson decided Legal milestone
- HP-35 Computer or hardware
- Intel 8008 Computer or hardware
- Atari incorporated Event