Comments on: The Ultimate Home Gaming System

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Sep 2017 15:17:08 +0000

For a time, the Odyssey 2 system tried to be a viable competitor to Atari 2600, and even had some apparently "lookalike" games (as if Atari's were soooo much better, all had low computing power, so they paled in comparison to their arcade cousins). But while Atari licensed the names to genuine arcade games, Philips made play-alike game versions they did not have to pay licensing fees for, so they seemed quite as good, and Odyssey 2 never had the benefit of third-party game developers like Activision, Parker Brothers or others. My cousins were cursed with an Odyssey 2 system (we got Atari!) which featured a weird, touch-screen keyboard and some decent joysticks. While Atari had Space Invaders, Odyssey 2 had Alien Invaders, and while Atari 2600 had Pac-Man, Odyssey 2 had K.C. Munchkin! In reality, neither version (Atari 2600 or Philips Magnavox Odyssey 2) were very close, but this was the late 1970s-early 1980s, and personal computers were still very expensive so they did what they could with the limited computer power in the machine. But Odyssey 2 was always a third best seller (after Atari's 2600 model and Mattel's Intellivision), and eventually, it stopped selling in the U.S.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 01:31:40 +0000

Actually I happen to own a brand new Odyssey including a shipping box, its an amazing piece of video game history invented by Ralph Baer and has dice, chips, even play money!!!

By: Htos1

Htos1 — Mon, 02 May 2011 14:16:48 +0000

I played this one in summer 1975,hanging out with some buds.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 05:17:32 +0000

Okay, we actually had this thing. In fact, I am pretty sure my Mom still has it stashed somewhere. Ours came with transparencies that you taped to the TV and could play several games on. I don't remember much more than that but I know we played it alot.

By: Ally

Ally — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:19:54 +0000

I remember my parents got PONG when I was a kid. It was the coolest thing!

By: John III

John III — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:16:49 +0000

Hi Arkonbey. What else did your dad make from heathkit? Sounds interesting to say the least!

I never did get an Atari, but I did have a Commodore 64 that I loved to no end. Started me on my cycle of computer gaming that still lasts 25 years later!

By: Wings

Wings — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:57:27 +0000

My brother had a pong game in the 70s, not sure if it was this one or not, though.

By: Arkonbey

Arkonbey — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:12:05 +0000

Man, that is a clunky thing, isn't it.

My dad built us a Pong game from Heathkit. We played the bejezus out of that thing (on the TV he also built from Heathkit).