Odyssey 2

[ubersaurus]

I just got one of these off of ebay, and I'm wondering, what are some of the better games for it?

 

I'll probably just buy the multicart anyway ;p

[Varan]

I have been watching some Odyssey 2 auctions myself. The games I would definatly want include:

 

Quest for the Rings

Conquest of the World

Pick Axe Pete

KC Munchkin

[Intrepid]

I picked one up on eBay last week for $16. I think I got a good deal. It came with:

 

Alpine Skiing*

Blockout!/Breakdown!*

Cosmic Conflict

Computer Golf!

KC Munchkin!*

Matchmaker!/Buzzword!/Logix!*

Pick Axe Pete*

Out Of This World!/

Helicopter Rescue!

Showdown in 2001AD Magnavox

Thunderball*

UFO*

 

*= have manual.

 

The seller also (inadvertantly?) threw in an Atari VCS owners manual. Does this have anything more than novelty value? There was also some manuals for games that weren't part of the auction. I think I'm going to hold onto them and try to get the games. That seems better than trading away the manuals for a couple 2600 commons.

 

I also picked up:

Alien Invaders-Plus

Speedway/Spin-out/Crypto-Logic

Sub Chase/Armored Encounter

 

from joshk for $4.50.

 

I really like the Odyssey2, too bad the VCS killed it. The membrane keyboard is really a great addition. The hardwired controllers are a bit of a drag, however.

[opcode]

Hi,

 

Since O2 was very popular in Brazil, I would suggest the following games:

 

K.C. Munchkin, Pick Axe Pete, K.C.'s Krazy Chase, Attack of the Timelord, Turtles and Killer Bees.

 

I find Timelord to be the funest of all, with Turtles a close second.

And if you turns to become a serious O2 collector, chances are you are going to want two exclusive Brazilian O2 titles, Clay Pigeon and Comando Noturno...

[DuckandCover]

Attack of the Timelord is my all time favorite. Quest for the Rings and K.C. Munchkin are excellent as well.

[KAZ]

I know I've said it before, but Odyssey 2 has a strange "aura" about it.

 

My friend says he used to play the system non-stop when he was in the 4th grade, playing countless games of Turtles, and Pick axe Pete.

 

I had never ever seen the system, but since my friend was being intensely nostalgic, I decided to grab the emulator, so we could both play those games. It was ok, turtles is a pretty decent game.

 

But here's the real deal.

 

I was at The Midwest Classic on June 8th, and got to see an actual Odyssey 2 up close. It was simply a cool looking system, its design was just neat.

 

 

It has a voice system thing, in the middle towards the left side is a button that looks "caved" in. That feature alone makes this a gem of an old system in my opinion!

[gulag picture radio]

Nice to see a couple of Odyssey enthusiasts here. I just posted a list of some goodies that I scored at a garage sale today.

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.p...p=102873#102873

 

I've had a system kicking around for awhile with a couple games, but today's find will make me definitely fire up the thing soon. I'm not big into sports games which is most of what I've found. If any of you want to swap for space games, let me know!

[ubersaurus]

Just got it today, and man is this thing fun. Kc Munchkin, Pick Axe Pete, and Timelord are takin up my time. Now all I need is that multicart...but other purchases are coming first, right now.

[ScottHuggins]

The Odyssey2 truly is an underrated system. It's a lot of fun and rarely gets mentioned in discussions about classic gaming. I'm not sure why. KC Munchkin is a classic. Smithereens and Pick Axe Pete are great.

 

I have one with 22 boxed games... I love it.

[Big Player]

I've always wanted to play those Master Strategy games, using the game boards and actually being able to find a couple people who will play.

 

Especially The Great Wall Street Fortune Hunt (I am an accountant )

[black dog]

The thing that makes the O2 great is the same thing that makes the 2600 great-the simplicity. You can pretty much plug it in and play, without having to spend hours reading instructions, or figuring out what button does what.

[ROBERT]

Hi:

 

My favourite titles for the O2 platform are...

 

Pick Axe Pete

KC Munchkin

Freedom Fighter

UFO

 

Of the four, Pete is the most exciting followed by KC. UFO is the slowest and most plodding, and you occassionally suffer a most horrednous game death due to poor programming.

 

In the middle is Freedom Fighter, which can become quite intense. I have the verified world record on this one of 863 points on videotape and verified by Walter Day of Twin Galaxies and consider it a decent accomplishment and a worthy cartridge to try out.

 

Pete gets very intense with more pieces of walkway disappearing. I am told by fellow TG referee Ron Corcoran that KC Munchkin has a dramatic speed increase after the 4K or 6K mark. UFO is okay, but too plodding. The record on that one isn't even 2,000 points after all these years !!

 

Gamers curious as to the currently recognized and verified world records can check out www.twingalaxies.com and go to the scoreboard section, select the title, and the platform, and the scores will be posted there for each, including some O2 titles not in my top 4 recommendations.

 

Regards !!

 

Robert T Mruczek

Twin Galaxies - Editor and Chief referee

Star Wars classic arcade champion

(212) 366-3036 (work-day)

rmruczek@doremus.com (work E-MAIL)

 

*******************************

[Atari 7800.com]

Ya know I gotta say this but Odyssey2 is just flat out a wonderful little system. Thruout my years growing up as "the kid who got an Atari for Christmas instead of a Nintendo" I have always been pretty narrow-minded when it came to game systems.... I stood by my Atari like a Captain going down with his ship, and for years and years I despised Nintendo and pretty much shunned all other non-Atari systems with the exception of a few underdogs (i.e., Turbo Grafx-16, Neo Geo, 3DO) ...these days I'm a lot more open to other systems, but one of the only true-classic systems that I actually had a real appreciation for was the Odyssey2. What a great system that was! Don't get me wrong, I love Stella, she's a beautiful lady, and I'd never cheat on her but the Odyssey2 was vastly under-rated at the time and ran in a distant third in a race against the 2600 and Intellivision. They were faced with poor advertising and numerous legal situations, such as the intellectual property suit regarding KC Munchkin being a rip-off of Pac-Man, etc. Once the ColecoVision came out, the Odyssey2's fate was pretty much sealed, and they went down without much of a fighting chance.

 

The Odyssey2 just came with its own mentality ... it's so hard to explain to someone who doesn't own one or who just doesn't feel the love for the system. The Odyssey2 had all of the little extras that the 2600 was supposed to but never got released by Atari. The built-in keyboard was way ahead of its time, and the voice synthesis module was, in my opinion, far superior in quality to that of Mattel's and the nonexistent 2600 module. The games were unique compared to those of Atari's other competitors who normally just made their own version of popular Atari titles for their own system. Odyssey2 was different. I remember wishing that I could have had Pick Axe Pete, Freedom Fighter, and UFO on my Atari. That was really the only time in history (at least to that point) that I had felt rather "outdone" by another system.

 

Anyway, for those of you lucky enough to actually own one of these rare systems, congratulations... you have something really special in the world of classic gaming. I can't say enough good things about these units, and this is coming from an extremely dedicated Atari enthusiast.

 

 

Best wishes to all

[Gunstar]

Ya know I gotta say this but Odyssey2 is just flat out a wonderful little system. Thruout my years growing up as "the kid who got an Atari for Christmas instead of a Nintendo" I have always been pretty narrow-minded when it came to game systems.... I stood by my Atari like a Captain going down with his ship, and for years and years I despised Nintendo and pretty much shunned all other non-Atari systems with the exception of a few underdogs (i.e., Turbo Grafx-16, Neo Geo, 3DO) ...these days I'm a lot more open to other systems, but one of the only true-classic systems that I actually had a real appreciation for was the Odyssey2. What a great system that was! Don't get me wrong, I love Stella, she's a beautiful lady, and I'd never cheat on her    but the Odyssey2 was vastly under-rated at the time and ran in a distant third in a race against the 2600 and Intellivision. They were faced with poor advertising and numerous legal situations, such as the intellectual property suit regarding KC Munchkin being a  rip-off of Pac-Man, etc. Once the ColecoVision came out, the Odyssey2's fate was pretty much sealed, and they went down without much of a fighting chance.

 

The Odyssey2 just came with its own mentality ... it's so hard to explain to someone who doesn't own one or who just doesn't feel the love for the system. The Odyssey2 had all of the little extras that the 2600 was supposed to but never got released by Atari. The built-in keyboard was way ahead of its time, and the voice synthesis module was, in my opinion, far superior in quality to that of Mattel's and the nonexistent 2600 module. The games were unique compared to those of Atari's other competitors who normally just made their own version of popular Atari titles for their own system. Odyssey2 was different. I remember wishing that I could have had Pick Axe Pete, Freedom Fighter, and UFO on my Atari. That was really the only time in history (at least to that point) that I had felt rather "outdone" by another system.

 

Anyway, for those of you lucky enough to actually own one of these rare systems, congratulations... you have something really special in the world of classic gaming. I can't say enough good things about these units, and this is coming from an extremely dedicated Atari enthusiast.

 

 

Best wishes to all

 

If I didn't know better, I'd think I had a split personality and wrote your post myself. Except I was into Atari BEFORE ninschmendo came around, when it was suave to own the Atari.

[Atari 7800.com]

I believe I saw something once on the Odyssey3 game system. I don't know if this is something I saw in a dream once or if it was actually real... I want to say that it was designed by Magnavox but never realeased because of the big crash in 84. I think it was white and looked somewhat like the Odyssey2 and had graphics on a par with ColecoVision and 5200. I'm also pretty sure that it had a built in keyboard as well.

 

Anybody know anything about this?

[liquid_sky]

from the O2 faq:

 

In 1995 I became one of the very few American game collectors to discover that Philips had indeed released the Odyssey³, and was the first to publicize this information on the Internet. As I found out, the Odyssey³ was indeed sold in 1983 and 1984. It was sold only in Europe, and was dubbed the Philips Videopac + G7400. The Videopac + console had almost exactly the same internal hardware as the American Odyssey³ prototype, but externally it was very different. The keyboard did indeed have more keys than the Odyssey²/Philips G700, but they were still made from a flat plastic membrane keyboard, instead of from physically clickable keys. Unlike the American prototype, there was no built-in joystick holder.

 

The Philips Videopac + G7400 could play four types of cartridges.

 

1. All the standard Odyssey²/Philips G7000 cartridges. The backward compatibility would ensure that many Odyssey owners would upgrade to this system and still be able to use all their old games.

2. A series of remakes, in which popular Odyssey²/Philips G7000 games were re-released with high resolution, beautifully rendered background graphics, similar in quality to what one would see on a ColecoVision. If these game were played on a regular Odyssey²/Philips G7000 the game would play just like the classic version, but the high-res background graphics would not be visible.

3. A series of totally new Odyssey games. These had standard Odyssey foreground graphics but also had high resolution background graphics. If these game were played on a regular Odyssey²/Philips G7000 the game would play correctly, but the high-res background graphics would not be visible.

4. A series of totally new Odyssey³/Philips G7400 only games that could only be played on the Odyssey³ or G7400. These games not only had hi-res background graphics, but they had hi-res foreground graphics, scrolling screens, multiple screens and the ability for more complex gameplay. Only four such games were ever made: Norseman, Helicopter Rescue, Trans-American Rally and the Home Computer Module.

 

Anyone have any screenshots??

[Atari 7800.com]

Yeah I found that out earlier today too.. The Odyssey3 prototype was pretty nifty looking. I love their idea of making the Odyssey3 backwards compatable like the 7800 was, but also allowing new games to be created that could be played on both.

 

Anybody have any pictures of the released unit or screenshots of graphics?

[ubersaurus]

Odyssey 3 should be added to MESS...assuming of course there were any dumped ROMS, which there aren't to my knowledge.

 

If I recall, The fellow running Odyssey 2 homepage, hosted by classicgaming.com, is lookin for O2 owners to send in various specs. to quote his post on Digital Press...

"This thread seems like a good place to point out that I've compiled a list of the different O2 console variations on my web site. See the table on this page.

 

I should point out this is a "work in progress," so it might not be totally accurate. In fact, I have some new information I need to add to it, so I know it's somewhat out of date.

 

If anyone out there is willing to help make this list more accurate, I would appreciate it. If you have an O2, please answer this short questionnaire:

 

 

1. What's its model number? (It should be listed on a sticker on the bottom of the console, and will be something like "BB7600 GT02")

2. Is its logo raised or flat?

3. Does it have an Atari 2600-like or NES-like power supply?

4. Is its RF cord standard or nonstandard?

5. Are its joysticks detachable or not, and what color are they?

6. I suppose I should start tracking whether keyboards are brushed or shiny, so maybe you could provide that too.

 

 

Send your answers to o2williamc@yahoo.com. Thanks! "

 

Help the man out ;p

[dwh]

for those collectors out there--

There are two odyssey 2 units in the USA-one has plug in joysticks, the other has hard-wired joysticks--then there is the euro-version called vidiopac G7000.Then there is the voice modual and the voice games and lastly a chess game memory add-on(which just slipped by me for $12 on ebay )

The harder games to get are Smithereens, any voice game, and Power Lords, and complete copies of the master series games.

There were 47 carts released in the US(and almost all of em programmed by one guy!),so it doesn't take long to make a decent collection.

[Atari Joe]

The best thing about the odyssey is the module to play atari games on 2600 mode with the voice modual. that is what is drawing people in to playing this game. other than than that it was not a very nice system. the controls stink and the buttons get in the way and the cartridge handles are annoying but the system was still very nice for a magnavox. didnt they make the phillips magnavox CD-i to replace the odyssey 10 years later? that was a neat machine. joe.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

VCS module for the Odyssey 2? I don't think I've ever heard of this. They didn't even run on the same processor.

 

As for the Odyssey 3...I don't think anything was released for it aside from the Videopac+G7400 "enhanced" games like Terrahawks.

 

Anyone want my copy of Terrahawks BTW? It's pretty much Attack Of The Time Lord! with different artwork - and, supposedly if one has the machine to access the enhanced graphics - the extra VP+G7400/Odyssey 3 background graphics.

[Gunstar]

The best thing about the odyssey is the module to play atari games on 2600 mode with the voice modual. that is what is drawing people in to playing this game. other than than that it was not a very nice system. the controls stink and the buttons get in the way and the cartridge handles are annoying but the system was still very nice for a magnavox. didnt they make the phillips magnavox CD-i to replace the odyssey 10 years later? that was a neat machine. joe.

 

Well there was definately a CD-i, but I'd never heard of an "Oddyssey 10." Something from Brazil?

[Atari Joe]

The best thing about the odyssey is the module to play atari games on 2600 mode with the voice modual. that is what is drawing people in to playing this game. other than than that it was not a very nice system. the controls stink and the buttons get in the way and the cartridge handles are annoying but the system was still very nice for a magnavox. didnt they make the phillips magnavox CD-i to replace the odyssey 10 years later? that was a neat machine. joe.

 

Well there was definately a CD-i, but I'd never heard of an "Oddyssey 10." Something from Brazil?

 

 

Lol you read that wrong i didnt mean there was a system called odyssey 10 i mean that, 10 years later they replaced the odyssey with the god damned CD-i. what a miserable system that was it played with a remote control. whatever crakass thought that one up was a real genius.

 

betchya didnt know that the cd-i was also developed with sony and nintendo to be compatable with the super nutindo CD unit that never came out cause sony was gonna make it and it was gonna be 32 bits and sony and nintendo got pissy so sony took what they called the nintendo playstation cd addon unit and they sold it on their own thats why the playstation controlles look like super nes controllers with handles and 2 more buttons. its all in that book from the rolenta press. its true.

 

god damned nintendo.

[Gunstar]

I knew of the Sony/Nintendo fiasco and that it was going to be called the playstation even as a snes add-on, but I didn't know of any cd-i compatibility. Did you know that cd-i movies are just vcd's and will work in any player capable of using vcd's?

[Atari Joe]

wow that is slick did mangnovox invent the vcd for the cdi? or was that there already. thanx joe.