Unlike most video game consoles, the Odyssey is analog rather than digital, which makes its invention all the more amazing in spite of its rather crude graphics and controller responsiveness. This prototype is affectionately known as the "Brown Box" to classic video game hobbyists. The Odyssey was designed by Ralph Baer, who had a working prototype finished by 1968.
The Magnavox Odyssey is the first home video game console, predating the Atari PONG home consoles by three years. Sanders licensed the Brown Box to Magnavox, which released the system as the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972. Program cards were used to show which switches needed to be set for specific games.īrown Box games included ping-pong, checkers, four different sports games, target shooting with the use of a lightgun and a golf putting game, which required the use of a special attachment. The "Brown Box" could be programmed to play a variety of games by flipping the switches along the front of the unit, as can be seen in the picture. The "Brown Box," though only a prototype, had basic features that most video games consoles still have today: two controls and a multigame program system. Originally called TV Game Unit #7, much like the "Pump Unit" before it, it became far better known by its nickname, “The Brown Box.” The name comes from the brown wood-grain, self-adhesive vinyl used to make the prototype look more attractive to potential investors. In an oral history interview, Ralph Baer recalled “The minute we played ping-pong, we knew we had a product. Since Sanders hoped to license the technology for a commercial venture, Baer understood that the games had to be fun or investors and consumers would not be interested. developed a prototype for the first multiplayer, multiprogram video game system. In 1967, Ralph Baer and his colleagues at Sanders Associates, Inc. This machine paved the way for the video games of today.
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