MutoidMan
User
Posts: 2,232 | Magnavox Odyssey: unreleased Round Ball demo
on Thursday, September, 06, 2007 12:09 PM
Neat piece of heretofore unknown early gaming history!
Ralph Baer off-camera:
"Ah, here we are, David Winter and Ralph Baer, and we're looking at an Odyssey 1TL200, original Odyssey with the cover removed, and at the moment nothing has been changed, the Odyssey, and you see a ball in a Ping-Pong game going back and forth between two paddles and just to show you that we're not faking, David why don't you move one of the controls so we can see it's alive...there ya go. All right now let David talk for himself."
David Winter on-camera:
"All right, hi there, well, I thought I could show you something really neat, which never made it into production, obviously, and which I never saw on any Pong game, and back in early 1973, at Magnavox there was a project for a four-player Odyssey game which also featured a round ball which was, well maybe the hardest thing to do because you had to deal with special electric components, and well be very ingenious in the design because this was extremely hard to design, uh, a round ball can be easily done with a software program or digital uh, circuit, but using old transistors, and diodes, and resistors, it was another thing. So sometime, somtime in 1973 there were two prototypes built but they never survived only some documentation about it, and fortunately I found that documentation in some old archives. So I rebuilt the round ball generator, and ah, that was, at the same time quite a challange and also I did it quite quickly because Magnavox was smart enough to use the same pin-out of the old ball generator so basically what I had to do is build a new one and put it in the place of the other one. And sure enough I send the schematic to Ralph Baer, who told me it would never work (Ralph chuckles off-camera) and well, I continued and I went ahead because I was quite sure there would be a really intelligent trick in the design of that round ball generator. So I went ahead and built it within ah, four hours or so, pluged it in one of my Odyssey units, and sure enough it worked. So let me show you how this works. Here we have an Odyssey game, and I can remove the ball generator so basically we have just the two paddles and the central line. So here's the original square ball generator and here is the updated one which is larger because it uses more components. So if I plug the new one into the Odyssey, well, maybe you will be lucky enough and see a nice round ball on the screen."
Ralph then joins David on-camera and they play round ball Pong for a little bit. Then they stop the ball mid-screen and Ralph asks David to demonstrate how the size and shape of the ball can be adjusted. David then demonstrates what he calls 'microtennis' and then what Ralph calls 'balloon Ping-Pong'.
Then Davis mentions that switching a paddle generator out for the round ball generator would get you 'ovoid or oval' paddles. Ralph calls them 'hockey sticks'. David then switches out the generators and demonstrates the oval paddle in various sizes.
End of video. |
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"We are, after all, not God." - Cmdr. J. J. Adams
"C is for cookie. That's good enough for me." - Cookie Monster
"If money is the root of all evil, I'd like to be a bad, bad man." - Huey Lewis & the News
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Daddyo
User
Posts: 456 | Re: Magnavox Odyssey: unreleased Round Ball demo
on Thursday, September, 06, 2007 9:18 PM
Cool! I didnt realize that was the first home game console. I had the odyssey 2
 and played the heck out of pick axe pete aka pick a$$ pete
Me and my brother would push & pull the cartridge in/out with power on to get some really cool & free game variations, like running outside of the maze etc. Still got it around the house. Anyone else had an odyssey?where to buy abortion pill ordering abortion pills to be shipped to house buy abortion pill online
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KiaPurity
User
Posts: 3,488 | Re: Magnavox Odyssey: unreleased Round Ball demo
on Thursday, September, 06, 2007 11:47 PM
Hmm, there were earlier video game consoles where you would have to tape a picture to the tv screen (lame)...
Interesting demo but, too bad I need a transcript! 
Kia: Cool. I'm a infamous mythological perfect User.  
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MutoidMan
User
Posts: 2,232 | Re: Magnavox Odyssey: unreleased Round Ball demo
on Friday, September, 07, 2007 1:42 AM
KiaPurity Wrote:Interesting demo but, too bad I need a transcript!  |
Well...okay, but just this once! 
Transcript is up!
"We are, after all, not God." - Cmdr. J. J. Adams
"C is for cookie. That's good enough for me." - Cookie Monster
"If money is the root of all evil, I'd like to be a bad, bad man." - Huey Lewis & the News
Most recent PC game collection update: 04/12/2012. Check it out!
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KiaPurity
User
Posts: 3,488 | Re: Magnavox Odyssey: unreleased Round Ball demo
on Monday, September, 10, 2007 1:07 AM
Thanks a lot, Mutoid!
That totally helps me out a lot. Thank you again!
Kia: Cool. I'm a infamous mythological perfect User.
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Pulsewoman
User
Posts: 201 | Re: Magnavox Odyssey: unreleased Round Ball demo
on Monday, September, 10, 2007 4:13 AM
Huh. Cool! Yeah, see, this is why I found that one website with the LOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNGGG history of video games article on it (in several sections) so fascinating--I kept finding out things I never even _imagined_ about video/computer games. Such as how the first home video game system came out in 1966. Get your head around that? Ninteen, freaking, sixty, SIX. When I think "retro" video games I think like...feathered hair, skinny ties, disco just starting to give way to New Wave on the radio...not beehive hairdos and miniskirts! 1966, that's the same year that the original Star Trek premiered...and we had _home video games_? It boggles the mind.
Okay, so it was the system where you had to stick pictures on the screen (although I don't think glue was involved) but still, I think that's pretty damn cool. Sure, it was of very limited capabilities and the games weren't much, well, _fun_, but I would LOVE to get a look at one of those babies nowadays. Look at all the parts, the retro-ness of the design, really take in how _'60s_ it looks and yet it's still for a form of video games...that would so rock. Not so much to actually PLAY--just, to meet a rare, obscure piece of pop culture history in person, like that.
Besides, us programs should all have some respect for our ancestors..even the Crazy Old Uncle So-and-So whom nobody talked about much because of his habit of going around with his underwear on his head every Thursday, declaring he was a fish, type ones. :P
...Notorious
There are only two rules for success in life:
1. Never tell everything you know.
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Nikster
User
Posts: 2,691 | Re: Magnavox Odyssey: unreleased Round Ball demo
on Monday, September, 10, 2007 4:39 AM
Pulsewoman Wrote:Huh. Cool! Yeah, see, this is why I found that one website with the LOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNGGG history of video games article on it (in several sections) so fascinating--I kept finding out things I never even _imagined_ about video/computer games. Such as how the first home video game system came out in 1966. Get your head around that? Ninteen, freaking, sixty, SIX. When I think "retro" video games I think like...feathered hair, skinny ties, disco just starting to give way to New Wave on the radio...not beehive hairdos and miniskirts! 1966, that's the same year that the original Star Trek premiered...and we had _home video games_? It boggles the mind.
Okay, so it was the system where you had to stick pictures on the screen (although I don't think glue was involved) but still, I think that's pretty damn cool. Sure, it was of very limited capabilities and the games weren't much, well, _fun_, but I would LOVE to get a look at one of those babies nowadays. Look at all the parts, the retro-ness of the design, really take in how _'60s_ it looks and yet it's still for a form of video games...that would so rock. Not so much to actually PLAY--just, to meet a rare, obscure piece of pop culture history in person, like that.
Besides, us programs should all have some respect for our ancestors..even the Crazy Old Uncle So-and-So whom nobody talked about much because of his habit of going around with his underwear on his head every Thursday, declaring he was a fish, type ones. :P
...Notorious |
Are you talking about the site The Dot Eaters? I learned a lot from that one 
________________________
"The flippity on the google loads the Flynn to the disc battles the guy bad. Day wins. Said nuff!" - DaveTRON
Jack Thompson is to attorneys what Fred Phelps is to organized religion - Me
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MutoidMan
User
Posts: 2,232 | Re: Magnavox Odyssey: unreleased Round Ball demo
on Monday, September, 10, 2007 9:12 AM
KiaPurity Wrote:Thanks a lot, Mutoid!
That totally helps me out a lot. Thank you again! |
You're welcome! It was my pleasure to be of assistance.
"We are, after all, not God." - Cmdr. J. J. Adams
"C is for cookie. That's good enough for me." - Cookie Monster
"If money is the root of all evil, I'd like to be a bad, bad man." - Huey Lewis & the News
Most recent PC game collection update: 04/12/2012. Check it out!
|
Pulsewoman
User
Posts: 201 | Re: Magnavox Odyssey: unreleased Round Ball demo
on Tuesday, September, 11, 2007 11:34 PM
Yeah, the Dot Eaters (great name, heh). I loved that site. I know it's been there a while, but _I_ just recently-ish discovered it, so...
Definitely a place everybody here should check out, if they haven't already.  Anyway, cool demo video thingie, Mutoid.
...Notoriouswhere to buy abortion pill ordering abortion pills to be shipped to house buy abortion pill online
There are only two rules for success in life:
1. Never tell everything you know.
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Boingo_Buzzard
User
Posts: 0 | Re: Magnavox Odyssey: unreleased Round Ball demo
on Wednesday, September, 12, 2007 11:06 AM
My sister's boyfriend at the time had the Odyssey 2, when I had the Atari 2600. I was VERY dissapointed that K.C. Munchkin was SO much better than Pac-Man for the 2600.
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Daddyo
User
Posts: 456 | Re: Magnavox Odyssey: unreleased Round Ball demo
on Wednesday, September, 12, 2007 2:30 PM
Pacman for the Atari 2600 probably generated the first cases for epileptic lawsuits because of the horribly flashing ghosts
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MutoidMan
User
Posts: 2,232 | Re: Magnavox Odyssey: unreleased Round Ball demo
on Wednesday, September, 12, 2007 4:28 PM
Was Pac-Man for the 2600 the worst arcade port for the 2600 ever?
Probably.
Did I play it until I turned over the score?
Absolutely!
"We are, after all, not God." - Cmdr. J. J. Adams
"C is for cookie. That's good enough for me." - Cookie Monster
"If money is the root of all evil, I'd like to be a bad, bad man." - Huey Lewis & the News
Most recent PC game collection update: 04/12/2012. Check it out!
|
Nikster
User
Posts: 2,691 | Re: Magnavox Odyssey: unreleased Round Ball demo
on Wednesday, September, 12, 2007 7:58 PM
MutoidMan Wrote:Was Pac-Man for the 2600 the worst arcade port for the 2600 ever?
Probably.
Did I play it until I turned over the score?
Absolutely! |
Same here. The 2600 version sucked balls...but, hey...it was Pac-Man  order abortion pill abortion pill buy online where to buy abortion pillabortion pills online abortion questions cytotec abortion
________________________
"The flippity on the google loads the Flynn to the disc battles the guy bad. Day wins. Said nuff!" - DaveTRON
Jack Thompson is to attorneys what Fred Phelps is to organized religion - Me
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Boingo_Buzzard
User
Posts: 0 | Re: Magnavox Odyssey: unreleased Round Ball demo
on Thursday, September, 13, 2007 11:25 AM
Nikster Wrote:
Same here. The 2600 version sucked balls... |
Conversely, Ms. Pac Man was probably the best port of any arcade game on the 2600... with the exception of possibly Joust.
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Nikster
User
Posts: 2,691 | Re: Magnavox Odyssey: unreleased Round Ball demo
on Thursday, September, 13, 2007 3:28 PM
Boingo_Buzzard Wrote:Nikster Wrote:
Same here. The 2600 version sucked balls... |
Conversely, Ms. Pac Man was probably the best port of any arcade game on the 2600... with the exception of possibly Joust.
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Ms. Pac-Man was incredible. They packed SO much into that cartridge...different mazes, ghosts were different colors, a title screen, even a demo screen. It showed just what could be done with the 2600 if the time was taken to do it right.
________________________
"The flippity on the google loads the Flynn to the disc battles the guy bad. Day wins. Said nuff!" - DaveTRON
Jack Thompson is to attorneys what Fred Phelps is to organized religion - Me
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Daddyo
User
Posts: 456 | Re: Magnavox Odyssey: unreleased Round Ball demo
on Thursday, September, 13, 2007 3:28 PM
 Atari Joust rocked! (at the time...)
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Nikster
User
Posts: 2,691 | Re: Magnavox Odyssey: unreleased Round Ball demo
on Thursday, September, 13, 2007 3:32 PM
Pulsewoman Wrote:
Yeah, the Dot Eaters (great name, heh). I loved that site. I know it's been there a while, but _I_ just recently-ish discovered it, so...
Definitely a place everybody here should check out, if they haven't already. Anyway, cool demo video thingie, Mutoid.
...Notorious |
Another good site is www.digitpress.com
That's where I found the pic of the DOT prototype
________________________
"The flippity on the google loads the Flynn to the disc battles the guy bad. Day wins. Said nuff!" - DaveTRON
Jack Thompson is to attorneys what Fred Phelps is to organized religion - Me
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