Magnavox Odyssey

The Magnavox Odyssey is a home video game console released in 1972. It was the first commercial home video game system and used television overlays rather than generated graphics.

Television overlay: A television overlay is a transparent sheet placed on a screen to add visual elements. The Odyssey relied on plastic screen overlays to supply color and scenery.
Brown Box: The Brown Box was Ralph Baer’s prototype home video game system, developed in the late 1960s. It was the direct prototype from which Magnavox developed the Odyssey.
Table tennis: Table tennis is a racket sport in which players hit a lightweight ball across a table divided by a net. The Odyssey’s best-known game recreated the sport with two movable screen paddles.
Video game console: A video game console is an electronic device designed to play video games, typically connected to a display. The Odyssey established the commercial home-console category.
Pong: Pong is an arcade video game released by Atari in 1972, built around electronic table tennis. Unlike Pong, the Odyssey did not generate its playfield graphics electronically.
Sanders Associates: Sanders Associates was a United States defense electronics company where Ralph Baer developed interactive television prototypes. Baer created the console’s precursor while working at this company.
Light gun: A light gun is a pointing device that detects light from a display to register a target hit. The Odyssey’s Shooting Gallery accessory added target play using a photosensitive rifle.
Atari: Atari is an American video game company founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Atari’s Pong hardware prompted a patent dispute tied to Baer’s earlier work.
Game controller: A game controller is an input device used to direct actions in a video game. The Odyssey’s wired controllers translated player movement into on-screen action.
Interactive television: Interactive television is a system in which viewers influence or participate in television content. The Odyssey grew from Baer’s broader goal of making television interactive.

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