[game_preservation] Release date of the Odyssey?

[Benj Edwards]

Very interesting, Marty!  I only have a minute, but I wanted to share 
the results of some digging I did last night.

I combed through various legal documents of the Magnavox vs. Activision 
case files provided to me by Ralph Baer (I think you (Marty) and Curt 
Vendel scanned some of them them -- if so, thanks!).  I found two 
references to the specific release month of the Odyssey.

One source, written by Magnavox's legal counsel, says the Odyssey was 
released in "spring of 1972."  They were probably referring to the May 
3rd, 1972 press introduction.  That is when the Profit Caravan first 
showed the Odyssey to the press.

Another source, an examination of Thomas S. Briody (who was corporate 
patent counsel for NA Philips/Magnavox) in 1985, has Briody recalling 
that the Odyssey was released just before he joined Magnavox in 
September 1972, and definitely before Pong showed up in the Ft. Wayne area.

And in a document written by Ralph Baer himself (circa 2001?) called 
"Videogame History: A little matter of record keeping", Ralph says "It 
went into distribution starting in the summer of 1972."

So taken as a whole, I'd say everything we've found points to an August 
1972 launch to consumers for the Odyssey.

Regards,
Benj

P.S. As an aside, one of the documents says, "In the three years between 
1972 and 1974, 218,000 Odyssey units were sold."  There's a good factoid 
for you.

On 8/9/2012 10:08 AM, Martin Goldberg wrote:

> Just to add to this, the Odyssey certainly was being shown at local

> retailers to consumers in August of '72 -

>

> http://www.atarihq.com/Odyssey/magnavox%20odyssey%20dealer%20-%20Edwardsville%20Intelligencer%20-%20Aug30-1972.pdf

>

>

> On Wed, Aug 8, 2012 at 2:07 PM, Benj Edwards

> <editor at vintagecomputing.com> wrote:

>> Frank and co.,

>>

>>      I thumbed through Ralph's book again and found the scan you mentioned,

>> and realized that must be where I got the August 1972 release date.  I'm

>> afraid I have to take credit for that bad date circulating now because I

>> believe someone updated Wikipedia to that effect after one of my recent

>> pieces on the Odyssey (I remember that the entry previously read May 1972,

>> which is obviously wrong).

>>

>> Normally I'm much more careful about dates, but I was just trying to provide

>> a rough estimate for my article since I couldn't put my finger on the

>> precise month.

>>

>> Of course, the only thing that August 1972 Electronic Design article proves

>> is that the Odyssey still wasn't released at the time that issue of ET went

>> to press, and as someone mentioned (maybe you, Frank), there's the standard

>> lead-time before publication.  That, and the article mentions availability

>> in the fall of 1972.

>>

>> So I just emailed Don Emry, a former Odyssey game designer (and the only

>> former Magnavox employee I know how to contact at the moment). I asked him

>> if he remembered or had any documents about the Odyssey's launch date.  His

>> answer: "My best recollection of the release time is October."

>>

>> If anyone really, really wants to get to the bottom of this, I recommend

>> trying to find and contact George Kent (leader of the Odyssey engineering

>> team) or Bob Fritsche (Odyssey product manager).  I don't know if either man

>> is alive, but Baer says Kent was alive in 2003.  Neither Baer nor Emry know

>> their whereabouts. They both lived in Ft. Wayne, Indiana at some point.

>>

>> You'd need some internal Magnavox documents or a good matching recollection

>> from various folks to put together a somewhat accurate estimate of the

>> actual release date.

>>

>> I may make some calls later.  If I find anything out, I'll let everybody

>> know.

>>

>> Regards,

>> Benj

>>

>>

>> On 8/7/2012 4:53 PM, Frank Cifaldi wrote:

>>> I still can't find where August came from. The closest I can find is the

>>> review in the August 17, 1972 issue of Electronic Design (scanned and

>>> printed in Ralph's book), which simply says "starting this fall." Anyone

>>> able to back this up, or is this another one of those "internet truths" that

>>> gets spread without an actual source?

>>

>> --

>> Freelance Writer / Editor in Chief VC&G

>> http://www.benjedwards.com

>> http://www.vintagecomputing.com

>>

>> _______________________________________________

>> game_preservation mailing list

>> game_preservation at igda.org

>> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_preservation

>

>


-- 
Freelance Writer / Editor in Chief VC&G
http://www.benjedwards.com
http://www.vintagecomputing.com