[game_preservation] Release date of the Odyssey?

[Henry Lowood]

Hi all, could somebody let me know if the message I sent with the .pdf 
of the 1 July 1972 Chicago Tribune article went through. I got an 
ambiguous message from the IGDA server about it, probably due to the 
attachment.
Henry


On 8/9/2012 9:59 AM, Frank Cifaldi wrote:

> BREAKING NEWS!

>

> Via the July 27, 1972 edition of The Daily Herald (Chicago):

>

> "Available to Magnavox dealers in August, Odyssey's initial price tag of

> just under $100 will include 12 different games."

>

> This was in a report about Magnavox's annual zone meeting for its dealers.

> There you go!

>

> Article is available (for pay) at newspaperarchive.com.

>

> On Thu, Aug 9, 2012 at 9:37 AM, Philippe Dubois, association MO5.COM,

> Président <samurai at mo5.com> wrote:

>

>> **

>>

>> Thanks everyone for your answer.

>>

>> The biography of M.Baer just came out in France this month through the

>> edition "Pix'n Love", i'm sure it will be delightful to read it in details

>> ;)

>>

>>

>> Best regards,

>>

>> -----------

>>

>> Cordialement,

>>

>> Philippe Dubois, Association MO5.COM, Président

>>

>> --

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> On Aug 9, 2012 11:25 AM, "Philippe Dubois, association MO5.COM,

>> Président" <samurai at mo5.com> wrote:

>>

>>> Hi everyone !

>>> How can it be possible for M.Baer, with all the respect i have for him,

>> not to know the exact date the Odyssey was publicly launch and available in

>> stores ?

>>

>> Because he had nothing to do with that. Remember, he was with Sanders.

>>

>> The Odyssey's launch, distribution, etc. was a Magnavox issue.

>>

>> What about the date when M.Baer showed up the tennis game to M.Bushnell so

>> he went into the idea of cloning this as "Pong" ?

>>

>> He didn't show anything, Magnavox did.

>>

>>

>>> Best regards,

>>> -----------

>>> Cordialement,

>>> Philippe Dubois, Association MO5.COM, Président

>>> --

>>> Maybe we just have different philosophies but I'm going to have to

>> strongly disagree here. The only thing we know as solid fact right now is

>> that sometime between May 3 and August 30, the Odyssey was in at least one

>> store. Saying "by August" is safe, I agree, but I fail to see how saying

>> the first sale was in August is any safer than saying the first sale was in

>> July. We just don't know.

>>

>>> On Thu, Aug 9, 2012 at 9:02 AM, Bill Loguidice <bill at armchairarcade.com>

>> wrote:

>>

>>> August is safest at the moment because the ad is thus far our earliest

>> proof of a unit physically being in a store. Again, it doesn't mean it was

>> for sale - it could have been a demo unit - but even if it wasn't

>> necessarily in stock, it was likely available for order. If we have some

>> type of earlier proof a unit was in a store, we can revise the estimate.

>> That's why I personally think August is "safe" and the best available time

>> period. If someone can dig up earlier availability at a Magnavox dealer,

>> all the better...

>>

>>> ===================================================

>>> Bill Loguidice, Managing Director; Armchair Arcade, Inc.

>>> ===================================================

>>> Authored Books and Film; About me and other ways to get in touch

>>> ===================================================

>>> On Thu, Aug 9, 2012 at 11:36 AM, Frank Cifaldi <fcifaldi at gmail.com>

>> wrote:

>>

>>> Why is August the safest estimate? And do we want a "safe estimate" or

>> do we want an exact range?

>>

>>> On Thu, Aug 9, 2012 at 8:30 AM, Bill Loguidice <bill at armchairarcade.com>

>> wrote:

>>

>>> I think right now August is still our safest estimate, though you're

>> right, it could certainly have been released sooner. Even the ad - which at

>> least proves the system was at dealers by August - doesn't necessarily mean

>> it was for SALE in August (it's a relatively modest "come see" - you would

>> think they would advertise something so "cool" with the TVs and indicate

>> its actual availability).

>>

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>>

>

>

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-- 
Henry Lowood
Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections;
   Film & Media Collections
HSSG, Green Library, 557 Escondido Mall
Stanford University Libraries, Stanford CA 94305-6004
650-723-4602; lowood at stanford.edu; http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood

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