(6/23/20) Graduate school means I don’t have time to complete the second revision. Thankfully, students at the Vibrant Media Lab are continuing!

The 1972 Magnavox Odyssey was the first home video game console. The Vibrant Media Lab under Dr. Zachary Horton is sponsoring a project to re-create the Odyssey. The recreation focuses on being true to the original with equivalent circuitry but modern components that can be easily sourced 50 years later.

Odyssey Phoenix

I started working to recreate the Magnavox Odyssey during the Spring of 2018 along with Matthew Belding. By the spring of 2019 we had reversed engineered enough of the circuitry to recreate the entire Odyssey with new circuit boards and available common components. The new version, (named Odyssey Phoenix) increases the number of players from two to four, adds an expansion port for attatching additional circuitry, and provides a game card prototyping area. Pictured below, the design follows equivalent circuitry to the Magnavox Odyssey and has been tested with every game card made for the Odyssey. The design still needs to be updated with mistakes found during the first build. Eventually, the design files will be released as open source.

(Left) Odyssey Phoenix being used with original controllers and original game card
(Right) Odyssey Phoenix fully assembled, this was the first version and had to be significantally reworked

Daughter Card Recreation

Additionally, I recreated all 10 original daughter cards used by the original Odyssey. These new cards can be used to replace broken cards in original Odysseys.

An original Odyssey with all the daughter cards replaced with the recreations.

Extra Player Generation Circuit

I also developed the circuitry for to add two additional players to an original Magnavox Odyssey, for a total of four. The additional player 3 and 4 behave as if they are players 1 and 2 as far as any game logic is concerned.

This circuit adds two additional players (for a total of 4) to the Odyssey console. This has been built and tested.

Odyssey Extra Player Generator Board Installed

The extra player board installed in an Odyssey. This Odyssey includes other experimental functionality such as an Arduino Mega with a custom shield for sound effects in the battery compartment.

Recent testing showing 4 players and the ball. The extra-large players are the ones created by additional circuitry (they can be resized).

Original 1972 Odyssey Schematic