So here’s a little something from my collection:
ODYSSEY 2001: SPORTS FIELD THRILLS ON YOUR TV SCREEN!
Sounds exciting doesn’t it? ;D Well it wasn’t, I couldn’t get it working since the power adaptor is broken :( I’ve been searching and googling for a replacement, but it’s a really odd and rare one..
Anyway, it’s still a nice edition to the collection and really fun to look at ^^
It comes with the original manuals and papers. There’s a double sided manual, or 10 of them actually, in different languages (Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Italian, French, Spanish, Finnish, German and English) so I guess this is the version that was released all over Europe. There is also a typewritten letter from Philips in Swedish which states “Corrections to the user manual” so I guess it had some typos to begin with ;D It’s dated from 03.11.1977.
Btw Philips released the Odyseey 2001 in Europe, in the rest of the world it’s known as Magnavox Odyssey.
The Odyssey 2001 has 3 games built in to it, there are no cartridges of games for this one. The games are Tennis, Hockey and Squash.
They’re all basically the same, just different versions of Pong. They have different colors on the screen, the Hockey game has some lines resembling the goals and the Tennis has a “net” in the middle. You really had to use your imagination back then ;D
By the way, if anybody has any clue on where I can find an old (European!) power adaptor for a Philips Odyssey 2001, I would much appreciate it ^_^
Retro Video Gaming 
Hmmm… try the Digital Press forums (digitpress.com) – there’s probably someone in the community there that can help out. There’ are also a few other classic gaming forums out there (I think AtariAge is still alive and kicking), so you’re not alone!
Heh – I remember a cousin of mine getting an Odyssey back when it was first released and being VERY jealous of him. He also had a color TV and we didn’t, so that was two things that kept me wanting to go over to his place…
Thanks for the advice, I have now joined digital press and posted my question! :D Let’s hope somebody can help me..
When are you born geelw if you don’t mind me asking? The Odyssey was a bit before my time, I grew up with the NES basically ^^ (’84) But I still think it’s a great piece of gaming history, I also really like playing Atari 2600 :D
/mE
Me, I’m old as the hills (well, any hills created after 1964, *creak*, *groan*). Speaking of Atari 2600 stuff, ever hear of a game called Thunderground? It’s by Sega and is an old favorite of mine. Other faves: Cosmic Ark, Star Raiders, some of those Imagic space shooters, Adventure, Night Driver and about a hundred or so others…
Never heard of Thunderground, found it on Ebay though, I didn’t know Sega had made games for the Atari :D
I love the space shooters too ^^ Like Space Hawk and of course Space invaders, I also adore the arcade classics, like Donkey Kong and Pac-Man, and I’m still trying to figure out what the hell I’m supposed to do in E.T. lol ^_^
/mE
i see that you’re playing tennis Dave. Quite similar to hockey, isn’t it Dave?
Haha, who’s Dave?
/mE
stop whatever you are doing and go watch 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Also, if you do drugs do some of those first. Its a very very long dry bizarre movie.
oh! You know I’ve had that movie in my DVD-shelf for about 4 years, I borrowed it from a friend, just never got around to watching it, since everybody refuses to watch it with me!! haha
/mE
sooooo, did you watch it?
I did! I did! And now I finally understood all those references to HAL 9000! :D
I actually thought it was really good, AMAZING effects for 1968, and a good story, cool camera angles and really artistic ^^
My bf has it on his list of 10 worst films ever made… so I didn’t have high hopes, but I liked it ^_^ A bit slow at some times, they could have cut an hour off it easily by making some scenes shorter, but then again it wouldn’t have been an odyssey ;D
/mE
You’ve NEVER seen 2001? Eeek. Drop anything you’re doing this weekend or whenever you’ve got free time (even alone) and watch it. No drugs the first time just so you can figure out what’s going on and actually enjoy the ride. I used to put that DVD on to work to as background noise and inspiration, as you can look up from writing at any time and see or hear something interesting…
haha ok, I promise, I will watch it tonight! :D
/mE
its a great film (sober or otherwise) but it can be hard to sit down and watch since its almost entirely silent
Amusingly enough, I’ve seen it so many times that I fine it has a lot less silence thanks to the music score and sound effects when there’s no dialog…
Just found my Odyssey 3000, it takes batteries for christsake! Lol
Cool, what does the 3000 look like? I wish mine was on batteries as well >_<
/mE
its black with two wired paddles, pretty wonky, i got it at a garage sale when i was like 10, for like 5 bucks, i played it non stop until i switched over to 2600 and commodore vic 20.
cool ^_^ How old are you if you don’t mind me asking?
/mE
33
I’m 28 :) which means I never grew up with the anything older than the NES :( But I still enjoy the Atari today ^_^
/mE
i had an atari and a commodore as a kid, didn’t get an NES till I was around 11 or so
Cool ^^ I never got any consoles as a kid, since my parents thought it would be better for me to play outside =( However I played mostly NES and Sega at friends places ^_^
/mE
Hey, I have both the adapter (European version) and the Odyssey 2001 :)
Cool, is it for sale? ;D
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Did you actually find a power supply? I know you say it’s old european, but it isn’t really. Any electrical store in Sweden should have one of these, you should be able to be one with a changeable plug, and adjustable voltage for no more than 50 kr.-
If you can only find the supple but not the specific plug, let me know – I got like 20 of them.
Thanks ^_^ I did manage to find one of those with a changeable plug where you could adjust the voltage and it works perfectly! :D it’s a really great pong system ^__^ and it’s now permanently hooked up in my game room :)
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I have an original PSU for sale if interested.
BR
Frank
I have gotten my Odyssey to work finally :) I had a friend who had some knowledge regarding electricity who fixed it ^_^