Kill the Attacking Aliens Release Candidate

Good news: Sören Gust has published a Release Candidate for his new G7000/G7400 game Kill the Attacking Aliens. This version was made public for final testing purposes. The game has come along nicely since the last time I reported on it, as you'll see. This may be the most complicated Odyssey² game ever produced! Here is Sören's description from his project diary on Videobrewery:

Defend the earth and its moon colony against alien invaders. It is your job to shoot the aliens and their bombs before they destroy trees, houses and other objects. To do this you have a small space ship equipped with a shield and a powerful cannon. The game has additional background graphics on Videopac+ G7400 machines.

You can download the Release Candidate on Sören's homepage. Sören plans to release the final version, along with the source code, a manual, and a cartridge label, sometime in December.

And now the bad news: a cartridge release of the game is not planned at this time. The source code, manual and label will be available for those who have the desire and equipment to burn their own. If you don't, you'll have to settle for playing the game on O2EM.

Media Explosion!

Check the sidebar: the Media section has been redesigned! This was done primarily to break up its monolithic content, hopefully making things easier to sift through (I find that as the site has grown, this has become increasingly necessary). I believe this design works better, and I'll likely be applying it to some of the other large sections over time.

Another important aspect of the redesigned Media section is that the screenshots, box scans, and cartridge scans are now coming out of the Games Database, so those two areas of the site will always be in sync. But be sure to click through those Media pages sometime; they have a few photos that can't be found in the Database.

OKGE Recap

Phosphor Dot Fossils has published a recap of the Oklahoma Gaming Exhibition, where much Odyssey goodness was afoot. Not only were people mesmerized by the original Magnavox Odyssey, a VERY rare Odyssey² trackball controller even made an appearance! Read the article for some great commentary and photos!

Screenshots Aplenty!

I have been diligently filling in the missing screenshots in the Games Database, and am pleased to report that there are now practically no gaps left. Pretty much every game is accounted for, including all of the Odyssey³ Command Center games, most known prototypes and even the late-release Videopacs. A special thanks goes to Dieter Koenig of Classic Consoles Center for sharing some of his rare Videopac shots (read: games that don't work on O2EM).

Other than undiscovered prototypes, the only screens that I'm missing now are the Jopac game Des Chiffres et des Lettres, and prototypes Plantage/Play Tag and Sherlock Homes. If you can provide any of these, or better-looking versions of any screens I already have, please e-mail me.

One other addition: You can now search or browse the Games Database from any region or game information page.

Odyssey in Oklahoma!

Phosphor Dot Fossils will have two tables at the upcoming Oklahoma Gaming Exhibition (OKGE) in Tulsa, OK, on September 20th at the Hilton Southern Hills. One whole table will be devoted to the Odyssey and Odyssey². Here's the lowdown from Earl Green, curator of Phosphor Dot Fossils:

I will have everything set up where people can just walk up and play, and of course I'll be watchdogging the booth to answer questions, show off rarities (I'll be bringing all four Parker games, both Imagic games and an import or two) and Voice games, and I'll slip in a mean game of Pick Axe Pete! if anyone dares to leave a machine unoccupied. And I've donated a working, boxed, cleaned-up Odyssey 300 console to OKGE as a door prize. There'll also be Odyssey² Adventure magazines and original catalogs to browse at the table.

Other non-Odyssey stuff in the booth will include Playstation retro compilations with decent arcade-style controls, a healthy selection of retro import titles, and so on – play Crazy Climber or Robotron with a real live two-joystick setup!

Makes me wish I didn't live 1,440 miles from Tulsa! If you're closer, head on over to OKGE's site for more information.

New Look! Same Great Taste!

As you can see, the front page is looking a bit different. It's all in the interest of readability -- the old layout, while not exactly bad, could be difficult to read sometimes. Hopefully you'll find this one better and less cluttered. Other than the front page, the only changes apply to the News Updates Archive, which also employs the new "red box" layout and is now broken up by year. Take a look -- it's a little like going back in time!

Another Pocket Odyssey2 Review

Pocket Odyssey2 sure seems to be generating a lot of attention. The latest review is over at TechnoBrains. Take a look!

Multicart Update

I'm a bit late with this news, but there have been some changes regarding the new Odyssey² Multicart. The upgrade fee for existing multicarts has been raised to $19.99 (still a great deal in my opinion), and the catalog page has been moved here. Enjoy!

Pocket Odyssey2 Review

Want to play Odyssey² games on your PocketPC, but can't decide whether to spring for the $5 Pocket Odyssey2 registration fee? Cheapskate. Well, to help you make this complex financial decision, John Reder wrote this review of Pocket Odyssey2 which goes into detail not only about the emulator itself, but about the registration process. Enjoy the hand-held goodness.

And if you can read German, you may want to check out this review over on pocketpc.ch. Guten Tag.

128-Game Odyssey² Multicart Released!

John Dondzila has issued the latest and greatest version of the Odyssey² Multicart! This mega cartridge contains 128 games, including several Jopac titles, many G7400 "Plus" games, a version of Frogger playable on NTSC televisions, both of the German traffic games, and lots more! This latest edition also includes the new Odyssey² Pong game created by René van den Enden.

The Odyssey² Multicart is now being sold by Video Game Connections, an established dealer in classic video games. New Multicarts cost $49.99, or you can upgrade an old one for $19.99. Click here for ordering info.

Pocket Odyssey2 Now Available!

ClickGamer has released Pocket Odyssey2, an Odyssey²/Videopac+ emulator for the Pocket PC! Here's a short list of features from ClickGamer's web site:

• Supports all known Odyssey² games and most Videopac+ titles
• User customizable game selection menu
• Automatic game rom detection
• Includes several game manuals
• PAL & NTSC support (fully automatic)
• Includes 2 built-in keyboard styles
• Voice emulation using rom tables (not wav files)

A free trial version of Pocket Odyssey2 can be downloaded at ClickGamer's site, or you can buy the full version for $4.95.

You can read a review of Pocket Odyssey2 right here. Enjoy!

Meet the Odyssey² Graphic Designer!

Ron Bradford of Bradford/Cout Design was the principal graphic artist for the Odyssey², responsible for producing all the game box art, advertising direction and packaging design. Not only that, but he also developed the Master Strategy games in tandem with his partner and longtime friend, Steve Lehner. He was also responsible for the packaging designs and screen overlays for the original Magnavox Odyssey console. Talk about a major figure in Odyssey history!

Ron's son and daughter-in-law recently contacted me and helped me to arrange an interview with Ron, and here it is! In the interview, Ron discusses his involvement with Odyssey² and provides some incredible never-before-seen photos, including designs for the never-released Sherlock Holmes game! In the seven years this site has been online, this is perhaps the most fascinating content it's ever been my pleasure to feature. Don't miss it!

Ralph Baer Interview on CNN/Money

CNN/Money has a new interview with Ralph Baer, inventor of the first home video game system and predecessor to the Odyssey² -- the original Magnavox Odyssey. Baer talks about the industry he helped create, and it's very interesting to read some of his thoughts on the current crop of games. Take a look!

Fits Right in my Pocket!

Sorry for the recent lack of updates, but I just haven't had much free time to devote to the site lately... perhaps I can find more time soon. Anyway, I do have some exciting news to share. Stuart Russel, programmer of PocketVCS and PocketColeco, Atari 2600 and ColecoVision emulators for PocketPCs, is working on a PocketPC Odyssey² emulator which he is appropriately calling... Pocket Odyssey2! Not much information about the emulator is available as of yet, but it's already in the beta testing phase according to the PocketVCS web site. Get ready for K.C. Munchkin! on the go!

Odyssey² Adventure Archive Complete!

Phosphor Dot Fossils has completed its Odyssey² Adventure archive! All seven issues of the fan club magazine have been scanned, cleaned up, and made ready for viewing. Go take a look! (Each issue is now linked from the Collectibles section as well.)Lord of the Dungeon Manual Online

New Odyssey3 Command Center Prototype Found!

This weekend, another Odyssey³ Command Center prototype was discovered in an antique store in Colorado. There aren't more than about 12 or 13 of these known to exist, so this is indeed a rare find! The prototype console was found with a prototype Command Center Voice Module (only about four known to exist), and a prototype Power Lords cartridge. The finder, Fred Hiss, graciously sent me a few photos of the goods, and I've put them up on this page for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

New Article, New Photos, and New Entries

I haven't been working on the LotD manual non-stop, however, and there are a few other updates I can announce now. First is this article by loyal reader Jon Hunter, where he speculates about how successful the Odyssey² could have been if Philips/Maganavox had marketed it more effectively. You might not agree with everything he says, but it does make you wonder. There's a form at the bottom of the article if you'd like to send in some feedback.

Other miscellaneous updates include:

• Some not too clear, but better than nothing, scans of the cartridges for Verhkehrsspiele 1 and Verhkehrsspiele 2, sent in by Ralf Keufen.
• Games Database entry for Kill the Attacking Aliens, the new game in development by Sören Gust.
• Database entries for Computer Intro! and Computer Programmer that include some undocumented instructions discovered by René van den Enden.
• A Games Database entries for Clay Pigeon +, the unreleased prototype recently copied and sold by Nico Sapin, and one for the original prototype.
• An entry for the Brazilian version of Frogger, which is playable on U.S. Odyssey² consoles. This includes a couple of Odyssey² Frogger screenshots, and one screenshot from the arcade game.

Lord of the Dungeon Manual Online

I apologize for the lack of updates recently, but this is my excuse. A few weeks ago, Aswald published a manual he wrote for the prototype ColecoVision game Lord of the Dungeon that was released at Classic Gaming Expo 2000. (The game was created by Probe 2000, the Philips/Odyssey division that attempted to branch out into making games for other systems.) I've been busy converting Aswald's extremely detailed manual into a more readable HTML format, and the finished product is finally available here. Read it and try not to be too disappointed that this superior game never came out in 1983.

Lucky Wander Boy

Lucky Wander Boy, a new novel by D.B. Weiss, is now available. Why should you care, you ask? Because it's a novel about video games, which isn't something you see every day. As Weiss describes it:

It concerns a man whose life is both saved and doomed by his mounting obsession with a game he played as a kid – an obscure, surreal, and possibly not-quite-natural videogame called Lucky Wander Boy. The book will be available at all major bookstores and book websites. The official site is here: www.luckywanderboy.com

Excerpts from the book are available on the official site, and it's already garnered positive reviews from a few notable sources, including The Sims' Will Wright. Check it out!

Preproduction Munchkins!

David Winter of Pong-Story has made a fascinating discovery -- some preproduction prototypes of K.C. Munchkin!! We all know that K.C. caused a lawsuit because it was too much like Pac-Man, even though the two games contain some major differences. Well, in its early stages, K.C. apparently looked a lot more like Pac-Man than at the end. The lead character isn't a munchkin at this stage, but a very Pac-Mannish, round gobbler with a big mouth. The Munchers look more like Pac-Man's ghosts too. David has put together a web page about the prototypes, complete with many screenshots. Check it out!