Odyssey 2 Multicart

[Jeff-20]

I've been away from collecting for a while, but I finally got my first Odyssey 2 console. Does anyone know where I can get my hands on a multicart?

[English Invader]

My brief two minute Google suggests that this is the retro system that time forgot; a site that once sold the multicart but is now sold out and an Atari Age thread from 2004.

A brave and uncommon choice of system. Good luck.

[highinfidelity]

I suppose you know that this console was sold in Europe as the Philips Videopac, it may be worth repeating the search for information under that name. Please note that I ignore everthing about PAL/NTSC issues or incompatibility.

The AtariAge forum has a dedicated Odyssey2/Vdeopac section which of course should be digged: http://atariage.com/forums/forum/176-od ... -videopac/

I am not really surprised that this console is somewhat forgotten. When a kid, I had an Atari 2600, and a schoolmate of mine with whom I was close friend had the Videopac. I remember the games of the Videopac as being very poor, sometimes even mind-numbing to set up and get started, and we both agreed that the Atari was on another level.

But perhaps, on today's perspective, it would be amusing to see what the Odyssey2/Videopac could do in the hands of contemporary game programmers.

[highinfidelity]

Read here, last message (few days ago):

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/282628 ... multicart/

[Jeff-20]

Following up on that lead... thanks! I really with the menu driven cart were still available. Or even an SD cart! Hahaha

[English Invader]

I am not really surprised that this console is somewhat forgotten. When a kid, I had an Atari 2600, and a schoolmate of mine with whom I was close friend had the Videopac. I remember the games of the Videopac as being very poor, sometimes even mind-numbing to set up and get started, and we both agreed that the Atari was on another level.

I had the Atari 2600 when it was the Videopac. It was depressing to have such a limited system in the early 90s when there was so much more going on elsewhere. I spent more time reading about the Neo Geo and the Super Famicom in C&VG than playing video games (the SNES still wasn't quite a thing at that point).

Fast forward 26 years and, having been around the block a few times, the 2600 has become one of my favourite systems while others have fallen into the background. Sometimes it's worth revisiting a system you didn't get on with back in the day to find out where things went wrong. In my case, it was a limited game library with no support on the high street - the 32-in-1 pack was a stereo with no hit records to quote the TV commercial (Stampede is the only one of those games that endures for me).

[highinfidelity]

Sometimes it's worth revisiting a system you didn't get on with back in the day to find out where things went wrong.

I agree with that. There has also been a huge change in perspective since then: back in the early '80s what we wanted was a console that would imitate as nearly as possible the arcade classics. Whichever console that didn't have a quasi-clone of Space Invaders or Pac-Man was considered stuff for loosers. But things have changed: many good programmers made excellent ports of classic games over the years, some of which are almost an emulation of the arcade original (like the Pac-Man port for the Colecovision, which is stunning) and in most cases all of us have 3-4 consoles / home computers that would nearly perfectly imitate any old classic. So possibly today we would be more amused by a console that has some unusual games, rather than a console that would bring yet another version of a game that we already own in multiple copies.

In this sense the Odyssey/Videopac might be worth re-discovering, as it had a huge assortment of games, most of which are rated as pretty good, and 90% of which were uniquely designed for this system and are not available on any other system. I've also read that the console has no flicker and that the controls are responsive.

[Jeff-20]

I think some of the system's strongest features are the lack of flicker and really precise controls. It's under rated in my opinion. I think the system is weakest when it tries to compete with the Atari 2600. It seems about a half generation earlier than the VCS.

[RJBowman]

The machine was very quirky; it was designed with a few specific games in mind, and had graphic features build around those games. When programmers developed games beyond that original range, those features became more like limitations. Nonetheless, some fine games were produced, including K.C. Munchkin, which is considered one of the best Pac Man clones, and had some unique features not found in the original game.

There was very little third party support. It deserved better.