First home video game console launched

The first commercially marketed home video game console, called the Odyssey, was launched by Magnavox in September 1972. It was designed by Ralph H. Baer while he was working at Sanders Associates.

Simple design of the Odyssey

The Odyssey was a basic device that did not have sound and displayed scores on the television screen. Players had to count points manually, much like playing table tennis without an umpire or electronic scoreboard.

Odyssey's screen elements

The machine could show three elements on the screen: two points controlled by the players and a vertical line that acted as a net, with a height that could change. A third point, controlled by the device itself, completed the minimalist setting.

Bushnell tests the Odyssey

On May 24, 1972, Nolan Bushnell, who later founded Atari, attended a demonstration of the Odyssey in Burlingame, California. He tested the console's tennis game, which is considered the direct ancestor of Pong.

Legal action against Atari

In April 1974, Magnavox sued Atari and other companies, including Bally Manufacturing, Chicago Dynamic Industries, Allied Leisure Industries, and Empire Distributing, for patent infringement. The lawsuit was based on patents filed by Ralph Baer and his team, which claimed ownership of the concept of electronic tennis.

Sears joins the lawsuit

Sears, Roebuck and Co. was added to the proceedings in September 1975, before it had begun distributing its own version of the game under the name Tele-Games Pong.

Atari settles the case

The commercial success of Pong, released in 1972 in arcades, made the situation more delicate for Atari. Rather than waiting for the final verdict, Atari chose to negotiate and settled the case amicably by accepting a license on Baer's patent for $1.5 million.

Magnavox wins the trial

Magnavox eventually won a related trial in 1977, confirming the validity of its patent. A judge described Baer's invention as a pioneering patent of the art of video games, which led to further litigation over the next twenty years, ultimately earning more than $100 million for Sanders and Magnavox.

Odyssey sales and legacy

Magnavox ceased sales of the Odyssey in 1975 after selling 69,000 units in its first year and a total of 350,000 units. While these numbers were modest compared to later console sales, the Odyssey left a lasting mark on the nascent video game industry.

Ralph Baer's continued innovation

Ralph Baer continued to innovate for decades, accumulating more than 150 patents before his death in 2014 at the age of 92 in New Hampshire. He is remembered as the father of home video games, having laid the foundations of a video game empire that others would build upon.