Editing Magnavox Odyssey (section)

==Reception==
[[File:Festival du Jeu Vidéo - 2010-09-11 - Magnavox Odyssey 1.jpg|thumb|right|The Magnavox Odyssey at the 2010 Festival du Jeu Vidéo]]
[[File:Magnavox Odyssey in museum.jpg|thumb|right|The Magnavox Odyssey at the [[Finnish Museum of Games]] in [[Tampere]], [[Finland]] in 2017]]
Magnavox began advertising the Odyssey in mid-September 1972, including an appearance on the game show ''[[What's My Line?]]'' on October 16, 1972. As the term "video game" was not yet in use, the company described the console as "the new electronic game of the future" and "closed-circuit electronic playground".<ref name="willaert20180110"/><ref name="willaert20200320"/> Magnavox initially ordered 50,000 units, but before release increased its production capabilities and built a larger inventory, as market testing found an enthusiastic response to the console. The Odyssey was sold only through Magnavox dealers, who handled their own advertising in their local markets; the company hoped that as the video game console was the first such product, consumers would visit its stores specifically for it.<ref name="TCW151153"/><ref name="willaert20200320"/>

There are conflicting reports between Baer and Magnavox employees as to whether Magnavox produced 120,000 or 140,000 consoles in 1972. Magnavox only sold 69,000 units.<ref name="TCW151153"/><ref name="Baerinvasion"/><ref name="VGITB7576"/> Baer believed that the low initial sales were due to the high price, and because Magnavox restricted sales to its dealerships and implied that the device only worked with Magnavox televisions.<ref name="TCW151153"/><ref name="NGen23"/><ref name="VGITB7576"/> Other sources have stated that dealers may have misled customers to sell more televisions, though advertisements and in-store promotional videos explicitly stated that the Odyssey worked with "any brand TV, black and white or color".<ref name="willaert20200320"/><ref name="magnavox1972super8"/> Customers unfamiliar with the new device, seeing it was only sold at Magnavox dealerships, may have misunderstood its interoperability.<ref name="willaert20180110"/><ref name="willaert20200320"/><ref name="BTC5459"/>

Magnavox assistant product planner Don Emry said that the sales were in line with the original projections, if not the production run.<ref name="VGHttl"/> After the initial holiday season Magnavox considered discontinuing the console, but the modest continuing demand, along with high customer satisfaction reports in surveys, convinced it to continue stocking the console.<ref name="TCW207209"/> Magnavox published two catalogs each year, one before the Christmas season and another for its annual sale in January. The Odyssey did not appear in the pre-Christmas 1972 catalog, but the January 1973 catalog depicted the console in a two-page spread with pictures of bundled and optional games and the light gun.<ref name="willaert20200320"/> Fritsche's team proposed the creation of alternate versions of the Odyssey, a "lite" version with five games and a version with four controllers and a dozen new or updated games. Baer proposed an add-on that would add sound to games, and a putting controller and associated golf game.<ref name="TCW207209"/><ref name="DHGF"/> Magnavox rejected the proposals, instead releasing four games for sale in 1973, designed wholly or in part by Emry.<ref name="VGHttl"/><ref name="TCW207209"/>

Although still only available at Magnavox dealers, national marketing for Odyssey began in late 1973.<ref name="willaert20200320"/> The company lowered the price to {{USD|50|1973|about=yes|round=-1}} if purchased with a television.<ref name="willaert20180110"/><ref name="willaert20200320"/><ref name="TCW207209"/> The console was released that year with different games in the United Kingdom.<ref name="VGHttl"/><ref name="TVGE45"/><ref name="UK NVM">[https://thenvm.org/objects/magnavox-odyssey/ National Videogame Museum - Magnavox Odyssey] "1973, when the Magnavox Odyssey was released in the UK."</ref><ref name="Tomorrow's World">[https://www.bbc.co.uk/videos/c4n1yzdx535o BBC Archive 1973: Christmas Gaming Magnavox Odyssey] clip from Tomorrow's World, original broadcast 20 December 1973</ref> In late 1973, Magnavox ran a large advertising campaign for its 1974 products, including sponsoring [[Frank Sinatra]]'s November television special ''[[Magnavox Presents Frank Sinatra|Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back]]''.<ref name="Inc.Dec1973"/><ref name="Inc.Sep1973"/> Commercials during the special and advertisements for it showed the Odyssey and other Magnavox products.<ref name="willaert20180110"/><ref name="willaert20200320"/> Continuing demand led Magnavox to manufacture an additional 27,000 units for the 1973 holiday season, selling 20,000 of them according to Baer.<ref name="Baerinvasion"/><ref name="TCW207209"/> It was released in 1974 in limited quantities in 11 other countries: Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, the Soviet Union, Spain, Switzerland, and Venezuela.<ref name="VGHttl"/> It was additionally released at some point in other countries, such as Mexico, where it was named the Magnavox Odisea, and clone versions were released by other manufacturers such as the Overkal in Spain, which may have been the first console produced in Europe.<ref name="Odisea"/><ref name="Overkal"/> In 1974, Odyssey appeared in the [[Sears Wish Book]].<ref name="willaert20200320"/> Magnavox sold 89,000 consoles in total in 1973, 129,000 Odyssey units in 1974, and 80,000 units in 1975.<ref name="Baerinvasion"/><ref name="TCW207209"/> According to Baer the company sold 350,000 Odysseys in total worldwide, though Fritsche stated it reached 367,000.<ref name="Baerinvasion"/><ref name="VGITB7576"/><ref name="TCW207209"/> The light gun peripheral sold 20,000 units.<ref name="DS"/>