

The Magnavox Odyssey -- is it still fun today? - bane
http://www.kymalabs.com/wormwall/displaywall?key=9cc89378626425cc1a0d7e8cdbe6bebd

======
bane
Author of the article here. I'm very big into retrogaming and emulation. This
is the first in a series of articles I've given myself as a writing project
that seeks to take a slightly different spin from most retrogaming reviews.
I'm concerned if the games are still fun in a modern sense, not comparing them
to other contemporary games.

While it's fun to try and put on the nostalgia hat and try and get back into
the mindset of the day the game or system was released. I'm trying to balance
that against a modern viewpoint.

(I'm also planning on reviewing other entertainment media, like movies and
television in a similar way).

~~~
bradleyland
I'm headed up to Ohio to visit with my business partners in early September.
One of them recently found a Magnavox Odyssey and a TI-99 in his atic. He
mentioned this on Friday, and this article shows up on HN today. What are the
chances!? We're totally hooking it up and giving it a try. Thanks for the
fantastic article.

~~~
bane
Great! Let me know how it goes! I haven't been able to get actual hands on to
one in decades.

------
georgemcbay
As a person scarily close to 40 years old, I played a lot of old games on the
Atarti 2600, Colecovision, C64 (my first computer) etc, and IMO Super Mario
Brothers on the NES is the oldest 'home' (console or PC) videogame that is
still legitimately fun to play.

I can enjoy games older than SMB for nostalgic value and had a lot of fun with
them at the time I first played them, but in terms of pure gameplay value,
none of them really hold up when viewed outside of the rose tinted glasses,
IMO.

~~~
tluyben2
Big difference I find between playing modern games or playing these old games
is this:
[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/The...](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/The_Arcade_Turbo_Joystick.jpg/200px-
The_Arcade_Turbo_Joystick.jpg) . And for me it makes all the difference; I
find controls on most modern systems wonky and hard to use for a whole group
of games (notably games with a lot of action like shmups). I tried a bunch of
'pc' joysticks and they all seem to need 6000 buttons like
<http://images.gizmag.com/hero/x-arcade-dual-joystick.jpg> (which is a sure
proof the game that needs that is flawed anyway) and I pull the actual stick
right off (on these kinds; [http://www.techgadgets.in/images/genius-
metalstrike-ff-joyst...](http://www.techgadgets.in/images/genius-metalstrike-
ff-joystick.jpg)) during a serious action game. The PS1..3 and WII controls
are not really interesting either; during Gradius V on PS2 I always think I
have leprosy in my fingers; how can you whirl around masses of bullets coming
at you, enemies trying to bump into you and keeping outside of the boss lasers
with those tiny buttons. Sure after practicing 1000x you'll manage and I can
do it still (haven't played it for years), but with a decent joystick I can
still manage to play those game round without dying, while this is kind of
impossible with these dingy pads. Or maybe that's just me.

This makes me get back to my systems in the attic (MSX-2 & Amiga) when I want
to play a game; I made plugs on my old NES + PS1 to connect the Arcade
joystick. I didn't manage that with the others yet, so I find myself playing
on the old machines. No rose tinted glasses; just less of a frustration to
play.

~~~
bane
Funny you mention joysticks vs. modern controls. I find that I love d-pad like
controls, but loath joysticks. I find I have more fun even with older games if
I play them with a d-pad. However, I almost can't stand analog sticks and
would take a proper joystick over one any day. I wonder if it's a function of
the first set of controls we grew up with?

FYI There's an MSX reddit that's looking for members and discussion.

<http://www.reddit.com/r/msx>

~~~
tluyben2
I guess it does have something to do with the first controller. My first
controller was keyboard, and I like that still more than a d-pad, however I
like joysticks a lot more. After years of keyboard only (no mouse back then),
it took me a while to get used to joysticks, but once that happened, I really
never had a better experience.

I do notice something about how people use joysticks verses pads; people
assume you are supposed to hold them in your hand. For joysticks that's a
really miserable way of playing. You are at your best with a joystick standing
on a flat, strong surface, using your right hand (if you are right handed) to
steer and left index finger to fire. All other methods, like people firing
with their right hand thumb on the top of the stick, are quite worthless. By
that I mean that you are much (!) more flexible and faster using the 2 hands
and not using your thumbs; your arms and fingers can keep up pounding the
buttons without any strain feeling, while your thumbs give out fast. Just my
experience.

Thanks for the Reddit; heading over there right now :)

------
sebkomianos
I am really curious about what will similar articles look like in 50 years
from now: "Angry Birds and Doodle Jump on iPhone - are they still fun today?"

------
mwexler
I remember my Odyssey much better now; I haven't thought of it in years.
Thanks for this post.

