Magnavox started to export video games in 1974. At first, Odyssey was exported in 1974 in more than ten countries. Later in 1976, Philips released the Philips Odyssey 200 in several countries including Austria and Germany. Finally, the Philips Odyssey 2001 and the Odyssey 2100 were released in 1977 and 1978.

The Odyssey 2001 is nearly same as the Magnavox Odyssey 4000, but it didn't play the same games. Designed around the National Semiconductor MM-57105 chip, it played three games in color: Tennis, Hockey and Squash. Unlike most PONG games, sound came directly from the TV set. The chip delivered color video signals,  as opposed to the black and white games of the General Instruments game chips, which could use a special color encoder chip. The game selection was simply done by pressing the button of one of the two controllers, allowing the players to switch from a game to another. The documentation of this console exists in ten languages, although only four foreign patents are shown on the back side of the system. The exact number of countries where this system sold is still unknown. This system is quite common, and Germany seems to be the country where it was most successfull.

Philips Odyssey 2001 unit



Inside the Odyssey 2001: a very small circuit board !
Click on the photo to view it in original size.



Odyssey 2001 box: the text describing the system is written in ten languages.
Each language has its own flag.

The last system is the Odyssey 2100. Nearly same as the Odyssey 2001, it used the MM-57186 chip from NS, which played 23 games (the three types of games of the MM-57105 chip, plus three new types, all of them having several variants). It was sold in 1978.

Philips Odyssey 2100