Video games have come a long way. A really long way. Take a look at the following video that showcases the Magnavox Odssey – the world’s first video game system:

Are you impressed? Aren’t those knob controllers revolutionary?

Calling the Odyssey a video game console is a bit of a stretch, but it did start a series of innovations that led to the latest and greatest video game consoles of today. The way the Odyssey worked was by use of a series of overlays that were placed on the front of a television screen. The console itself would manipulate the TV’s projection in certain patterns that were in sync to the specific overlay.

In a sense, this simple yet effective approach to interactive television is something that can be appreciated — it was the first of its kind. The Atari Pong system didn’t come for another 3 years.

The console was designed by a man named Ralph Baer. Baer’s prototype, the “brown box” can be seen at the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington D.C.

Another interesting fact: In 1985, Magnavox was sued by Nintendo. Nintendo claimed Baer’s patents were invalid since they said the first video game was Tennis for Two, a game built in 1958. The courts did not rule in favor of Nintendo since Tennis for Two did not use video signals, and could not therefore be qualified as a video game.

To this day, the Odyssey remains the world’s first video game system.

Here is the Magnavox Odyssey in its original shipping box: