The Magnavox Odyssey - Table Tennis

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The Magnavox Odyssey was invented to solve a problem that Magnavox had and what they sort of failed to realize is that it had a tremendous job to be done for consumers. The most compelling game on the Odyssey was called Table Tennis. It was basically a demo to show off the potential of what they could do as Atari, but in creating pong right there on the spot, they invented a mega hit.

You may think you know the Nintendo story: a plumber named Mario, a princess named Zelda… and didn’t they buy the Seattle Mariners at some point? We thought we knew it too. And then we started researching and were blown away.

The lovable Disney-like Nintendo that we know today is a 130 year-old a playing card company (i.e. gambling), forged in the shadowy world of the Yakuza and shaped by a four-generation cycle of bitter family betrayal. And its unlikely transformation into a global multi-billion dollar media monopoly was led by an iron-fisted patriarch who — amazingly — never played a video game in his life! Get ready for one of our favorite stories Acquired has ever told — we couldn’t make this one up if we tried!

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