OdyWeb is a lightweight and faithful simulator of the Magnavox Odyssey, the world’s first home video game console, released in 1972.
Unlike previous simulators and emulators, OdyWeb aims to recreate the experience of playing the Magnavox Odyssey in a way that is both simpler and closer to the original technology.
Developed entirely in HTML and JavaScript, this simulator runs directly in a web browser and weighs only around 70 kilobytes (excluding overlay images), which is quite a technical feat, albeit understandable given the primitive nature of the Odyssey itself.
Despite its minimal size, OdyWeb delivers a simulation that strives to be both accurate and customizable.
At present, it supports the 6 original game cards that came bundled with the Odyssey, allowing users to play 12 different games by using overlays. These overlays are provided as high-resolution PNG files (provided from OdysseyNow page), which can be manually added to the screen.
The simulator includes manual transparency controls, CRT-style blur effects, and the option to enable 525-line (NTSC) or 625-line (PAL) scanlines — a crucial detail since the Magnavox Odyssey generated analog signals, displaying images not as pixels but as lines, just like the old CRT TVs.
Through fine-tuning these visual settings, users can achieve a display that closely resembles what an actual Magnavox Odyssey would look like. Never before has a digital recreation come this close to the 1972 console’s original appearance.
Thanks to the ability to manually change overlays, OdyWeb is also “compatible” with the Overkal — a Spanish clone of the Odyssey developed by Inter Electrónica in 1973. I was personally involved in uncovering and documenting it not so long ago.
High-resolution scans of the Overkal overlays are included, allowing users to play all 7 of its original games (excluding Ping Pong, which is identical) with impressive realism. OdyWeb is, in fact, the first simulator/emulator to fully support this pioneering Spanish console.
There are plans to support titles from the Videojuel, an Argentine clone of the Odyssey developed by Laboratorio Electrónico Hiroshima in 1975. However, due to the lack of scanned overlays, these will need to be recreated.
One of OdyWeb’s standout features is the ability to manually adjust the size and position of all on-screen elements — players, ball, and center line — just like on the original console, which used internal potentiometers.
Another notable feature is a single-player variant of Ping-Pong (Game Card #1) where the right paddle is controlled by an AI, with user-defined difficulty — something entirely new for this type of simulation.
OdyWeb doesn’t just simulate the visual behavior of the console — it also replicates its analog electrical logic, now translated into a digital environment. Users can adjust the inertia and speed of player movements, making it possible to approximate the analog control feel of the original Odyssey using a modern keyboard.
Additionally, OdyWeb includes the option to change the background color to solid tones, a nod to the Brown Box prototype (designed by Ralph Baer, Bill Harrison, and Bill Rusch in 1968), which originally envisioned games with colored backdrops. This detail adds an extra layer of authenticity by reflecting the intent behind the very first video game console prototype.
In summary, OdyWeb is not just a simple simulator of an archaic console that few would choose to play today. It serves as an intuitive tool for cultural preservation, an educational resource, and a reasonably faithful recreation of what gaming looked like on the world’s first home video game console.
Credits
Magnavox Odyssey overlays courtesy of OdysseyNow.org
Overkal overlays scans courtesy of Alfonso R.