Videopac+ G7400 | |
Manufacturer: | Philips |
Type: | Home video game console |
Cpu: | Intel 8048 @ 5.91MHz |
Memory: | 6 KB RAM, 1 KB ROM |
Display: | RF modulator, composite, RGB; 320×238 resolution |
Predecessor: | Philips Videopac G7000 |
Successor: | Philips CD-i Philips MSX |
Generation: | Third generation |
Graphics: | Intel 8245, EF9340, EF9341 |
Sound: | 1 channel, 8 sounds |
The Philips Videopac+ G7400 is a third-generation home video game console released in limited quantities in 1983,[1] and only in Europe; an American release as the Odyssey³ Command Center was planned for the Odyssey series but never occurred. The G7400 was the successor to the Philips Videopac G7000, the European counterpart to the American Magnavox Odyssey².[2] The system featured excellently tailored background and foreground graphics.[3]
The G7400 could play three types of games: all normal G7000 games, special G7000 games with additional high-res background graphics that would appear only when played on the G7400, and G7400-only games with high-res sprites and backgrounds.
There were plans to release the G7400 in the United States as the Odyssey³ and later as the Odyssey³ Command Center; the system was demonstrated at the 1983 Consumer Electronics Show,[4] and some prototypes have been found. The Odyssey³ was never released, mostly because company executives concluded that it was not technologically advanced enough to compete in the marketplace, and the video game crash of 1983 ended all lingering hopes for a release.
The Odyssey³ was to feature a real mechanical keyboard, unlike the membrane keyboard found in the G7000 and Odyssey², as well as a built-in joystick holder for dual-joystick games. Prototypes for a 300 baud modem and a speech synthesizer are known to have been made, and a laserdisc interface was planned to allow even more advanced games.
The Videopac Collection Volume 1 was released on Steam on November 24, 2022. It uses O2EM for emulation and includes the G7400 versions of the games when applicable.[5]