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Magnavox Odyssey²
The Magnavox Odyssey² is a second-generation home videogame console developed by Magnavox - Philips, as a follow-up to the first home videogame console ever, the Magnavox Odyssey. The Magnavox Odyssey² was released in 1978 for $179.99 USD ($475 in 2021).
This system scrapes metadata for the “odyssey2” group and loads the odyssey2 set from the currently selected theme, if available.
Quick reference
- Emulator: RetroArch
- Core: libretro: O2EM
- Folder:
/userdata/roms/o2em - Accepted ROM formats:
.bin,.zip,.7z
BIOS
There is conflicting information about whether BIOS is required or not!
| MD5 checksum | Share file path | Description |
|---|---|---|
562d5ebf9e030a40d6fabfc2f33139fd | o2rom.bin | Odyssey2 BIOS - G7000 model |
f1071cdb0b6b10dde94d3bc8a6146387 | c52.bin | Videopac+ French BIOS - G7000 model |
c500ff71236068e0dc0d0603d265ae76 | g7400.bin | Videopac+ European BIOS - G7400 model |
279008e4a0db2dc5f1c048853b033828 | jopac.bin | Videopac+ French BIOS - G7400 model |
ROMs
Place your Magnavox Odyssey² ROMs in /userdata/roms/o2em.
Place your Videopac+ ROMs in /userdata/roms/videopacplus.
Emulators
RetroArch
RetroArch (formerly SSNES), is a ubiquitous frontend that can run multiple “cores”, which are essentially the emulators themselves. The most common cores use the libretro API, so that's why cores run in RetroArch in Batocera are referred to as “libretro: (core name)”. RetroArch aims to unify the feature set of all libretro cores and offer a universal, familiar interface independent of platform.
RetroArch configuration
RetroArch offers a Quick Menu accessed by pressing [HOTKEY] + 
which can be used to alter various things like RetroArch and core options, and controller mapping. Most RetroArch related settings can be altered from Batocera's EmulationStation.
Standardized features available to all libretro cores: odyssey2.videomode, odyssey2.ratio, odyssey2.smooth, odyssey2.shaders, odyssey2.pixel_perfect, odyssey2.decoration, odyssey2.game_translation
ES setting name batocera.conf_key | Description ⇒ ES option key_value |
|---|---|
| Settings that apply to all cores of this emulator | |
GRAPHICS BACKEND odyssey2.gfxbackend | Choose your graphics rendering ⇒ OpenGL opengl, Vulkan vulkan. |
AUDIO LATENCY odyssey2.audio_latency | Audio latency in milliseconds, turn it up if you hear crackles ⇒ 256 256, 192 192, 128 128, 64 64, 32 32, 16 16, 8 8. |
THREADED VIDEO odyssey2.video_threaded | Improves performance at the cost of latency and more video stuttering. Use only if full speed cannot be obtained otherwise. ⇒ On true, Off false. |
libretro: O2EM
O2EM is an open-source Magnavox Odyssey² emulator. This is the libretro port of that.
libretro: O2EM configuration
ES setting name batocera.conf_key | Description ⇒ ES option key_value |
|---|---|
| Settings that apply to all systems this core supports | |
EMULATED HARDWARE global.o2em_bios | Choose what Odyssey/Videopac system to emulate ⇒ Odyssey 2 (NTSC) o2rom.bin, Videopac G7000 (European) c52.bin, Videopac+ G7400 (European) g7400.bin, Videopac+ G7400 (France) jopac.bin. |
CONSOLE REGION global.o2em_region | To force 60hz or 50hz if the auto detection fail ⇒ Autodetect autodetect, NTSC NTSC, PAL PAL. |
SWAP GAMEPADS global.o2em_swap_gamepads | Some games accept player 1 input from controller 2 ⇒ Off disabled, On enabled. |
CROP OVERSCAN global.o2em_crop_overscan | Remove the border around the edges of the screen ⇒ Off disabled, On enabled. |
GHOSTING EFFECT global.o2em_mix_frames | Simulate CRT phosphor ghosting effects ⇒ Off disabled, Simple mix, Ghosting (65%) ghost_65, Ghosting (75%) ghost_75, Ghosting (85%) ghost_85, Ghosting (95%) ghost_95. |
AUDIO FILTER global.o2em_low_pass_range | Soften the hash sound effect from some games ⇒ Off 0, 10% 10, 20% 20, 30% 30, 40% 40, 50% 50, 60% 60, 70% 70, 80% 80, 90% 90. |
Videopac+ G7400
The Videopac+ G7400 is a console developed by Philips. It was released in 1983.
In order to use this system instead, place your ROMs in /userdata/roms/videopacplus. Most games were also backwards compatible with the original Videopac/Magnox Oddyssey2, to play games in this backward compatibility mode adjust the ADVANCED SYSTEM SETTINGS → MODEL to 
or simply place your ROMs in /userdata/roms/o2em.
This system scrapes metadata for the “videopacplus” group(s) and loads the videopacplus set from the currently selected theme, if available.
Voice samples
New to Batocera v32, a recent update to libretro: O2EM added sample support for emulating the voice synthesis module. Download the samples from O2EM's homepage (hover over “Misc” near the top of the page) and extract them into /userdata/bios/voice. Sid the Spellbinder requires its own pack, but if you're not intending on playing that game they're not required.
To confirm they are loaded correctly, K.C.'s Krazy Chase! plays a voice sample almost immediately after starting a game.
Controls
The Magnavox Odyssey² used both a standard joystick controller with a single button and the built-in keyboard. The keyboard is already mapped to your default keyboard but most games utilized just the joystick.
In some games, for example UFO/Satellite Attack, the player order is swapped. This can be solved by switching the player order for the affected games, or by saving a manual remap with the controller IDs swapped.
Here are the default Magnavox Odyssey²'s controls shown on a Batocera Retropad:
Troubleshooting
Further troubleshooting
For further troubleshooting, refer to the generic support pages.
- systems/odyssey2.txt
- Last modified: 10 months ago
- by atari