Philips Videopac + G7400

Philips Videopac G7400 console
Manufacturer	Philips
Type	Video game console
Generation	Third generation
Release date	1983 (1983)
CPU	Intel 8048 clocked at 5.91MHz
Memory	6KB RAM, 1KB ROM
Display	320×238 resolution

The Philips Videopac+ G7400 was a video game console released in limited quantities in 1983, and only in Europe; an American release as the Odyssey³ Command Center was planned but never occurred. The G7400 was the successor to the Philips Videopac G7000, the European counterpart to the American Magnavox Odyssey². The system featured excellently tailored background and foreground graphics.

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.

Odyssey³

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 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. Also, 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.

Specifications

• CPU: Intel 8048, 5.91 MHz
• RAM: 6 KB + 192 Byte
• ROM: 1 KB
• Display: 320×238×16
• Audio: 1 channel, 8 sounds
• Input / Output: RF modulator, Péritel/SCART connector (with RGB), joystick port(s), ROM cartridge port
• Expansion
  • The Voice – Speech synthesis unit, compatible with G7000
  • Chess Module – Increased the G7400's computing power such that it could play chess, also compatible with G7000
  • Microsoft BASIC Home Computer Module (G7420) – Similar to above, with the purpose of converting the G7400 into a "real" computer, not compatible with G7000. An additional Z80 CPU with 16 KB RAM and 16KB ROM.

Emulation

The emulator O2EM allows G7400 games to be played on modern computers.

See also

• List of Videopac games
• Magnavox Odyssey

External links

• videopac.nl/forum - Forum dedicated to the Philips Videopac and Magnavox Odyssey2*