1972 HOME CONSOLE · GAME CARD #2 · ONE WHITE SPOT

MAGNAVOX ODYSSEY
SKI OVERLAY LAB

Steer one electronic square down a course that exists only on a plastic overlay. Start with the forgiving St. Moritz practice route.

COURSESt. MoritzRUN1TIME0:00.0PENALTY0 FOUND
ALPINE OVERLAY ON

WASD / ARROWS steer · SPACE pauses · R resets · click or drag places the spot

CHOOSE A COURSEBEGINNER

St. Moritz has the widest trail. Aspen adds tighter turns; Olympic asks for the most precise analog steering.

RULEKEEPERMUSEUM ASSIST

MODERN MUSEUM ASSISTCollision messages, trail checks, and the timer are supplied by this teaching lab. The 1972 console knew none of them.

RUN EVENTMove the white spot from the start to begin the run.
CONSOLE KNOWS

ONE SIGNAL

Skier spot
142, 48
Game card
#2
White output
YES
OVERLAY / RULES KNOW

THE WHOLE RUN

Course
St. Moritz beginner route
Trail state
ON TRAIL
Hazards met
0 / 3
ACTIVE GAME CARD #2PASSIVE ROUTING
H / V KNOBSSKIER SPOTRF VIDEO

Game Card #2 reconnects the console's discrete circuits. It does not store a ski program, a trail map, or collision rules.

CPUNONESOFTWARENONEDISPLAY MEMORYNONESOUNDNONESKIERONE WHITE SPOT
ONE CONTROLLERDIRECT ANALOG POSITION

Move either slider slowly, then compare it with the keyboard's stepped motion.

ENGLISH KNOBInert in this game-card configuration.

VIDEO SIGNAL PROBEWHITE
SOURCEskier-spotCONSOLE TICK0OVERLAY IN SIGNAL?NO · PHYSICAL FILMUNUSED SPOTOFFSCREEN
INDEPENDENT EXPLORATION CONTROLS
LEAVE TRAIL+5 points / +1 secondTOUCH GATE+10 points / +2 secondsHIT TREE+15 points / +3 secondsHIT MOUNTAIN25–30 points / disqualified in time mode
PLAY THE 1972 IDEA

THE ELECTRONICS STOP WHERE PEOPLE BEGIN

  1. 01Choose St. Moritz and Practice. Press Start, then steer the single white spot down the wide green trail.
  2. 02Turn the overlay off. The console signal is unchanged—but the skier, trail, gates, trees, and finish line disappear.
  3. 03Try Points or Time. Those penalties belong to the printed rules and human scorekeeping, not Game Card #2.
  4. 04Move to Aspen or Olympic when direct analog position feels natural. Their narrower trails demand finer control.