Mario Odyssey B&W DIY

SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY: Black & White Version: DIY

This piece is a reflection on the mental model of video game media experiences through a parody reimagining of the trajectory of video game development. Herein gaming consoles never “progressed” beyond the constraints and affordances of the first home gaming system and all video games we know were created for the Magnavox Odyssey, including the quintessential gaming icon: Super Mario.

The Magnavox Odyssey was the first home video game console, though it is fair to refer to it now as little known. It technically (and legally) was the “pioneering patent of the video game art” [1]. Gameplay on the Magnavox Odyssey differs drastically from what we came to view as video games. The Odyssey is often compared to the iconic Pong (though Pong was in actuality a rip-off of the Odyssey table tennis game), with white blocks and lines projected on a connected home television screen. Different game cartridges would alter the way these visual elements interacted on the screen through a literal change in the mechanical and electrical components of the system.

Unlike the relationship to video games we know now—where code invisibly works to create fully realized worlds—Magnavox games were achieved without the use of any software. Rather, the imagined worlds and rules of any new game were achieved through the application of analog elements, more similar to board games in a sense. Games often included transparent screen overlays to create graphical representations of objects and settings. Cards or dice would be employed for randomization effects. Paper and pencils to capture game states and high scores. And indeed many of the games included what amounted to a board game board, intended to sit on the floor or coffee table between controllers. With no communication between these analog pieces and the visual elements generated by the Odyssey itself, the human players took on a much larger role generating game experiences through careful reading of rule books, excessive setups that often required items not even included with the game materials, self-imposed boundaries in leu of programmed environments, and the collective imagination of the players.

None of the above should be interpreted as a perspective that this was a better way to play games. Quite the opposite in fact. Playing anything on the Odyssey was a dull and arduous task. The language describing setup and play of Odyssey games was clunky and weird, yet within the long-winded booklets of rules were the early formations of many modern gaming conventions. While you can see the mental models for gameplay in early conceptive states within the Odyssey materials, the gameplay itself is encumbered by the human player’s responsibility to provide the computational efforts we expect the system’s to carry now. Rather the Odyssey relied on the, at the time, omnipresent metaphorical representation of a game board.

Pong, patent infringement aside, would do away with any similarity to playing board games in short order by handing off this overflow of effort to computational processes. This movement of effort from human to computer paved the way for our current conception of video gaming.

It’s hard to imagine the alternate reality but what if it was still common practice to have physical analog artifacts for use alongside a video game? If Pong hadn’t taken off, would another type of game have emerged as the first widely popular video game? What other place could gaming have ended up at? Or would all paths lead to where we are now? Ultimately it is a contrarian thought experiment, what other alternate realities are there for playful interactions with/through technology?

This DIY Mario Odyssey: Black & White Version examines—through artifact and player experience—the implications a persistent board game metaphor could have had on the trajectory of games and gaming.

“Synopsis” of play: Players select Mario or Luigi as their HERO card. Each round the defending player shuffles the ENEMY deck and draws five cards which they play by flipping over when they try to disrupt the attacking player. Each ENEMY card type has different rules about how the defending player may move and attack with their sprite on screen. The attacking player attempts to navigate the map moving right, avoiding enemies and obstacles while collecting COINS and POWER UPS cards, and singing the Mario Theme Song out loud the entire time (see audio file for example). Each time the player collides with a “?” brick tile they draw a random card from the reward deck. COINS are set aside until the end of the run or if successfully attacked by the defending player. POWER UPS each provide the attacking player with some advantage. After reaching the end of the map the attacking player attempts to jump their character to the highest point of a flap pole by stopping exactly on the pole. Players then switch roles before tallying score to determine a winner. Score is determined by the number of COINS and POWER UPS cards each player has multiplied by the percentage of height they reached on the flag pole.

For an exhaustively detailed description of setup and play instructions, in the style of Magnavox Odyssey games, see the Pamphlet Interior image.

[1] Baer, R. (1998). Genesis: How the home video games industry began. Online www. ralphbaer. com/how_video_games. htm.

Screen Overlay Objects: These black and white renderings of original Super Mario map tiles must be painstakingly cut out prior to initial play. They are then taped onto a 6’ transparent overlay to build custom maps. During active play two people must hold the overlay at each end and move it across the TV screen to simulate progression.

Play Cards: The game included three types of standard 2.5 x 3.5" cards printed on different colored holographic backings: copper colored ENEMY cards, gold colored POWER UP and COIN cards, and red/green HERO cards.