The first home video game console
Magnavox Odyssey
In 1972, Magnavox launched the Odyssey, based on Ralph Baer’s designs – the first commercial home video game console. The example in the collection was manufactured in January 1975.
Learn moreAvailable as a complete collection
From the first home video game console to the PlayStation 5. One collection.
Over 1,300 game consoles, computers and accessories, plus hundreds of games – far from all of them listed individually – as well as software, books and magazines. Exhibited publicly at the BINARIUM in Dortmund from 2016 to 2023, fully inventoried and documented.
The acquisition includes the exhibition concept, texts and photographs – and, on request, support from the collector who built and ran a museum with it.
BIT · Your guideHello, I’m BIT. Let me show you the collection.
Over 1,300
Objects
390
Game consoles, handhelds and Pong consoles
415
Home, business and pocket computers
Over 900
Pages with descriptions, technical data and family trees
The collection
Inside the collection
The collection, object by object.
Each square represents a device or accessory in storage. Each area links to its inventory list.
- Game consoles
- Computers
- Accessories
- Other areas
- 85Pong consoles
- 197Game consoles, clones and retro consoles
- 108Handhelds
- 189Game console accessories
- 415Computers and learning systems
- 287Computer accessories
- 24Electronic toys
- 18Calculators
- 9Retrocomputing
Distinctive objects, individual stories.
Six glimpses into the collection: the first home console, early graphical interfaces, Nintendo for hotels, unreleased prototypes and Arabic computing history.
Mouse and graphical interface
Apple Lisa
Apple introduced the Lisa in 1983 as one of the first personal computers with a mouse and a graphical interface. In the collection: a Lisa 2/5.
Learn moreNintendo for hotels
Nintendo FamicomBox
A Famicom with ten cartridge slots that Nintendo offered to hotels and similar venues. Guests could switch between games without inserting a cartridge.
Learn moreDevelopment prototype
Commodore C65
Commodore’s planned successor to the C64 was never released commercially. The collection holds a development prototype.
Learn moreUnreleased prototype
Blaupunkt Apple II clone
An Apple II-compatible computer by Blaupunkt that never reached the shops: its market launch was abandoned before sales began.
Learn moreArabic computing history
Sakhr (Al Alamiah) AX170, AX200 and AX-350 II
The bilingual AX170 comes with an Arabic keyboard, editors for both languages and an adapted MSX BASIC. In the collection: AX170, AX200 and AX-350 II.
Learn moreBackground
History of home computers and game consoles
From games in the laboratory through Pong, the first home computers and the console wars to mobile gaming and virtual reality – told as one continuous story.
Read the history
For exhibition creators
Exhibition concept
Two tracks, 14 exhibition areas and 57 sections with information panels, objects, gaming stations and media stations: how the collection could be organised as a museum.
View the concept
Timeline
Gaming and computing through the years.
Home computers above, consoles below. Zoom into a period; linked devices lead to their object pages.
The collector and museum founder
Experience in collecting, exhibiting and running a museum.
Christian Ullenboom has collected game consoles and home computers since 2011. From 2016 to 2023, he created and ran the BINARIUM in Dortmund. There, he combined collecting with the practical work of a museum: selecting and contextualising objects, designing the exhibition, writing texts and managing day-to-day operations.
As a computer scientist, he is used to explaining technology clearly: he is the author of “Java ist auch eine Insel”, one of the best-known German-language Java textbooks. His books in English include “Java: The Comprehensive Guide” and “Spring Boot 3 and Spring Framework 6”. He can share his experience with the collection’s future owner on request.
Explore the former BINARIUMAcquire the complete collection.
The collection is offered as a whole. The inventory lists show which objects are included.