Vectrex!

[CBR125R]

After playing Vectrex games via emulation only, I finally bought a 'real' Vectrex: what a cool piece of hardware!
I paid $200 Canadian cash (about $158 US) for it. With a little elbow grease and some Pledge, the cabinet and controller look almost new, just a few minor scratches and scuffs. The video and sound are both good, and the controller works great. The only catch is that the only game I have is the built-in Minestorm.

Anyone else out there enjoy playing Vectrex?

post-8320-0-53780900-1423633422.jpg (108.36 KiB) Viewed 3165 times

[akator]

The Vectrex is one of my favorites. Everyone likes to play ours, sometimes I think they visit just to play Vectrex

Unless you are into collecting, because some of the games are pricey I would recommend trying them via the ParaJVE emulator before dropping the cash. I'm more into playing and not as much into collecting anymore, so I also picked up a VecMutli flash cart and a 72-in-1 Multicart. Madronix (Johannes) has some nice multicarts and a great repro 3D imager. The AtariVox II also has Vectrex compatibility.

My Favorite original games:
Armor Attack
Bedlam
Berzerk / Verzerk
Clean Sweep
Cosmic Chasm
Fortress of Narzod
Hyerchase
Minestorm
Minestorm II
Pole Position
Rip Off
Scramble
Star Hawk
Web Wars

Favorite homebrews:
Birds of Prey (Phoenix)
Bloxorz
City Bomber
Moon Lander (Lunar Lander)
Nagoya Attack (Space Invaders Extreme)
Omega Chase (Omega Race)
Patriots (Missile Command)
Protector (Defender)
Rockaroids (Asteroids)
Rockaroids Remix (Asteroids Deluxe)
Space Frenzy (Space Fury)
Spike's Water Balloons (Kaboom)
Star Fire Spirits (Star Wars Arcade)
Trakkers (Targ)
Wormhole (Gyruss)
YASI (Space Invaders)

Everyone raves about Vector Pilot, Vectrexians, and the upcoming Vector Patrol but they are only available in cart and a bit pricey so I don't own them. There are a bunch of new homebrews released over the last year that I haven't gotten around to playing yet.

Michele Fiori makes nice "Vectrex Wraps" to dress up your Vectrex with gaming art.

[Mayhem]

Vectrex... yeah... don't get me started heh...

[Vic20-Ian]

Cool, would love to visit and try the 3D sometime

[highinfidelity]

Yep, here's another!

It's the cutest console ever, if you ask me. It's so nice and the sounds are adorable! Also, the controller was WAY ahead of its times.

Concerning the games: many are nice but very few really catched the spirit of a vector console, IMHO. Most of them come incomplete of overlays anyway, so I also warmly suggest the purchase of a VecMulti, an awesome product, very well engineered.

But the absolute MUST HAVE is the recent homebrew combo Protector / Y.A.S.I. Outstanding!!!

[Mayhem]

But the absolute MUST HAVE is the recent homebrew combo Protector / Y.A.S.I. Outstanding!!!

Recent? It's been available for almost 12 years heh, ever since Mark Shaker had his VectrexCarts.com website. He passed it over to John Dondzila. Now John D has stopped making carts, it's been taken up by Packrat Games, who is slowly relisting all the games.

But I agree with the sentiment, it's a terrific cartridge, and one of the must-buys for the system.

[yellow_lantern]

I thougt the Vec Multi was out of production.

[rhurst]

@Mayhem: that's a sick picture, man! and

[highinfidelity]

Mayhem, how does the 3D imager work? I think I will never seriously go hunting for one, but I've always been curious to know wether it worked fine or it was more or less just pretending.

[Mayhem]

The 3D Imager predates the Sega Master System version by four years, is actually pretty decent, but works on a different principle to it. Okay, time to go science-like and make this as easy to explain as possible heh.

Right... as you may expect, to produce a 3D image convincing to your eyes, the Vectrex draws everything twice. Once for your left eye to process, and once for your right eye to process. Note how if you close one eye and look at something, and then close the other eye and look at it, the perspective is slightly shifted, and your brain combines the two images into one? That's the principle here too.

Because the Vectrex is drawing everything twice, it means the games can only have half as many lines on screen for the gameplay to compensate. Thankfully none of the 3D games released for the console (both official and homebrew) appear to suffer any problem because of that.

BUT! Not only is the 3D imager giving you 3D view, but it gives you colour as well! There is a colour wheel that sits in the device and spins around in front of your eyes. Half the wheel is black, so that when one set of lines is drawn, only your left eye can see them, and then by the time it spins 180 degrees, the other set of lines is drawn so only your right eye can see them! So that's the 3D effect taken care of.

Not only that, but the other half of the wheel has different coloured segments, so that when particular lines are drawn on screen, it is synchronised with that part of the wheel being in front of your eye, so only those lines drawn in that small timeframe appear in that colour. Some more lines are drawn when the wheel has moved slightly, and thus appear in a different colour. Yes, the timing and programming required for this is phenomenal! Once you understand the ideas about how it works, you wonder how on Earth it came to fruition because it's mind boggling!

(btw there are actually two 3D Imagers in my photo, one of them is loose, and is the one I use for playing!)

[highinfidelity]

And how has it aged? Is it still in synch with the screen after all these years, or do they require to be adjusted?

[Mayhem]

Still works fine as far as I can see, the unit is powered by the Vectrex itself, and set to a specific frequency. So the only matter would be if the motor had issues, but neither of mine appear to suffer any problems.

[highinfidelity]

Thanks, good to know. I don't think it will ever happen, but should I come across one I will grab it more confidently.

[Mayhem]

There's a guy who runs a company called Madtronix, and he makes a bunch of third party hardware for the Vectrex, including substitute 3D Imager headsets. So if you want to experience the games, then getting the hardware from him is a lot cheaper.

[highinfidelity]

Cool! I completely missed that, thanks for sharing.

Madtronix' website is organised like a blog and I really had a hard time navigating it; however it seems he's also selling multicarts, which may interest CBR125R.

It also seems he sells a bunch of never-heard-before homebrews, but again I really couldn't figure wether those are any good or absolute stinkers.