Vectrex

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Vectrex
Manufacturer Smith Engineering
Type Video game console
Generation Second generation
First available Flag of United States November, 1982
Flag of European Union May, 1983
Flag of Japan June, 1983
CPU Motorola MC68A09, 1.5 MHz
Media Cartridge
Controller input Two

The Vectrex is an 8-bit video game console developed by General Consumer Electric (GCE) and later bought by Milton Bradley Company. The Vectrex is unique in that it utilized vector graphics drawn on a monitor that was integrated in the console. It was released in November 1982 at a retail price of $199. As the video game market declined and then crashed, the Vectrex exited the market in early 1984.

Smith Engineering briefly considered designing a handheld version of the device in 1988, though the success of the Nintendo Game Boy made such a project too risky. In the mid-1990s, Smith Engineering condoned the duplication of the Vectrex system image and cartridges for non-commercial uses and has expressed joy to see that it has still-thriving developer and user communities.

Unlike other video game consoles which connected to TVs to display raster graphics, the Vectrex included its own monitor which displayed vector graphics. The monochrome Vectrex used screen overlays to give the illusion of color, and also to reduce the severity of the inherent flickering caused by the vector monitor. At the time many of the most popular arcade games used vector displays, and GCE was looking to set themselves apart from the pack by selling high-quality versions of games like Space Wars and Armor Attack. The system even contained a built in game, the Asteroids-like Minestorm.

The two peripherals for the Vectrex were a light pen and 3D imager.

Contents

[edit] Trivia

The Vectrex controller featuring an analog stick.
The Vectrex controller featuring an analog stick.
  • While most video game players first encountered an analog joystick on the Nintendo 64, the Vectrex preceded the N64 by over a decade. The Atari 5200 also had an analog joystick, but it was not self-centering.
  • Even today there are new games in development by homebrew video game programmers. Also new hardware (for example VecVox, a speech synthesizer) is available.
  • The built in CRT feature of the Vectrex is shared by the 1983 Philips Videopac G7200 non-portable console, though in raster scan technology.
  • Newport Cigarettes at one point commissioned a customized version of Web Wars. It just featured "Newport Cigarettes Presents" on the title screen and trophy room screen. Bill Hawkins finished the coding which was sent to Newport, but it isn't known what happened with that, if anything.
  • The liquor company, Mr. Boston, gave out a limited number of customized cartridges of Clean Sweep. The box had a Mr. Boston sticker on it. The overlay was basically the regular Clean Sweep overlay with the Mr. Boston name, logo, and % proof/copyright info running up either side. The game itself had custom text, and the player controlled a top hat rather than a vacuum.
  • The game built into the Vectrex, Minestorm, would crash at level 13. Consumers who complained to the company received a replacement cartridge in the mail. Entitled "MineStorm II", it was the fixed version of the Vectrex's built in game. However, not many wrote to the company about it, making MineStorm II one of the rarest cartridges for the Vectrex system.
  • Was the first system to offer a 3D peripheral (the Vectrex 3D Imager), predating the Sega Master System's SegaScope 3D by about six years.
  • Cosmic Chasm has the distinction of being the first arcade video game based on a home console video game.
  • Early units had a very audible "buzzing" from the built-in speaker, that would change as graphics were generated on screen. This was due to a lack of shielding between the built-in CRT and speaker wiring and was eventually resolved in later production models. This idiosyncrasy had become a familiar characteristic of the machine, especially among owners.

[edit] Technical Specifications

[edit] Circuit Board

[edit] Sound

[edit] Display

The cathode ray tube was a Samsung model 240RB40 monochrome unit measuring 9 x 11 inches, displaying a picture of 240mm diagonal. A vector display such as the Vectrex does not require a special tube, and differs only in the control circuits. Rather than use sawtooth waves to divert the internal electron beam in a raster pattern, digital-to-analog converters drove the horizontal and vertical deflection magnets. The high-voltage transformers and tube remained the same as a television. Such technology was already established by arcade games such as Asteroids.

The Vectrex did not have any luminance control, but rather brightness was adjusted by drawing some lines more frequently than others.

Screen upgrades were hindered by the cost of redesigning the analog circuits.[citation needed] Likewise it was impossible to connect the Vectrex to a home television.

[edit] 3D Imager

The 3-D imager spins a disk which is 1/2 black and 1/2 colored bands that radiate from the centre (Usually red, green and blue) between your eyes and the vectrex screen. The Vectrex is synchronized to the rotation of the disk (or vice versa) and draws vectors corresponding to a particular color and/or a particular eye. Therefore only one eye will see the vectrex screen and its associated images (or color) at any one time while the other will see nothing.

A single object that does not lie on the plane of the monitor (i.e. in front of or into the monitor) is drawn at least twice to provide information for each eye. The distance between the duplicate images and whether the right eye image or the left eye image is drawn first will determine where the object will appear to "be" in 3-D space. The 3-D illusion is also enhanced by adjusting the brightness of the object (dimming objects in the background). Spinning the disk at a high enough speed will fool your eyes/brain into thinking that the multiple images it is seeing are two different views of the same object. This creates the impression of 3-D and color.

[edit] Supported Games

  • 3D Pole Position (not released)
  • 3D Crazy Coaster
  • 3D Minestorm
  • 3D Narrow Escape
  • 3D Lord of the Robots (homebrew)

[edit] Screenshot/overlay gallery

These images were produced by an emulator. It is impossible to recreate the quality of a vector display on a web page. Actual displays have very bright, fine lines without jagged edges. Overlays, although static, can be more vivid than any color computer display.

Armor Attack

Berzerk

Blitz! Action Football

Spinball

Fortress of Narzod

Hyperchase Auto Race

Mine Storm

Pole Position

Spike

Scramble

Star Castle

Web Warp / Web Wars

[edit] List of game titles

[edit] Original

Required add-on accessory hardware:

  • 3D Crazy Coaster
  • 3D MineStorm
  • 3D Narrow Escape
  • AnimAction (requires light pen)
  • Art Master (requires light pen)
  • Melody Master (requires light pen)

[edit] Unreleased Prototypes

  • Berzerk II
  • Cube Quest
  • Dark Tower
  • Engine Analyzer (requires light pen)
  • Mail Plane (requires light pen)
  • Melody Master II
  • Pitcher's Duel
  • Tour De France

[edit] Home Brew

[edit] 1996

  • Vector Vaders (1996)
  • Patriots (1996)
  • All Good Things (1996)
  • Spike Hoppin' (1996)

[edit] 1998

  • Omega Chase Deluxe (new title developed in 1998, based on Omega Race)
  • Vecmania (1998)

[edit] 2000

  • Moon Lander (new title developed in 2000, based on Lunar Lander)

[edit] 2001

  • Vectopia

[edit] 2002

  • Gravitrex (new title developed in 2002, based on Gravitar)
  • Tsunami/VIX (new title (two games) developed in 2002, based on Tempest and QIX)
  • Vec Sports Boxing

[edit] 2003

  • Protector (new title developed in 2003)
  • War of the Robots (new title developed in 2003)
  • Yasi (new title developed in 2003)

[edit] 2004

  • I, Cyborg (new title developed in 2004)
  • Revector (new title developed in 2004)
  • Thrust (new title developed in 2004)

[edit] 2005

  • Debris (new title developed in 2005)
  • Nebula Commander (new title developed in 2005)

[edit] 2006

  • Logo (New Title Released February 2006)
  • Space Frenzy (New Title Released March 2006)
  • Colorclash (New Title Released May 2006)
  • Space Frenzy (New Title Released March 2006)
  • Star Sling (New Title Released May 2006)
  • Vector 21 (New Title Released April 2006)
  • Spike's Circus (New Title Released August 2006)
  • 3D Lord of the Robots (New Title Released October 2006)
v • d • e
Selected home game consoles
First generation
Magnavox Odyssey • PONG
Early second generation
Atari 2600 • Interton VC 4000 • Odyssey² • Intellivision
Later second generation
Atari 5200 • ColecoVision • Emerson Arcadia 2001 • Vectrex
Third generation
NES • Master System • Atari 7800
Fourth generation
TurboGrafx-16 • Mega Drive • Neo Geo • SNES
Fifth generation
3DO • Amiga CD32 • Jaguar • Saturn • PlayStation • Nintendo 64
Sixth generation
Dreamcast • PlayStation 2 • GameCube • Xbox
Seventh generation
Xbox 360 • PlayStation 3 • Wii

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../v/e/c/Vectrex.html"