 |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Manufacturer | Smith Engineering |
| Type | Video game console |
| Generation | Second generation |
| Retail availability | NA November 1982 EU May 1983 |
| Media | ROM cartridge |
| CPU | Motorola MC68A09 @ 1.5 MHz |
| Controller input | Two |
The Vectrex is an 8-bit video game console that was developed by Western Technologies/Smith Engineering. It was licensed and distributed first by General Consumer Electric (GCE), and then by Milton Bradley Company after their purchase of GCE. It was released in November 1982 at a retail price of $199 ($430 compensated for inflation[1]); as Milton Bradley took over international marketing the price dropped to $150 and then $100 shortly before the video game crash of 1983.[2] The Vectrex exited the market in early 1984.
Unlike other non-portable video game consoles, which connected to televisions and rendered raster graphics, the Vectrex has an integrated vector monitor which displays vector graphics. The monochrome Vectrex uses plastic screen overlays to generate color and various static graphics and decorations. 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 such as Space Wars and Armor Attack.
Vectrex comes with a built in game, the Asteroids-like Minestorm. Two peripherals were also available for the Vectrex, a light pen and a 3D imager.
The Vectrex was also released in Japan under the name Bandai Vectrex Kousokusen.
While it is a mainstay of disc-based console systems today, the Vectrex was part of the first generation of console systems to feature a boot screen, which also included the Atari 5200 and Colecovision.[3]
Contents |
System features and innovations
The Vectrex was the first system to offer a 3D peripheral (the Vectrex 3D Imager), predating the Sega Master System's SegaScope 3D by about four years.[4] Also, early units have a very audible "buzzing" from the built-in speaker that will change as graphics are generated on screen. This is due to a lack of shielding between the built-in CRT and the speaker wiring and was eventually resolved in later production models.[citation needed] This idiosyncrasy has become a familiar characteristic of the machine.
Several companies offered or included Vectrex software in their products or promotions. 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 copyright info running up either side. The game itself had custom text, and the player controlled a top hat rather than a vacuum.[citation needed]
Some of the Vectrex's games feature unusual qualities or innovations, and new games are still being produced today by homebrew video game programmers.
The game built into the Vectrex, Minestorm, would crash at level 13. However, on some machines the game would continue much farther, with levels containing very unusual characteristics. The game would come to an ultimate end at its highest level, in which more mines were laid than would hatch. Consumers who complained to the company about the crash at the 13th level 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 due to no advertisement of any sort, making MineStorm II one of the rarest cartridges for the Vectrex system.[citation needed]
Technical specifications
Circuit Board
Sound
- Sound: General Instrument AY-3-8912
- 3" electrodynamic paper cone speaker
Display
The cathode ray tube is a Samsung model 240RB40 monochrome unit measuring 9 x 11 inches, displaying a picture of 240 mm diagonal. A vector CRT display such as the Vectrex does not require a special tube, and differs from standard raster-based television sets only in the control circuits. Rather than use sawtooth waves to direct the internal electron beam in a raster pattern, digital-to-analog converters drive the horizontal and vertical deflection electromagnets. Those deflection electromagnets are wound on a standard yoke used in television sets. The high-voltage transformer and picture tube are also off-the-shelf components manufactured for small black/white television sets. Such use of existing television technology was already established by arcade games such as Asteroids.
3D Imager
 |
This section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (March 2008) |
The 3-D imager spins a disk which is half black and half colored bands that radiate from the center (usually red, green and blue) between the viewer's 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.[citation needed]
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 the viewer's 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.[citation needed]
Supported games
- 3D Minestorm
- 3D Crazy Coaster
- 3D Narrow Escape
- 3D Pole Position (not released)
- 3D Lord of the Robots (homebrew)
See also
References
- ^ "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2008". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. http://www.minneapolisfed.org/community_education/teacher/calc/hist1800.cfm. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
- ^ Forster, Winnie (2005). The encyclopedia of consoles, handhelds & home computers 1972 - 2005. Gameplan. p. 54. ISBN 3-00-015359-4.
- ^ Digibarn.com
- ^ Worley, Joyce (September 1984), "Farewell To Vectrex", Electronic Games: 82–84
External links
- Vectrex Resource Center
- Vectrex Portal
- Vectrex Museum - dedicated to the most ambitious and unusual Home Arcade System
- Spike's Big Vectrex Page Vectrex portal, recent games/projects/news, information archive
- Vectrex infosite News, manuals, reviews, screenshots, faqs, scanned manuals, scanned boxes and more.
- Geekvintage.com, detailed information about the Vectrex Arcade System... every game and every accessory included.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
