Vectrex Hardware Hard to find Vectrex Consoles and Peripherals. UK and Euopean Consoles are branded as MB, the US GCE and Japan by Bandai.
Vectrex Games Games on cartridge for the Vectrex console. 1980s releases include manuals and plastic screens if complete.
The Vectrex remains one of the most cherished consoles in the world. Developed and released by GCE in the USA back in 1982, the Vectrex differs from all other games consoles in several ways. Firstly it has a built in screen, and while other consoles and computers used traditional raster based displays to produce sprite graphics, the Vectrex relies on a single gun tube to create vector graphics, made up of dots and lines. This made it an ideal console for reproducing the top arcade machines of the time, which used the same kind of displays. The Vectrex features an in-built game, 'Minestorm', which remains one of the most playable versions of Asteroids you can get on a home console. The Vectrex also features a four button joypad, with an analogue joystick.
The use of a simple Vector based display does restrict the Vectrex to a single colour. This was overcome by supplying each game with a transparent coloured screen which actually slots into the front of the Vectrex. The effect is pretty good, though no games actually require the screen to be used to enjoy the game fully. There are an impressive range of games for the console too, including arcade classics like Berzerk, Scramble, Pole Position and Star Castle. There are original games too, like Cosmic Chasm and platform game 'Spike', which even features speech.
Despite its originality, the Vectrex didn't sell in huge numbers. Because of its in-built screen, it was more expensive than rival consoles, and Milton Bradley snapped up the rights to the console soon after release, bringing it to the UK and Europe in May 1983.
Also in 1983 Bandai launched their branded version of the Vectrex, though sales were the worst of any territory, so the Japanese 'Kousokusen' remains the rarest version, though technically it is exactly the same machine.
Development of the Vectrex continued until its demise in 1984. This development saw the release of several innovative products. The Vectrex Light-Pen allowed you to manipulate games by drawing on the screen, with the AnimAction cartridge even allowing you to create short animations. Even more revolutionary was the Vectrex 3D Imager, a headset which uses spinning coloured discs to generate a virtual boy style 3D display. It's actually very effective though only three games were ever released which use it.
Despite its short life, the Vectrex remains a cult favourite of the Homebrew scene, with many new games released in the last ten years, some of which push the hardware to heights even its original developers would find hard to believe.
