May of 1982:

Come back to the VecNews, this series will be continued!

The DigiBarn Museum has a Vectrex page, including words on the artifact from its contributor, Ed Satterthwaite, who worked at Xerox PARC in the 70s and 80s.

http://www.digibarn.com/collections/games/vectrex/index.html

Comment from DigiBarn curator Bruce Damer: aren't these ultra retro cool, we think of the Vectrex as "the Blade Runner" machine!

April of 1982:

Paul Newell finishes several Games for the Vectrex:  Mine Storm, Berzerk, Scramble, Rip Off, and Star Trek were all completed at the same time.

Scramble was an arcade game released in 1981. It was a scrolling shooter that put the player(s) in a series of areas with different landscapes to navigate through.  Mine Storm is the built-in game that came with every Vectrex unit. In Berzerk obviously there is going to be a difference in graphics, due to the majority of the Vectrex version being in vector (the original was in raster). Star Trek had several brief appearances in the 1982 movie Android, which the character of Max 404 (played by Don Keith Opper) was playing it. His creator, Dr. Daniel (played by Klaus Kinski), would later lament in the movie that the games were "driving him (Max) crazy".

Come back to the VecNews, this series will be continued!

John "madtronix" is coming back! updates soon...

Today is the launch of the Vectrexmuseum's mirror version of Darryl B's Vectrex wiki under the URL vectrexmuseum.com/wiki. All articles written by Darryl have been mirrored to this wiki and will be maintained by Darryl in the future. So far we have 90 Vectrex related articles online, including GCE and homebrew game reviews, biographies; including an authorized biography of Jay Smith, company profiles and Vectrex trivia.

The mirror version has been set up to save the important content that Darryl and the other wiki authors created in the case that wikia stops their free services. We encourage all wikia Vectrex wiki authors to sign up also at the museum´s mirror wiki and maintain the page. Please contact Oliver (wiki system admin) to get an author account.

We got a mail from the first official visitor:

Please visit the new vectrexmuseum.com/wiki

Greetings,

Darryl B. and Oliver,
the wiki admins

USA - Vectrex GCE - Minestorm - Overlay

Ending: Mar 19, 2012 - 19:33 PDT
Item number:    130665307123
Item location: Longview, Texas, United States
Ships to: Worldwide

Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing:

First months of 1982:

A strict timetable demands that the first 12 games and the hardware should be ready in June 1982.  The Vectrex name is subsequently chosen, as already described.

John Hall later exclusively works on "Mine Storm" while Gerry Karr works on The Executive alone.  Gerry starts over from scratch and changes the name to the RUM (Run Time Monitor).  In the end, a number of people contribute to the RUM, most notably Duncan Muirhead who handled most of the heavy trig stuff.

Come back to the VecNews, this series will be continued!

Many of us have missed the VGDB - Vectrex Game Database since it disappeared more than six months ago. At the Vectrex Google Usergroup there was a long discussion of relaunching the website. Manu, the original founder sadly had no copy of the page but luckily there was a backup at webarchive.org. I got the permission by Manu to relaunch the page at vectrexmuseum.com

A Museum preserves important data - so I thought about recovering the most missed Vectrex pages. Today the series starts with the relaunch of the updated Vectrex Game Database. Other lost pages will follow.

I invested four days in recovering the page and need a little rest - so I added a
Tell a friend function so you can easily spread the word about the new VGDB. Please help me by telling your five best Vectrex friends about the relaunched VGDB.

And now... the big moment we have been waiting for:

relaunch VGDB at http://www.vectrexmuseum.com/mirror/vgdb/

Have fun,

Oliver

December 1980:
Large supply of 5" CRT's bought cheaply from a liquidator's surplus.
Spring 1981:
"Mini-Arcade" development begins with Mike Purvis and John Ross.
Spring 1981:
Project is re-named. Tom Sloper suggests "Vector-X", which soon becomes "Vectrex".
July 1981:
Kenner declines an option on the project.
September 1981:
Vectrex concept is licensed by General Consumer Electronics (GCE), and a 9" CRT is decided on.
October 1981:
Paul Newell, Mark Indictor and John Hall begin to engineer the Vectrex.
January 1982:
Bill Hawkins and Chris King join the Western Tech. They were both students at Georgia Tech at the time and are hired by Ed Smith as "Cooperative Education" students. They are supposed to work for three months and then go back to school. Duncan Muirhead joins a week or two afterwards. He had just dropped out of a Physics PHD program at UCLA.

Come back to the VecNews, this series will be continued!

Print the crossword | download as a PDF

Asteroids Locator Map USA

Much of arcade Asteroids’s allure is the glowing, minimalist vector screen. Instead of a standard TV monitor, which scans from top to bottom over and over again, the vector display draws straight lines from one point to the next where needed, like an oscilloscope. It can only be a simple polygon outline of one color, but it also means that the image is sharp and bright (Asteroids’s photon torpedoes leave a brilliant trace along the slowly-decaying phosphor of the screen), and simple to program (the video and sound data in the arcade version of Asteroids is just 2 KB of ROM code, and the game program is another 6 KB). It’s why www.atariasteroids.net have the Asteroids locator on the site: to this day, no home version or variation of Asteroids really does the same thing.

Background Picture Contest

Create a start screen background picture for VecApp.

Simple rules: The picture needs to be related to the Vectrex. Use your computer, a pencil or anything else to create a 310 (h) x 320 (w) pixel resolution picture. Please mention the three location buttons that cover parts of your picture.

One picture per person, please send in your picture until February 29, 2012 to the email address: curator@vectrexmuseum.com. All pictures will be published for the contest that runs in March 2012 here at vectrexmuseum.com. The five most voted pictures will be included on the VecApp start screen and shown in a random order.

Download a PhotoShop template

Please promote VecApp on your website, here is a press kit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KDA5PeATwc&feature=related

"This is a great system -  ahhhm - if you are a retro collector like i am - then I recommend buying it..."

From us 100 Points ! This young man will become a TV reporter.

These Baseball caps are a limited edition run of 50 only, I had Commissioned celebrating 30 years of the Vectrex arcade system which will be shipped out in the first week of March, taking pre orders now.

They are very high quality black, fully embroidered Baseball cap with four embroidered Logos, which includes the Vectrex logo on the front in pale blue (Vectrex colour), and "real arcade play" embroidered underneath on the back is the MB emblem (blue & red colours), plus on both sides of the cap are MineStorm graphics in white, Left side the MineStorm laying UFO, right side 3 Mines and your Ship which are accurately represented.

The caps sell for £23 (Approx. 36USD), which includes shipping worldwide, each cap is posted in a Jiffy bag with the cap packed out to retain its shape during shipping.

For more information or for PayPal pre orders kosmikneil@yahoo.co.uk

Kind regards, KosmikNeil aka KosmikVector

Vectrex FTP Interface Adapter by Kokovec

This adapter gives the Vectrex:
1) 18K of extended memory.
2) Web server for uploading files from an FTP server
It will also provide an API for 3D object rotations, extended math functions, etc.

See the Demo video at youtube:

Loading a game on the Vectrex via FTP server!

Loading a 3D object via FTP

A note by Kristof Tuts:

Please take a look to www.kristofsnewvectrexgames.comli.com/
 
Please note that during purchase, a choice can be made out of 3 different overlays. (check the pictures on the ordering page).
 
Just let me know if you want to buy this game and please specify also the overlay-number. (Note that eventually, I could supply up to maximum 2 overlays per package, additional cost = 4Euro/overlay).
 

Main Features of vector pilot:
Calibration menu to compensate drift.
"difficulty" menu (1=easy, 2 = normal, 3 = hard)
A pause-button (button 3)
High score table
demo mode when game is left alone.
NEW ! The cartridge contains a non-volatile memory chip (E²prom) to save calibration settings and up to 9 highscore entries.
A 3D rendered animation during the hidden level
Secret game features can be unlocked.
NEW ! Choose out of 3 different overlays ! (see ordering info)

Cheers, and thanks for your extreme long patience with me !
 
Kristof Tuts

Being a cross of the old Vectrex forums (R. I. P.) and a vector gaming forum on Yahoo! Groups (also long dead!), the vector gaming forums takes things a few steps further by also having discussions on raster vector ports and even current vector-like online and portable device/cell phone games.

There are also forums for any kind of game console, from the oldest Pong machines to the most current gaming rigs available such as the XBox 360, but the main focus are on the beloved wire-frame games.  And even though people who join can have whatever avatar they want (just as long as it abides by Proboardsí TOS), there are currently a little over two dozen vector icons  on the site to choose from as they wish, covering coin-op, Vectrex, raster ported, and even some current online vector-like games.

Have a look and sign in at vectorgaming.proboards.com, hosted by Darryl B.

An announcement by revival-studios.com

After a lot of hard work, I am proud to announce my new vectrex game release: Shifted!

Shifted is an action puzzle game that requires quick thinking and quick responses.
You have to shift columns up and down to make combinations of gems on the centre row.
The higher the combination, the more points you will earn.

The game is easy to pickup and play, and according to my betatesters becomes more and more addictive each time you play it. In addition to the survival mode where you have to gain points and survive as long as possible for a highscore (which you can upload to the internet), there is also a survival mode in 3 different difficulty settings, where you are faced with different challenges each round (20 challenges on easy, 30 on medium and 40 challenges on hard), which allow you to unlock additional rewards and gameplay modes.

More info and screenshots can be found on http://www.revival-studios.com/?page=123

Game features:
- Survival and challenge game modes
- Easy pickup and play gameplay
- Total of 90 challenges accross 3 difficulties.
- Internet highscore uploading
- Online rewards system
- Hidden gamemodes
- Vecvox support

Price is 29,95 Euros (this includes worldwide shipping)

SUNDANCE
Surprise! Remake of the Cinematronics sleeper hit! Sundance will begin shipping
August 29th. The game is nearly completed now, and I have some final bugtesting
and cleanup. Pre-orders come with a free Sundance iron-on transfer! Low $30 price.
Allow up to 24 hours for a pre-order confirmation email.
www.furyunlimited.com/_sgg/m1_1.htm

WAR OF THE WORLDS
All pre-orders have shipped!
www.furyunlimited.com/_sgg/m1m2_1.htm
 
WARRIOR
Update to site coming soon! Less than 20 games still available for pre-order!
The 2-player clone of the original is completed. Now I'm working on the many
different opponents in the 1-player game.
www.furyunlimited.com/_sgg/m1m1_1.htm

REVIVAL
New issue now available - tons of Vectrex coverage and more!
Subscriber copies have already shipped. If you're not a subscriber,
please don't hesitate to become one. Because of the high number of
subscribers, I am already down to just a few copies.
www.furyunlimited.com/_sgg/m2_1.htm

3D SECTOR-X
Sold Out! RIP!

Thanks for all your past purchases and support!

WAR OF THE WORLDS
Released! These will start shipping this weekend. I will ship them all as quickly as possible. Your patience is appreciated regarding the delayed release. I'm extremely happy with this game and hope that you all enjoy it! Any new orders received will ship in July, as I will be shipping pre-ordered games for the next 3-4 weeks. http://www.furyunlimited.com/_sgg/m1_1.htm

WARRIOR
Update to my site coming soon, with new images. Note that due to the extra time that it took to complete War of the Worlds, I have moved the Warrior release to October - sorry about this! If this is a problem for any of you, you can request a refund. I have over twenty still available for pre-order. This is a limited release of 100 games. www.furyunlimited.com/_sgg/m1m1_1.htm
 
I, CYBORG
Due to constant inquiries, I am opening I, Cyborg up once again to orders. Specifically 50 copies, numbered 251-300. I sold 250 I, Cyborg games between '04 and '08. This will be identical in every way to the original release, so if you already own it there is no need to purchase it again. Consider this to be a continuation of the original release after an extended hiatus. www.furyunlimited.com/_sgg/m1m7_1.htm
 
REVIVAL
The publisher has notified me that Issue #43 will be out soon. The print quality has been improved (yet again!). If you are a subscriber, your magazine will ship immediately after I receive them. If you're not a subscriber, become one! The deal that I offer is the best available! www.furyunlimited.com/_sgg/m2_1.htm

Houston, we have an unknown prototype...

I got a mail from Justin Forsell, USA mentioning a Vectrex prototype his father was working on. His father worked in Research & Design at Milton Bradley for over 20 years.

See more photos here.

We are looking for more informations about the Prototype.
Please contact us if you know someting more about it...

Spike - Vectrex (Morgantj Remix)(mp3) (right click to safe)

Spike - Vectrex (Morgantj Remix)(youtube)

Composed by Travis Morgan at www.travisjmorgan.com

Hello Vectrex fans,

This project that started around two years ago has finally come to fruition. I am happy to say that I am now selling reproduction overlays.

Graphically reproduced by Peteski and brought to you by VectrexMad!

Reproduction Mine Storm & Pole Position Reproduction Overlays:
-Professional screen printed
-4 Colour overlay
-Better colour registration then the original overlays
-White ink on the back layer (as per the original overlays)
-Die cut

Price for one set of overlays comprising one Mine Storm and one Pole Position and standard postage is

US £18.69
EC £17.21
UK £16.43

With normal postage I will not be responsible for loss or non arrival of package. I highly recommend recorded signed for postage method for countries other than the UK.

Price for one set of overlays comprising one Mine Storm and one Pole Position with recorded signed for postage

US £23.62
EC £22.16
UK £18.21

I've added a screenshot to the webpage, and will also add a sampling of the Tripod animation in a couple of weeks.
 
I've spent many hours meticulously re-creating the animation based on the Cinematronics original. I made a few minor graphical changes to better suit the Vectrex. This has taken a lot longer than anticipated, and so I must change the release to late April. My apologies, but the game will be worth the wait!

All pre-ordered Zantis games (1st and 2nd editions) have shipped.
If you haven't picked up Zantis, now is the time!

CGE
The show has been canceled this year! : (
I was looking forward to attending, because I wanted to
release this at the opening of the show...
 

The Vectorbeam classic! Announced for an August release!

Updated game play includes the original 2-player game + an all new single-player campaign mode with multiple enemies! Battle the dreaded Warhorse! Annihilate the Warlok and all of his mystical powers! 7 warriors in all! Warrior will be the first Fury game to include an overlay, and will also come in an original Vectrex-style box. The game will not be released in a stripped down version for a lower price and that decision is solely based on the fact that the overlay defines the game play area in this game. It's a part of the visuals, and not merely an enhancement. I can't think of another Vectrex game where that's true (correct me if I'm wrong).

I won't hesitate to admit that the price is heftier than my usual game prices, but that should be expected as the overlays/boxes are being professionally manufactured. The additional amount that I'm charging ($30) will barely cover the additional costs. I have already gone over this with the printing company that I'm using. It all boils down to thousands of dollars that I will be fronting for this project.

I recommend getting your pre-order in as soon as you can. This is a limited run of 100 games. No guarantees on a second run, which would require at least an additional 50 (over the initial 100) pre-orders for me to commit to it due to the minimum overlay purchase required by my printer.

Pre-ordering is open! $65 + s/h ($7.50 US/CAN - $15 ALL OTHERS). Slightly higher shipping to accommodate the larger box/packaging. As always, insurance is extra. Please allow up to 24 hours for order confirmation (includes serial #). The games will be numbered in the program, and also on the boxes this time. Like War of the Worlds, Warrior is another game that simply needed a Vectrex release and I'm happy to be the one to do it! This will be my final Vectrex game release for 2011.

Reordered the shop pages, if you now click on  in the menu you are directly send to the US eBay page. If you live somewhere else, please use links below to visit you local Vectrex Shop. To see the old shop index page with our Cartridge Collection for sell please click here.

• Canada
• Australia
• Great Britain
• Netherlands
• Germany
• Belgium
• France
• Spain
• Italy

These pages are for all vectrex lovers. If you look for information about Vectrex, and how the thing is programmed, you have come to the right place. There are not many places where you will find so much information about the Vectrex programming as this little place. These pages will not stagger you with blinding graphics, they actually will be quite boring for people not interested in vectrex programming and technical details. This collection of Vectrex programming related documents was started by Chris Salomon and is now maintained by the museums staff.

Now the complete collection is online again! Added the missing pages and TXTs. Vectrex Programmers, please have a look to the pages and send in additional programming informations. We need more Vectrex coders on this planet!

I know Arcadegame Heroes from the 80ties like I am have seen better days but now I am back! And I started my first blog to keep you guys updated of my trips all over the world and further galaxies. I have seen many countries on this dark & damp planet and many stories must be told. So don't hesitate and check my travel blog here, hosted at pongmuseum.com:

http://q-bert.pongmuseum.com

Please sign up for my newsletter or bookmark my RSS feed to stay updated.

Yours, Q-bert

USA - Feb 01 - CONTINUUM

Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing:

Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing:

Quoting a Mail by Vectrex Fan Derryl B.:

I started getting into Wikias several months ago, and seeing that there wasn’t one for the Vectrex, I started my own!
 
http://vectrex.wikia.com/wiki

Sean Kelly's Vectrex Multi-Cart V 1.2

Thanks to the previous owner Ray B. we have some great photos from the Sean Kelly Cart V 1.2 guts. Have a look!

Some information by the original owner Ray B.:

I purchased this cartridge directly from Sean Kelly in February of 1995. I've held on to this for over 15 years and barely ever used it. The glue holding the shell is old and not holding, so I opened it and took a shot of the guts.

V-Hockey is a top-view ice hockey game with arcade overtones, as your lone player (and goalkeeper) fight for control of the puck and attempt to score more goals than the opposition.

Features:
- One and two player modes
- Three levels of computer difficulty
- Vecvox support

Price: 19,95 EUROS

For further info, go to:
http://www.revival-studios.com/?page=112

Colorclash slim
================

Colorclash is a fun action game people can just pickup and play.
The player has to shoot the various gems that are falling down from the top of the screen. The gems are marked with symbols and the player has to match up the symbol on his ship with the symbol on the gems. The player has to clear a number of gems each level.

New Features:
- Both Vector and Bitmap modes included
- Internet Highscore uploading
- Atari paddle support
- Various smaller fixes

Original Features:
- Fun pickup and play type game
- Small learning curve
- Vecvoxx support
- Free bonus game: xudoku

Price: 19,95 EUROS

For further info, go to: http://www.revival-studios.com/?page=36

The games will be offered for sale at the revival studios booth. Besides these 2 new releases Revival Studios will also offer earlier vectrex releases like the 3d scape cart and Vectoblox and showings of new games in development. Both these games, as well as other revival studios games can also be bought online at www.revival-studios.com , starting today. Shipping&Handling for online orders are 5 euros per game. Orders can be placed by mailing to sales (at) revival-studios.com

For more information about these and other vectrex games, check out the revival studios website:
http://www.revival-studios.com

For more information about the retro spelcomputer event in apeldoorn, go to:
http://www.bonami-spelcomputer-museum.nl/

• Canada
• France
• Germany
• Great Britain 
• Netherlands 
  
• Spain
• USA
  

300 BAUD is 100% volunteer operated by people who care about dusty old computers.
 
CONTENTS

    •    Vectrex: Brings Real Arcade Play Home
    •    Dragon 32: How to Make Friends and Influence People in the 1980s
    •    Punched Paper Tape
    •    Up From The Depths
    •    Linintosh: how to bootstrap your vintage Mac from your Windows PC
    •    Basic Repair Techniques: Soldering
    •    Jupiter Ace Goes Forth

Get Issue #1 and more infos at www.300baudmagazine.com

 
Pre-ordering Sectis will have two very nice benefits, as follows:
 

More Info and pre-ordering at www.furyunlimited.com

Limited Edition - Construction Kit - For Sell

Vectrex collector and hardware freak Rudy assembled a high quality and great looking cabinet version for the Vectrex system. It features a complete and safe housing for the Vectrex and high quality parts for the game controls. The cabin controls are connected via the standard connection port to the Vectrex, there is no need for changes on the Vectrex system itself.

The cabin is build completely from wood, later colored in black and some original game designs are added - you can choose between red Scramble or blue MineStorm design. All parts are made by hand, Rudy uses the Donkey Kong cabinet in half size with the exact measure for the side and adapted the width for put a Vectrex in it.

There will be a limited production of only 5 VecArcade "Series One" Construction Kits, in collaboration with VectrexMuseum who owns the #1 model. A Sticker including the production number, the production date and the name of the first owner will be attached to the VecArcade.

You find more informations and the order list here!

Many thanks for featuring the VecArcade goes out to Jeroen at www.vectrex.nl and the guys at arcadeheroes.com

Steve Bender replaced the normal joystick with a self-centering driving wheel. Check out these 8 pictures at playvectrex.com - behind the development of a very cool, very custom controller for the Vectrex.

Essentially the exact same game as Clean Sweep, but in this case the liquor company Mr. Boston commissioned this promotional version of the game for the Vectrex. Very few (four?) cartridges are known to exist. The last Mr Boston Cart sold for $3400.00 cash plus a boxed Bandai Vectrex. It is listed at www.gamesniped.com as number seven of the ten worlds most expensive video games ever! 

Read more about Mr. Boston and Clean Sweep

The VectrexMad!  AutoFire Dongle

For the MB/GCE Vectrex. Available for only 11.99 GBP at www.vectrex.co.uk

The VectrexMad! Productions AutoFire dongle gives you super human shooting powers. "Fire"/shooting finger hurting or need some help to get to a higher level in a game?  Then the AutoFire dongle could be just what you are looking for. With the AutoFire dongle holding down the fire button shooting is continuous.

See a YouTube Video of the Dongle in action.

It includes all of the original Vectrex releases (except for Animaction), and a variety of prototypes, homebrew games and demos. Version 1.01 of the multicart now includes the full standard version of City Bomber, and an exclusive game - Hangman. The cartridge is menu based and all of the games are organised in categories (left and right on the joystick select a category, up and down select a game). For purchasing details, please see Andrew's  shop page at vectrex.playntradeonline.com

Before the Mini-Cade was discovered, it was rumored to exist as several people reminded an arcade cabinet in the public areas playing Minestorm. This could be the system they saw. There are seven systems known to exist. Two systems were found in the Massachusetts state.

The Minicade is a table-top arcade system that was built in 1982 by a society named ESI in the Boston area in the USA. The Mini-Cade is interesting for the Vectrex collectors because it's built arround a vectrex system. It's like if the Vectrex system was taken back to its original roots: after all, the Vectrex was made to bring home the arcade excitement.