Jay Plays Vectrex - The Every Vectrex Game Special (Part 1)
11Checking out the glorious polygonal library of the 1982 Vectrex!
If you liked this video consider supporting the series ► https://www.patreon.com/GamingJay1001
Follow me on Twitter ► https://twitter.com/GamingJay1001
Check out the website ► http://letsplay1001.com/
Check out the book ► http://www.amazon.com/1001-Video-Games-Must-Before/dp/0789320908
I'm Gaming Jay: Youtube gamer, let's player, fan of retro games, and determined optimist... Normally I'm working my way through the book 1001 VIDEO GAMES YOU MUST PLAY BEFORE YOU DIE in my Let's Play 1001 Games series. But today I'm doing something totally different. In this two-part special I will be trying out EVERY game ever made for the Vectrex video game console. From Mine Storm to Armor Attack, Berzerk to Pole Position, Fortress of Narzod to Star Castle, we're going to look at the best, the worst, and everything in between. So if you're a fan of the Vectrex sit back, relax, and let's play!
Vectrex
from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vectrex
The Vectrex is a vector display-based home video game console that was developed by Western Technologies/Smith Engineering.[1] It was licensed and distributed first by General Consumer Electronics (GCE), and then by Milton Bradley Company after its purchase of GCE. It was released in November 1982 at a retail price of $199 ($490 adjusted for inflation[2]); as Milton Bradley took over international marketing the price dropped to $150, then reduced again to $100 shortly before the video game crash of 1983 and finally retailed at $49 after the crash.[3] The Vectrex exited the console 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 Vectrex is monochrome and uses plastic screen overlays to simulate color and various static graphics and decorations. At the time, many of the most popular arcade games used vector displays, and through a licensing deal with Cinematronics, GCE was able to produce high-quality versions of arcade games such as Space Wars and Armor Attack.
Vectrex comes with a built-in game, Mine Storm. 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. In the U.S., the model number of the Vectrex is HP-3000.
The idea for the Vectrex was conceived by John Ross of Smith Engineering in late 1980.[4] He, Mike Purvis, Tom Sloper, and Steve Marking had gone to Electro-Mavin, a surplus warehouse in Los Angeles. They found a 1" cathode ray tube and considered if a small electronic game could be made of this. A demonstration of a vector-drawing cathode ray tube display was made by connecting the deflection yoke in a standard television to the channels of a stereo amplifier fed with music program material. An axillary yoke was used to keep the raster television's horizontal fly-back high-voltage system running. The demo led to a system originally conceived as a handheld called the Mini Arcade, but as Smith Engineering shopped the idea around to developers, it evolved into a tabletop with nine-inch screen.[4]
The system was ultimately licensed to General Consumer Electronics in 1981. After an exceptionally brief hardware and software development period, the Vectrex was unveiled June 7th of the following year at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago.[4] It was released to the public in November, just in time for the holidays. The launch sales were strong enough that Milton Bradley bought out General Consumer Electronics in early 1983.[4]
Milton Bradley's greater resources allowed the Vectrex to be released in parts of Europe within a few months of the buyout, and through a co-branding agreement with Bandai, in Japan as well.[4] However, the Video game crash of 1983 turned Milton Bradley's support of the Vectrex into a costly mistake. In May 1984, Milton Bradley merged with Hasbro, and the Vectrex was discontinued a few months after. Over its lifetime, it had cost Milton Bradley tens of millions of dollars.[4]
Prior to the Vectrex's discontinuation, a successor console with a color screen had been planned.[5] After the rights reverted to Smith Engineering, the company made plans to revive the Vectrex as a handheld, but the imminent arrival of Nintendo's Game Boy put an end to those plans.[4] In the mid-1990s, Jay Smith, then head of Smith Engineering, allowed new hardware and software development on a fee free / royalty free basis. Jay as also allowed duplication of the original Vectrex software on a not for profit basis in order to provide a method for Vectrex owners to obtain the original titles low cost or free.