People are concerned gaming about refresh rates. Vector monitors were an early solution. I used to make vector monitor systems for research. We always shot for a 1000 Hz refresh rate. Sometimes it would have to be as low as 500. But even beyond that, you could interject something in a refresh (skip to a spot). So, in terms of when things change on the screen you can put things on whenever you want and not wait for a refresh. You'd need a mini-computer for this in the 70's but home computers could run one in the 80's. Considering that 3D graphics are entirely vector drawings a modern monitor that didn't depend on refresh rates could just put things up as fast as they are available. One advantage of LCDs is that they don't actually need to be refreshed at all. You can turn a pixel on and just leave it alone. With CRTs you constantly had to update the information. DVI standard included the ability to have no refresh rate and just change what needed changes. There is no technical reason for LCD screens that everyone has now to have a refresh rate at all. They could have something like a refresh rate maximum, but there's no reason for things to be refreshed every screen unless something changes. It's just what we're left with from old raster style CRTs.
I would like to have one of these again, for Rip Off and Star Castle. There's just no good substitute for a vector graphics screen. They had such a unique look.
I just found one of these in a dumpster of a goodwill. Came with controller attached and also found two games surprised when I got it home and it worked.
I bought mine from Woolworths when they first came out. Got berzerk and scramble with it. Still got it now, original packaging , box, and even the Woolworths outer box 👍
I always enjoyed the aesthetics of vector graphics, the clean lines are very pleasing to the eye. The Vectrex was something I really wanted as a kid but I never got one. Too expensive. Looking on ebay I see they're selling from £700 upwards. I saw one for £2500, but that had everything, a second controller and all the games complete with overlays. A beautiful thing but, man, what a price tag.
The "refresh rate" in Vectrex was determined by the lenght of lines on the screen. More elements/lines on the screen = less frames. You can observate it very well in Asteroids.
I hate to be a stickler for details but the Entex Adventure Vision also had it's own built in display. As for Vectrex, I love this system. My favorite title is the "pack-in" Minestorm. Scramble and Solar Quest are also nice titles. To be honest, I love the vector graphics so I would play any of them.
I bought one several years ago before the price shot up. I'm getting my controller repaired at the moment because they all seem to break eventually. Other than that my Vectrex is in great working order and I'm happy to have it.
Got one for Christmas, it was so expensive at the time my Ole Man said you’re only getting this and 1 cartridge! After I left home and was on my own, my folks had a garage sale and sold it for $15, when my mother told me, my mouth hit the floor!!!
The sound effects really brought back the essence of early '80's computerized games. Even though the games seemed simplistic it was a heck of a chore to master them. "Commodore," that's what I'm recalling now, one of the early compact computers, an all-in-one self-contained unit. I recall in the late '80's I lived in Lakewood, CA, fairly close to Long Beach, when the Commodore needed a repair or two. It was done in a couple of days, reasonably, worked like new and I packed it away in its original shipping box as I was moving back to Florida. It sits in my attic, never opened, to this day. The 1980's, were interesting and entertaining days for computers as there were many small outfits trying to gain a foothold in the industry. The PC today is simply boring.
I grew up in the early 2000's but my dad came home with one of these and I used to play it all the time I only had two games for it though but one of them was pole position, I regret selling it when i was in 7th grade now though might try to find one again
I got to play with one of these when I was in third grade I worked at a comic book store and my boss owned one. I'd like to own one myself these days. Might start looking.
It shouldn't be too hard to build a Vectrex driving controller. Any basic analog steering wheel uses a potentiometer, just like the Vectrex analog stick. With the right wiring, I think the Vertrex Y axis could be split between a gas and brake pedals, if that would make sense given how the games are controlled. Another option, would be to wire the gas pedal into the Y axis and replace the brake potentiometer by a switch to activate the brake.
The Fix for your Analog Controller is right behind you. Take the spring out of one of your Atari 2600 Cartridge. Its the same spring in the Vectrex controller.
Vectrex is probably the single Mose unique video game console of all time. The only true vector graphics at home gaming device ever! It’s a shame it released at such a horrible time. I love mine though. It brings out crazy reactions if I ever take it out to a con or someplace lol
My grandparents had one. Not sure when they got it, or why. Small farming community in Midwest Canada. I spent hours on that thing and I really want to track it down. My grandparents passed around 3 years ago and not sure where it ended up. 30 years old and it still worked. Good luck saying that in 30 years about anything made now 😂
i have a disgusting hub cap a customer dropped off at work 2015ish expedition hub cap with a weird spinning....thing glued off center in the middle lol
People are concerned gaming about refresh rates. Vector monitors were an early solution. I used to make vector monitor systems for research. We always shot for a 1000 Hz refresh rate. Sometimes it would have to be as low as 500. But even beyond that, you could interject something in a refresh (skip to a spot). So, in terms of when things change on the screen you can put things on whenever you want and not wait for a refresh. You'd need a mini-computer for this in the 70's but home computers could run one in the 80's.
Considering that 3D graphics are entirely vector drawings a modern monitor that didn't depend on refresh rates could just put things up as fast as they are available. One advantage of LCDs is that they don't actually need to be refreshed at all. You can turn a pixel on and just leave it alone. With CRTs you constantly had to update the information. DVI standard included the ability to have no refresh rate and just change what needed changes. There is no technical reason for LCD screens that everyone has now to have a refresh rate at all. They could have something like a refresh rate maximum, but there's no reason for things to be refreshed every screen unless something changes. It's just what we're left with from old raster style CRTs.
I still have mine in my attic, armor attack and the submarine game were my favorite, also enjoyed star castle.
Dose it work
I remember wanting one of these as a kid. Mmm, now I almost want one now.
I would like to have one of these again, for Rip Off and Star Castle. There's just no good substitute for a vector graphics screen. They had such a unique look.
I just found one of these in a dumpster of a goodwill. Came with controller attached and also found two games surprised when I got it home and it worked.
Wow. They sell for a lot on ebay. Crazy that someone would just throw it out without checking the value of it.
I bought mine from Woolworths when they first came out. Got berzerk and scramble with it. Still got it now, original packaging , box, and even the Woolworths outer box 👍
I love Vectrez. I showed my console to my 8th graders a few years back. They loved it, too.
Got one for xmas right when they came out - it was so great! You need to find the screen overlays and get Scranble :)
Scramble was the best game
The Vectrex had great versions of most or all of the arcade vector graphics games. One of the best was Star Castle.
Back in the 80s my brother had a Vextrex. Interesting game console. As well as concept for display.
I always enjoyed the aesthetics of vector graphics, the clean lines are very pleasing to the eye. The Vectrex was something I really wanted as a kid but I never got one. Too expensive. Looking on ebay I see they're selling from £700 upwards. I saw one for £2500, but that had everything, a second controller and all the games complete with overlays. A beautiful thing but, man, what a price tag.
The "refresh rate" in Vectrex was determined by the lenght of lines on the screen.
More elements/lines on the screen = less frames.
You can observate it very well in Asteroids.
It's that one console I've been wanting for 20 years.
Cosmic Chasm is SUCH a badass game.! It is the one game I would have most loved to seen have seen been ported to different consoles..
CC was awesome!
I hate to be a stickler for details but the Entex Adventure Vision also had it's own built in display. As for Vectrex, I love this system. My favorite title is the "pack-in" Minestorm. Scramble and Solar Quest are also nice titles. To be honest, I love the vector graphics so I would play any of them.
Hello from France ,thanks for press articles about this mythic console 👍👍👍👍
this thing is really cool. Thanks Torch!
I bought one several years ago before the price shot up. I'm getting my controller repaired at the moment because they all seem to break eventually. Other than that my Vectrex is in great working order and I'm happy to have it.
Fortress of Narzod & Web Wars are two of my faves!
Just got one at a garage sale with 8 games and the color screens for $50 CAD.. so hyped rn
I used to have one when I was a kid. “Help! Spike” “Oh no, Molly!”
DARNIT
You forgot the "Eek" before "Help". :-)
Got one for Christmas, it was so expensive at the time my Ole Man said you’re only getting this and 1 cartridge! After I left home and was on my own, my folks had a garage sale and sold it for $15, when my mother told me, my mouth hit the floor!!!
@@robertalexander2478 dude, that hurts my brain
@@signdeals4972 I know right!!! There were also screens that came with each game that were attached to the monitor screen
I have one in the box with multiple games, the light pen and the stencils for the pen. My dad bought it new. Edit: I have the overlays and stencils
We used to hire this out of a local corner shop for £2.50 a day. The 80s were just the best!
The sound effects really brought back the essence of early '80's computerized games. Even though the games seemed simplistic it was a heck of a chore to master them. "Commodore," that's what I'm recalling now, one of the early compact computers, an all-in-one self-contained unit. I recall in the late '80's I lived in Lakewood, CA, fairly close to Long Beach, when the Commodore needed a repair or two. It was done in a couple of days, reasonably, worked like new and I packed it away in its original shipping box as I was moving back to Florida. It sits in my attic, never opened, to this day. The 1980's, were interesting and entertaining days for computers as there were many small outfits trying to gain a foothold in the industry. The PC today is simply boring.
Just bought one with the multicard and all the sheets. Its awesome !!!!
Looks better than the Commodore 64 Pole Position I used to play.
I grew up in the early 2000's but my dad came home with one of these and I used to play it all the time I only had two games for it though but one of them was pole position, I regret selling it when i was in 7th grade now though might try to find one again
I love the Vectrex got 4 of them,and ofcourse a lot of homebrew games
They actually make a pretty cool new color covers for Vectrex now. Techmoan recently reviewed them.
I got to play with one of these when I was in third grade I worked at a comic book store and my boss owned one. I'd like to own one myself these days. Might start looking.
Jesus, I wanted to have one of those. Nice!
Vectrex is such a fantastic console. Minestorm (the built in game) crashes after level 13. (trying to get to 13 is pretty difficult)
It shouldn't be too hard to build a Vectrex driving controller. Any basic analog steering wheel uses a potentiometer, just like the Vectrex analog stick. With the right wiring, I think the Vertrex Y axis could be split between a gas and brake pedals, if that would make sense given how the games are controlled. Another option, would be to wire the gas pedal into the Y axis and replace the brake potentiometer by a switch to activate the brake.
The Fix for your Analog Controller is right behind you. Take the spring out of one of your Atari 2600 Cartridge. Its the same spring in the Vectrex controller.
You mean from Atari pad?
Vectrex is probably the single Mose unique video game console of all time. The only true vector graphics at home gaming device ever! It’s a shame it released at such a horrible time. I love mine though. It brings out crazy reactions if I ever take it out to a con or someplace lol
Wow! I am dusting off a vague old memory of playing this thing.
My grandparents had one. Not sure when they got it, or why. Small farming community in Midwest Canada. I spent hours on that thing and I really want to track it down. My grandparents passed around 3 years ago and not sure where it ended up. 30 years old and it still worked. Good luck saying that in 30 years about anything made now 😂
lol, dang I feel old now since I actually played one at a friend's house when I was a kid in the 80's
Holy balls, I played one at a friend’s house in 5th grade...and it was 10 years old, then!
Where can you find the multicartridges with the full game library
We had one it was a Xmas gift it was awesome
this was the loudest most obscene console i ever came across as a kid, it was wild.
Is that a Tandy laptop you have in the background?
I have one with 2 controllers and a bunch of games. Only issue is I dont have the screen overlays
WTF is a Vectrex? The greatest console ever made. That's what.
Is that a Nintendo Virtual Boy?
A 4k monitor from the 80s? That really is advanced!
Maybe 24K monitor from 80's
Techmoan did a video about fixing the buzzing noise.
this system looks like it would be a blast on a couple hits of acid lol
We had one and it was and has been the ONLY video game I could play. Couldn’t play others for no other reason then I’m just no good at video games.
My cousin had one of these , we spent hours on it in the 80s
World love to have one again
I still play mine.
i had this console when i was a kid
people are still making games for this thing. it does look neat not gonna lie
You forgot to shift from first in hyperchase
Reminds me of 'Battlezone' by Atari.
I have one, willing to sell. Great condition and multiple games. Let me know if interested. Thanks.
I had onejust sold it I wonder if I got ripped off ,
Fortress of Narzod!
Came here for a Valtrex joke...
I spy a TRS80 PC100 😀
My father gave my old one away to the church flea market🥴
Just looked them up on Ebay.....$600 value?.....hell no
i have a disgusting hub cap a customer dropped off at work
2015ish expedition hub cap with a weird spinning....thing glued off center in the middle lol
You would be surprised at what some of that stuff goes for now
They’re only going to increase in value and become even harder to find working.
It's not that hard getting overlays
NOT A CAR
First here! What's up Torchinsky!