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Vectrex
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Not to be confused with Vectrix (motorcycle manufacturer) or Vectrix
(computer company).
Vector display-based home video game console
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Vectrex vector logo.svg
Vectrex-Console-Set.jpg
A Vectrex and its controller
Developer Smith Engineering
Manufacturer General Consumer Electronics (1982-83)
Milton Bradley Company (1983-84)
Type Home video game console
Generation Second generation
Release date
* NA: November 1982
* EU: 1983
* JP: 1983
Introductory price US$199 (equivalent to $560 in 2021)
Discontinued February 1984
Media ROM cartridge
CPU Motorola MC68A09 @ 1.5 MHz
Memory 1 KB
Display 9-inch cathode ray tube (CRT)
Graphics Vector-based
Sound AY-3-8912
Controller input 2 controller ports
The Vectrex is a vector display-based home video game console-the only
one ever designed and released for the home market, developed by Smith
Engineering. It was first released for the North America market in
November 1982 and then Europe and Japan in 1983. Originally
manufactured by General Consumer Electronics, it was later licensed to
Milton Bradley after they acquired the company. Bandai released the
system in Japan.
The Vectrex, in contrast to other video game systems at the time, does
not need to be hooked up to a television set. It has an integrated
monochrome CRT monitor. A detachable wired control pad can be folded
into the lower base of the console. Games came with translucent color
overlays to place over the screen. Peripherals include a pair of 3D
goggles known as the "3D Imager" and a light pen for drawing directly
on the screen. The Asteroids-inspired Mine Storm is built into the
system.
The console was conceived by John Ross, of Smith Engineering, in late
1980 as a handheld called the "Mini Arcade". It morphed into a tabletop
system that was manufactured by General Consumer Electronics. Strong
initial sales caused General Consumer Electronics to be acquired by
Milton Bradley. The Vectrex was a victim of the video game crash of
1983 and was discontinued in 1984.
Despite its commercial failure, the Vectrex was praised for its
software library, unique graphical capabilities, and built-in monitor.
Several publications lauded it as one of the best consoles available at
the time. The Vectrex was the first console to have a 3D-based
peripheral.^[1] A color handheld version of the Vectrex was conceived
in the late 1980s, but was shelved because of its manufacturing cost
and the success of the Nintendo Game Boy.
[ ]
Contents
* 1 History
* 2 Technical specifications
+ 2.1 Circuit board
+ 2.2 Sound
* 3 Design
* 4 Peripherals
* 5 Screen overlays
* 6 Software
* 7 Reception
* 8 Legacy
* 9 See also
* 10 References
* 11 External links
History[edit]
The Vectrex was conceived by John Ross of Smith Engineering in late
1980.^[2] He, Mike Purvis, Tom Sloper, and Steve Marking had gone to
Electro-Mavin, a surplus warehouse in Los Angeles. They found a 1-inch
cathode ray tube (CRT) and wondered if a small electronic game could be
made of it. 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 auxiliary 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.^[2]
The system was licensed to General Consumer Electronics in 1981. After
a brief hardware and software development period, the Vectrex was
unveiled on 7 June 1982 at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in
Chicago.^[2] It was publicly released in November at a retail price of
US$199, just in time for the holidays. The launch sales were strong
enough that Milton Bradley bought out General Consumer Electronics in
early 1983.^[2]
European release Vectrex with Star Ship game and overlay
Milton Bradley's greater resources allowed the Vectrex to be released
in parts of Europe by mid-1983 and, through a co-branding agreement
with Bandai, in Japan as well.^[2] However, the video game crash of
1983 turned Milton Bradley's support of the Vectrex into a costly
mistake, even despite reducing its price by 25% and then later 50% in
desperation to sell units. In February 1984, after losing $31.6 million
on the Vectrex, Milton Bradley announced the discontinuation of the
console and cancelled development of new games. The company's entire
inventory of consoles and accessories was sold off to mass-market
discount houses, where they were liquidated at a fraction of the
console's introductory price. By May 1984, Milton Bradley merged with
Hasbro and after-market support ended.^[2]^[3]
Prior to the Vectrex's discontinuation, a successor console with a
color screen had been planned.^[4] After the rights reverted to Smith
Engineering, the company made plans^[when?] to revive the Vectrex as a
handheld, but the imminent arrival of Nintendo's Game Boy put an end to
those plans.^[2] In the mid-1990s, Jay Smith, then head of Smith
Engineering, allowed new hardware and software development on a fee-
and royalty-free basis. Smith has also allowed duplication of the
original Vectrex software on a not-for-profit basis to allow Vectrex
owners to obtain the original titles at low cost or for free.^[5]
Technical specifications[edit]
Circuit board[edit]
* CPU: Motorola 68A09 @ 1.5 MHz
* RAM: 1 KB (two 4-bit 2114 chips)
* ROM: 8 KB (one 8-bit 2363 chip)
* Cartridge ROM: 32 KB
* MOS 6522 Versatile Interface Adapter (VIA)
Sound[edit]
* Sound: General Instrument AY-3-8912
* MCU controlled sound
* 3-inch electrodynamic paper cone speaker
Design[edit]
The computer and vector generator were designed by Gerry Karr. The
computer runs the game's computer code, watches the user's inputs, runs
the sound generator, and controls the vector generator to make the
screen drawings. The vector generator is an all-analog design using two
integrators: X and Y. The computer sets the integration rates using a
digital-to-analog converter. The computer controls the integration time
by momentarily closing electronic analog switches within the
operational-amplifier based integrator circuits. Voltage ramps are
produced that the monitor uses to steer the electron beam over the face
of the phosphor screen of the cathode ray tube. Another signal is
generated that controls the brightness of the line.
The cathode ray tube is a Samsung model 240RB40 monochrome unit
measuring 9 * 11 inches, displaying a picture of 240 mm diagonal; it is
an off-the-shelf picture tube manufactured for small black/white
television sets. The brightness of the CRT is controlled using a
circular knob on the back of the display. A vector CRT display such as
the one in 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, computer-controlled integrators feed
linear amplifiers to drive the deflection yoke. This yoke has similar,
if not identical inductances, unlike a TV deflection yoke. The yoke
uses a standard TV core. The high-voltage transformer also uses a
standard core and bobbin. There is special circuitry to turn off the
electron beam if the vector generator stops or fails. This prevents
burning of the screen's phosphors. This design is a great deal smaller
than the electronics found in the free-standing, full-sized Asteroids
arcade machine.
During development, for a short period of time, the possibility of
using the 6502 processor was considered, but later its performance was
considered insufficient.^[6]
Early units have a very audible "buzzing" from the built-in speaker
that reacts to the graphics generated on screen. This is due to
improper production grounding of signal lines of the low-level audio
circuitry, and was eventually resolved in later production models. A
"ground loop" had been created by a grounding strap added in production
to meet U.S. Federal Communications Commission signal radiation
requirements.^[citation needed] This idiosyncrasy has become a familiar
characteristic of the machine.
Peripherals[edit]
This section possibly contains original research. Please improve it by
verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements
consisting only of original research should be removed. (March 2008)
(Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Vectrex 3-D Imager
The 3-D Imager, invented by John Ross, turns the 2-D black-and-white
images drawn by the Vectrex into a color 3-D experience.^[7]^[8] The
imager works by spinning a disk in front of the viewer's eyes. The disk
is black for 180 degrees and in some cases has 60 degree wedges of
transparent red, green, and blue filters. The user looks through this
to the Vectrex screen. The Vectrex synchronizes the rotation of the
disk to the software frame rate as it draws 6 screens: with the right
eye covered: the left eye red image, then green, and then the blue
image is drawn, and then, while the left eye is covered by the black
180-degree sector: the right eye red, green, and then the blue image is
drawn. Only one eye will see the Vectrex screen and its 3 associated
images (or colors) at any one time while the other will be blocked by
the 180-degree mask.^[citation needed] The prototype was made in the
plastic casework of a Viewmaster. The disc spins freely and is driven
by a motor. The Vectrex software generates its own frame-rate and
compares it to an index signal from the glasses once per revolution.
Score is kept of how many wheel rotations are early compared to the
software frame rate, and how many are late. The software tries to keep
these two trends equal by adjusting the power being delivered to the
motor that spins the filter and mask wheel. Pulse Width Modulation
(PWM) is used to control the motor speed: the ratio of the "on" time
versus the "off" time of a rapid stream of power pulses to the motor.
In this way the software synchronizes the wheel rotation to the
software's frame rate, or drawing time, for the combined and repeating
group of up to 6 evolving images.
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
the angles from which they are drawn 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 due to the persistence of
vision. This creates the impression of 3-D and color.^[citation needed]
The same 3-D effect is in fact possible with raster or film-projection
images, and the shutter glasses used in some 3-D theaters and virtual
reality theme park rides work on the same principle.
The light pen allows the user to "draw", to create images and to
indicate, on the screen. It has a photo-detector that can see the
bright spot of the vector-drawing display monitor when it goes by under
the light pen's position where it is being held to the screen. The
photo-detector feeds internal pulse-catching circuits that tell the
Vectrex and its software of the event. The prototype was made in the
plastic casework of a Marks-A-Lot felt-tipped marker pen. The Vectrex
draws a spider-web-like search-pattern to track the pen's location. The
software changes the pattern size as the pen changes motions and
velocity in an attempt keep a continuous lock on the pen's position.
The Vectrex light pen was invented by John Ross.
Screen overlays[edit]
Games came supplied with color overlay sheets to compensate for the
limitations of the screen.
In order to enhance the display visuals of the Vectrex, every
commercially released game included its own unique translucent plastic
screen overlay that accompanied the cartridge (a concept first seen
with the Magnavox Odyssey, as well as some early arcade machines).^[9]
Instead of physically touching the CRT screen, four tabs on the Vectrex
console securely held them in place in front of it, with a small gap
between the actual screen and the overlay. Made up of one to three
colors for the play field area, these overlays provide the illusion of
simple color graphics (on an otherwise black and white screen), helped
reduced glare, flicker and gave the appearance of a flat screen. They
also allowed changes in brightness intensity of vector graphics to be
more visually distinctive. In some cases game designers created pseudo
color cycling effects, for a sense of movement, by using alternating
colored patterns. In addition to players' score areas, some overlays
also contained additional artwork and patterns, to add to the game's
play field. Across the bottom of each overlay are game-specific
joystick and button functions as a guide for the player. Each overlay
also displayed the title and logo of each game, along with a colored
border or design, to add cosmetic flair to the Vectrex (much like an
arcade machine with its marquee or side art). Overlays were not
required, but added to the experience in terms of the visual look of
game graphics and the overall display appearance of the console.
Software[edit]
Main article: List of Vectrex games
Some of the Vectrex's library consisted of ports of arcade hits, most
of them brought to the console through a licensing deal with
Cinematronics.^[2]
The liquor company Old Mr. Boston gave out a limited number of
customized Clean Sweep cartridges, with a Mr. Boston sticker on the
box. The overlay was 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.^[10] Clean Sweep was written by Richard Moszkowski.^[11]
Reception[edit]
Byte in 1982 called Vectrex "one of the greatest game machines we have
seen this year ... [Vectrex] is a good bet to score big with the
consumer". The magazine praised the screen, stating that "it almost has
to be seen to be believed; imagine playing games at home (or in the
office) using vector graphics with three-dimensional rotation and
zoom", and noted that "It is unusual and refreshing to see a product
appearing on the market with its software ready to run".^[12] David H.
Ahl stated in Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games in 1983 that
"Vector graphics really do make a difference, and the strong line-up of
games helps immensely".^[13]
Legacy[edit]
Since late 1995, there has been a Usenet community of hobbyists writing
games for ParaJVE, a Vectrex emulator.^[4] Its emulation is also a
compound of MESS^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17]^[18] (included in MAME,^[19] so
RetroArch too via libretro^[20]), DVE,^[21] lr-vex,^[22] Vecx, with a
Wii version called VectrexWii.^[23] Schematics for a "Vectrex
Multicart" cartridge is available, allowing several games to be packed
on one cartridge.^[24] There are also several people^[25] manufacturing
and selling newly made games, some complete as cartridges with packing
and overlays in the style of the original commercially released games,
others with varying degrees of packaging.
See also[edit]
* Microvision
* C1 NES TV
* List of commercial failures in video gaming
* List of Vectrex games
References[edit]
1. ^ Worley, Joyce (September 1984). "Farewell To Vectrex". Electronic
Games. pp. 82-84.
2. ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Barton, Matt and Loguidice, Bill. (2007).
A History of Gaming Platforms: The Vectrex, Gamasutra.
3. ^ "NewspaperArchive(R) |vectrex historic newspaper articles
including obituaries, births, marriages, divorces and arrests".
4. ^ ^a ^b Classic Videogame Hardware Genius Guide Imagine Publishing.
Chapter 9.
5. ^ Wolf, Mark J P (2012). Encyclopedia of Video Games: The Culture,
Technology, and Art of Gaming. Santa Barbara, California:
Greenwood. p. 245. ISBN 978-0-313-37936-9.
6. ^ "Vectrex Programmers Guide - Project Breaker and the 6502
Vectrex".
7. ^ What's New in Electronics, By William H. Hawkins, Popular
Science, Nov 1983, Page 116, ...3-D game maker: Wear the Vectrex
3-D Imager,...the images from special plug-in games are in 3-D and
color...made by GCE...Price: $50...
8. ^ InfoViews:'Rush in, Shake hands, Vittle up, Proceed home', By
John C. Dvorak, InfoWorld, 4 Jul 1983, Page 33, ..Anyway, the
fantastic Vectrex arcade machine is due to become Vectrex II and
come with an optional keyboard...One of the most interesting things
at CES was a 3-D Vectrex machine. You put on some weird spinning
glasses, and when you look at the screen, you see a full-color, 3-D
image. It was strange because the colors were in the spinning
glasses and somehow synchronized with the black-and-white TV image.
It was great...
9. ^ Kent, Steven (December 1997). "Retroview: Virtual Boy of the
'80s". Next Generation. No. 36. Imagine Media. p. 35.)
10. ^ World's Most Expensive Video Games
11. ^ "Vectrex Game Database". Vectrex Museum.
12. ^ Clark, Pamela (December 1982). "The Vectrex Arcade System". BYTE.
pp. 92-93. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
13. ^ Ahl, David H. (Spring 1983). "The Vectrex Arcade System".
Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games. p. 56.
14. ^ https://atariage.com/7800/emulation/mess_tutorial/
15. ^ "Spike's Big Page MESS".
16. ^ "MB Vectrex - Grospixels".
17. ^ "Die Vectrex Konsole - Power durch Vektoren!". 9 December 2018.
18. ^ "MESS - Multiple Emulator Super System".
19. ^ https://www.mamedev.org/
20. ^ "Libretro notice". GitHub. 15 October 2021.
21. ^ "Spike's Big Page Emulation".
22. ^ "Vectrex - RetroPie Docs".
23. ^ "VectrexWii - WiiBrew".
24. ^ http://www.harmlesslion.com/text/vectrex_multicart.htm
25. ^ "Player 2". 17 August 2018.
External links[edit]
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* Vectrex Museum including a Vectrex Wiki and the mirror of the
Vectrex Game Database
* Vectrex.co.uk Vectrex fan site with news, highscores, reviews,
manuals, patents, datasheets, and other docs
* Vectrex infosite News, manuals, reviews, screenshots, FAQs, scanned
manuals, scanned boxes and more.
* Spike's Big Vectrex Page Vectrex portal, recent
games/projects/news, information archive
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