I first experienced a Vectrex console not that long ago at retro gaming night at the Centre for Computing History (back in 2015). This unique system intrigued me straight away and I wanted to know more about it as I honestly couldn’t recall it from my childhood. I would eventually own the system and start collecting games old and new for the Vectrex. The system has an interesting history and a vibrant collecting scene in the present day too. Let’s take a look at the Vectrex.
More 80s Gaming Fun:
- 80’s Handheld and Tabletop Electronic Games
- 80s Handheld Arcade Defender Game
- The Best Vectrex Games
The Development and Launch of the Vectrex Console
The Vectrex console was the first and only vector display based console. The original concept of the Vectrex was to be a mini arcade that you could have in your home with a built-in screen and controls all in one unit which is pretty much what it became.
The Vectrex was developed in late 1980 and into 1981 by Jay Smith who was the head of Western technologies and Smith engineering. After initially being offered to Kenner the concept was eventually licensed to General Consumer Electronics aka GCE.
Lots of names were suggested for the system during development such as Vector X and eventually this would be honed into Vectrex. The name of the console of course leaned heavily toward the vector graphics that the console would offer. The Vectrex would offer a different gaming experience compared to the other systems available during that time period.
The system was officially launched in November 1982 in the United States of America coming with the built in game Mine Storm which is a fun asteroids clone, it also came with a self-Centring joystick with four buttons and a port for a second joystick if you wanted to add one for 2 player games.
I personally love the Vectrex controllers as they offer 4 button controls which is unusual for systems of the early 80s and the 4 buttons give more flexibility to the games. These are very much an early arcade stick for home gaming.
A Mobile Vector Arcade!
The Vectrex of course also came with its built-in vertical screen meaning that the concept of the system could be advertised as being portable around the home. The system could easily be moved around the house and played in bedrooms or living rooms simply by unplugging it, picking it up and moving it to the next preferred location (although that was best done by an adult and not a small child).
The graphics on the system are black and white vector graphics so to add a bit of colour each original released game comes with a colour overlay that slots over the systems screen. These work really well but if you are trying to collect the original release games I would recommend making sure that these are included with any games that you do buy.
Vectrex Console Pricing & Sales Problems
The original price was a $199 on its first release. In the spring of 1983 Milton Bradley would go on to buy GCE and they were impressed with the Vectrex and went for a full European market release. MB saw potential in the Vectrex console.
The system would see its full European release first off in Germany in the summer of 1983 with a light pen also being developed for the system as well as a 3D imager to play 3D games through a 3D headset.
The Vectrex games came in this cool grey white grid box design and the cartridges being fairly small and sliding into the cartridge port located on the left side of the machine.
Sadly, the system sales figures were disappointing, and the $199 price would quickly drop to $150 and eventually to $100. Milton Bradley would go on to suffer a $32 million loss and in February 1984 would discontinue the manufacturing of the system but there was still a stock problem that needed to be dealt with. Milton Bradley had warehouses full of Vectrex stock and this would have to be sold to discounters and was sold at $45 per console with games being sold for $5 to $10.
Here in the UK the Vectrex would also see the price of the system slashed to as low as £39.95 with games under £10 each too as stockpiles were cleared.
A Small Games Library was the Result of Short Market Life Span
With such a short manufacturing lifespan from late 82 into early 1984 meant that there wasn’t a massive games library with 18 European release games over in Europe and 29 games released overall.
I got my Vectrex back in the spring of 2016 and fortunately it came with quite a few boxed games and I am now the proud owner of all 18 of the European release game titles (all complete too). Trying to get the 18 was a slow process because there are not loads and loads of games out there and you have to wait for them to come along at the right price. Other than one title that came from a games expo the rest were eBay purchases.
What are my Favourite Vectrex Games?
I do enjoy Armour attack and I really like hyper Chase it’s a fun vector racing game but a couple of my real go to favourites would have to be the arcade conversions of Scramble which is a fantastic title and also Berserk.
Looking Back at the Vectrex
Now the Vectrex was possibly a victim of being a system released at the wrong time as
it was released just as the North Americans games crash was about to happen and with its failed European release it never really set the world alight. With Europe the UK being into their home micro computers it never really stood much of a chance on either side of the Atlantic.
Home Brew Vectrex Heroes
I love the Vectrex I think it’s a really cool unique charming little system. There’s a really cool homebrew scene among Vectrex collectors today which has been going on for many years. In recent years games like Big Blue have been released on the Vectrex as well as Stramash Zone and Frontier.
Big Blue is a fun little diving adventure game you have to visit different areas of the ocean around an island and look for keys and go looking for treasure dodging sharks and jellyfish.
Stramash Zone is very much a tribute to the vector arcade classic Battle Zone. It’s really cool game and this is the sort of game that the Vectrex was made for.
If you’ve got a Vectrex or you’re considering getting a Vectrex it’s not going to be quick to get hold of a full collection of games. One answer to this situation is to consider getting a multi-cart. Multi carts are a great way to try lots of different Vectrex games both original releases and home brew titles. There’s a few out there but I have the Sean Kelly version that was released a few years ago now and this is has a lot of titles to enjoy and it’s a lot of fun.
Final Thoughts
The Vectrex console is a great system with a fun but not a large library of games. The small library of games does offer different styles of games of which most are really playable and a lot of fun. The Vectrex is a really great system from the early 80s. It has an interesting story and with a strong following of dedicated fans that keeps the system interesting by supporting new home brew games and encouraging new collectors into the Vectrex scene.
My Vectrex Console Videos
I have made some Videos on the Vectrex for my Retro Gamer Daz YouTube Channel. The first is the video version of this article and I have also published a few collection videos too. Take a look below.
For more about 1980s video games give these a try…
The Best Commodore 64 Games – My Top 10
10 Things Only 1980’s Gamers Did
Keep it retro.
Daz
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