deflecting it old school

10 years ago

Previously, previously, previously.

Tags: computers, firstperson, photography, retrocomputing, toys

19 Responses:

1. Jacob says:

   10 years ago at 5:28 pm

   Vectrex! Minesweeper! I used to be awesome with that not really self-recentering little metal joystick!

   • Jacob says:

     10 years ago at 5:30 pm

     Sorry, Mine STORM, it's been a while!

2. Dan says:

   10 years ago at 5:37 pm

   Mine's sitting on my dining room table right now with a stack of games. I used to love turning up the brightness to see the beam. Still a great little unit. It's amazing that it ever got to market at all.

   • Jacob says:

     10 years ago at 5:44 pm

     My brother took ours from our mom's house recently. His kids play with it now. Two generations appreciating vector scan technology.
     I used to play all the time until we got a Sega Master System.

     • jwz says:

       10 years ago at 7:52 pm

       I don't actually have any carts for this thing, so it's just the built-in for me. The carts are pretty pricey on ebay! Maybe I'll get one of the multi-carts, or do they suck?

       • Jeremy Wilson says:

         10 years ago at 8:20 pm

         No, they work perfectly. Has a little menu you pick from.

         • jwz says:

           10 years ago at 8:22 pm

           Huh, the only one I see for sale has six dip switches on it!

           • Jeremy Wilson says:

             10 years ago at 9:11 pm

             The one I got more than a decade ago had a menu - it was home brew by a guy on rec.games.video.classic.

             I sold off my Vector years ago so I don't have it to check names and point you in a direction, sorry.

           • Jeremy Wilson says:

             10 years ago at 9:22 pm

             Found this: http://vectrex.playntradeonline.com/multicart.html

             It has the menu system I remember.

             • jwz says:

               10 years ago at 11:47 pm

               Sweet! Just ordered.

               • antabakayt says:

                 10 years ago at 4:09 am

                 That multicart has a small problem - the menu doesn't work with the newest version of the Vectrex console (BIOS checksum 7ADB). But I think that version of the console was mostly sold in Europe so you should be unaffected by that.

                 Also, maybe use the small dial at the back of the machine to reduce the "ghost" lines that are shown.

                 • jwz says:

                   10 years ago at 12:46 pm

                   But I like seeing the tracers!

               • Dan says:

                 10 years ago at 4:38 am

                 Check here, too: http://www.classicgamecreations.com/

3. Nrmrvrk says:

   10 years ago at 9:33 pm

   I loved the Vectrex back in the day. They were just about the only home system to get the joystick right despite being so small. Lucky you.

4. Jens Kilian says:

   10 years ago at 2:32 am

   I have to get mine out of the cellar to see if it still works... Unfortunately, I don't have the original controller (I hacked a replacement out of a cheap PC joystick, but it doesn't work very well).

5. gmontag says:

   10 years ago at 10:47 am

   Now you need the Vectrex 3d imager.

   VR from 1984 made from bear skins and flint knives.

   • antabakayt says:

     10 years ago at 11:27 am

     Don't knock the rotating discs, dude.
     We did not know how advanced that shit was.

6. jwz says:

   10 years ago at 12:42 pm

   Incidentally, the Vectrex for iOS app isn't bad, though it's always hard using a touchscreen as a joystick.

7. John Pallister says:

   10 years ago at 1:32 pm

   Ah, the memories... My Dad brought one back to New Zealand from a trip to SF (Altos Computers, anyone?). I played Mine Storm so much that I discovered that if you got to some fairly high level the game would just expire. I still have it somewhere. Motorola 68000 FTW!