--- title: Milton Bradley Vectrex categories: - Consoles params: name: Vectrex image: /media/museum/photos/mb_vectrex_1s.jpg logo: /media/museum/logos/mb_vectrex_logo.gif company: /companies/milton-bradley company_name: Milton Bradley tabs: - photos - adverts - hardware - software - emulators - links - videos photos: - title: CGE VECTREX subtitle: '' text: The Vectrex was first marketed by CGE image: /media/museum/photos/cge_vectrex_1.jpg - title: MB VECTREX subtitle: '' text: This is a french model playing built-in game MineStorm image: /media/museum/photos/mb_vectrex_1.jpg - title: SWITCHED OFF subtitle: '' text: This system is switched off, and the its controller is stored at the bottom of the unit. image: /media/museum/photos/mb_vectrex_2.jpg - title: CONTROLLER IS OUT subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/mb_vectrex_3.jpg - title: SWITCHED ON subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/mb_vectrex_4.jpg - title: REAR subtitle: '' text: At the back of the system can be found a brightness knob image: /media/museum/photos/mb_vectrex_rear.jpg - title: RIGHT SIDE subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/mb_vectrex_r-side.jpg - title: CARTRIDGE SLOT subtitle: '' text: The cartridge slot is located at the right side of the system image: /media/museum/photos/mb_vectrex_cart-slot.jpg - title: CARTRIDGE PLUGGED IN subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/mb_vectrex_cart-inserted.jpg - title: CONNECTORS AND SETTINGS subtitle: '' text: What we see here are two controller connectors (up) and one reset button and one audio volume dial which also acts as a power switch. image: /media/museum/photos/mb_vectrex_connectors.jpg - title: CONTROLLER subtitle: '' text: The Vectrex control pad is composed of an analog joystick and 4 buttons image: /media/museum/photos/mb_vectrex_controller.jpg - title: CGE CONTROLLER subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/cge_vectrex_pad.jpg - title: CGE JAPANESE CONTROLLER subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/gce_vectrex_jap-pad.jpg - title: BANDAI JAPANESE CONTROLLER subtitle: '' text: Controller of the japanese Bandai Vectrex image: /media/museum/photos/bandai_vectrex_controller_1.jpg - title: VECTREX & MAC subtitle: '' text: Don't they look familiar ? image: /media/museum/photos/mb_vectrex_mac.jpg - title: TWO PLAYERS subtitle: '' text: This a Vectrex playing Space Wars, a two players game... image: /media/museum/photos/mb_vectrex_2-players.jpg - title: PLASTIC OVERLAYS subtitle: '' text: These color plastic overlays have to be placed in front of the screen for each game, thus enabling colorful playing ! image: /media/museum/photos/mb_vectrex_overlays.jpg - title: BOX subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/mb_vectrex_box.jpg adverts: - title: FRENCH ADVERT (1984) subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/pubs/mb_vectrex_pub_1.jpg - title: US ADVERT subtitle: '' text: Thanks to Tim_K for this picture image: /media/museum/pubs/vectrex_pub-high-perfomance-machine.jpg hardware: - title: PROTOTYPE subtitle: '' text: |- This is the only picture of the computer prototype for the Vectrex. Specialists say that the keyboard pictured here was a mockup and that no Vectrex computer was ever ready to be sold. The specifications however would have been : 66 key keyboard, 16 KB RAM upgradable to 64 KB, and a Basic cartridge. image: /media/museum/hardware/mb_vectrex_computer_1.jpg emulators: - title: DVE - DOS Vectrex Emulator url: http://www.arcadeathome.com/dve/ platform: MS DOS text: Excellent DOS emulator - title: VECX url: http://www.valavan.net/vectrex.html platform: Windows text: another Vectrex emulator - title: M.E.S.S. url: http://www.mess.org platform: Multiplatform text: MESS also emulates Vectrex system ! - title: ParaJVE url: http://vectrex-emu.blogspot.com/ platform: Multiplatform text: Java emulator links: - title: Classic Game Creations url: http://www.classicgamecreations.com/ text: New Vectrex games programmed by John Dondzila. - title: FURY url: HTTP://GEOVECTOR.TRIPOD.COM text: New Vectrex games developped by George Pelonis, including War Of The Robots - title: Game Asylum - Vectrex page url: http://www.gameasylum.us/gcbrve.html text: nice article with very interesting time line - title: KRISTOF's Vectrex page for new games url: http://members.lycos.nl/kristoftuts/index.html text: New Vectrex games developped by Kristof Tuts - title: playvectrex.com url: http://www.playvectrex.com/ text: Very good site essentially focused on hardware projects related to the Vectrex - title: Revival Studios url: http://www.revival-studios.com/ text: Old systems developper, inlcuding VexOS and VexOS Basic and impressive demos!! - title: Spike's Big Page url: http://www.classicgaming.com/vectrex/ text: Excellent Vectrex ressource with big archive - title: Vectrex Game Database url: http://vgdb.vectrex.com/index.pl text: A comprehensive list of Vectrex games, past, present and future - title: Vectrex ressource center url: http://www.losgatoscollectibles.com/vectrex/ text: games, manuals, overlays, links and more - title: www.vectrex.co.uk url: http://www.vectrex.co.uk text: New resource for Vectrex Information - title: www.vectrex.com url: http://www.vectrex.com/ text: Mainly a list of relevant links - title: www.vectrex.nl url: http://www.vectrex.nl/ text: Very complete site with games for download, emus, articles, links, news, etc. - title: www.vectrexnews.com url: http://www.vectrexnews.com/ text: info and news about the Vectrex system - title: Web Wiz CAPTCHA url: http://www.webwizcaptcha.com text: Vectrex dedicated newsgroup videos: - title: Vectrex TV commercial url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1KQ4i5oRrM text: 'Length: 27 s' - title: Vectrex - 80's Finnish TV Commercial url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTBKCFYFzEs text: 'Length: 29 s' - title: Gamebot presents the Vectrex! url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8oQxl8GEjo text: 'Length: 3 min 33 s' - title: Mine Storm (Vectrex) (How To Beat Home Video Games 3) url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbGRkdHPqlc text: 'Length: 3 min 23 s' - title: Scramble (Vectrex) (How To Beat Home Video Games 3) url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpYOy2qp9OI text: 'Length: 2 min 37 s' - title: Berzerk (Vectrex) (How To Beat Home Video Games 3) url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzf3obuzslI text: 'Length: 2 min 29 s' comments: - author: max the collector (planet earth) date: Thursday 3rd February 2011 text: my freind has one of these. By the way you guys need to post the adventurvision - author: Quentin Paszkowski (France) date: Thursday 13rd August 2009 text: |- The vectrex...what''s an unusual machine.\ I''ve bought it with 13 games and a strange dedicatd green and gray bag.\ It has 9 pocket for cartridge at the right, 1 for the plastics films in front, and 2 pocket for controllers at the left.\ And the middle is for carrying the console.\ It close by the top with a scratch band.\ The console by itself is an unique experience of playing.\ Can we imagine today a machine like this ? - author: Father Fred (England) date: Sunday 27th November 2005 text: My son moved out resently leaving an old Vectrex I pluged it in and it still works. I had never seen one before i was woundering how many were prodused. My son says he has som games somewere in storage. He did not think there were many made. He allso says he only paid £5 from a market stall. - author: Danneman (Sweden) date: Thursday 10th November 2005 text: Wow! I used to own a machine like this. I don't remember what happened to it but it's lost forever. A quite nice console. - author: SKot Kirkwood (Houston, TX, USA) date: Wednesday 26th January 2005 text: I broke the Vectrex out of storage recently, and after a tricky repair to the fourth controller button the other night, it is working great. And I've still got the touch... nearly rolled Mine Storm past the 13th level on the first try without even making a big effort. software: - /software/3d-crazy-coaster - /software/3d-mine-storm - /software/3d-narrow-escape - /software/animaction - /software/armor-attack - /software/art-master - /software/bedlam - /software/berzerk - /software/blitz - /software/clean-sweep-also-known-as-mr-boston - /software/cosmic-chasm - /software/engine-analyzer - /software/fortress-of-narzod - /software/heads-up-action-soccer-also-known-as-soccer-football - /software/hyperchase - /software/melody-master - /software/mine-storm - /software/mine-storm-ii - /software/polar-rescue - /software/pole-position - /software/rip-off - /software/scramble-also-known-as-scramble-wars-jap - /software/solar-quest - /software/space-wars - /software/spike - /software/spinball-also-known-as-flipper-pinball-eur - /software/star-castle - /software/star-hawk - /software/star-trek-the-motion-picture-also-known-as-star-ship-eur-harmagedon-jap - /software/web-wars-also-known-as-web-warp-eur oc_id: 1018 source: url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230413211615/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1018 date: '2023-04-13' --- Vectrex is one of the most inspired video game machines ever produced. Its point of distinction is the fact that it uses vector "line" graphics (as opposed to raster "pixel" graphics). This is the same type of screen used in such arcade classics as Space Wars, Asteroids, Battlezone and Tempest. The machine has a 9 x 11 inch black and white screen and comes with a built-in Asteroids clone called Minestorm. The games come with plastic overlays that slide over the screen to cut down on flicker and give some illusion of color. It uses an 8 bit processor, the 68A09 (6809 with 1.5MHz clock speed), and a popular (at that time) sound chip, General Instruments AY-3-8912, which can produce a wide range of noises. Also included is a 1.5 inch, self-centering, joystick with 4 buttons on the right. It uses an analog/potentiometer system allowing differing degrees of directional input. --- Source : Vectrex FAQ