The Vectrex Computer

I really enjoyed my Vectrex, I had every cartridge and every peripheral AFAICT. I ended up selling it to offset the cost of a fancy monitor for my Amiga :-).<p>Related Steve Ciarcia did a vector display which was a lot of fun back in the day. You can find it in the back issues of BYTE but here is a scan <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;drive.google.com&#x2F;file&#x2F;d&#x2F;1y6SfEN8idhdZ7Y_rNh0zD9uzHECBRDpe&#x2F;view?usp=sharing" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;drive.google.com&#x2F;file&#x2F;d&#x2F;1y6SfEN8idhdZ7Y_rNh0zD9uzHEC...</a>

I got to play on a Vectrex back in the day, it was super-fun -- especially because I had worked at Cinematronix before that. I really wish Vectrex was more successful, but vector displays were just super-limited. The positive of being pseudo-high-res wasn&#x27;t enough to overcome the fact that you literally couldn&#x27;t draw more than about 40-80 lines (depending on how long the lines were and how far apart they were).

I worked for Jay Smith, the inventor &amp; CEO of the company that made the Vectrex, after the Vectrex was already off the market. I wrote PlayStation 1 games at his company, where Jay is also the guy that basically invented realistic physics for bowling games. We wrote the Tiger Woods PGA Golf game with the South Park scandal at Adrenalin Interactive (Jay&#x27;s company.)

i have a vectrex on the shelf, and one of these guys in a box on the desk: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ombertech.com&#x2F;pitrex.php" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ombertech.com&#x2F;pitrex.php</a><p>holds the vectrex cpu in halt and drives the peripherals (including display) from a pi zero

The storage device being &#x27;wafer tapes&#x27; of 128k would suggest it was to be based on the Exatron Stringy Floppy. Although exatron only sold 75&#x27;&#x2F;64k tapes, Rotronics&#x2F;BSR sold a 128kB (presumably ~160&#x27;) format version of it for the ZX Spectrum (Wafadrive) and Vic-20&#x2F;C-64 (QDD).

Had a Vectrex bought on clearance from Toys R Us, sold it long ago unfortunately. I randomly though still have its Lightpen in my drawer here, any retro hardware aficionados need it?

So what exactly is a vectrex computer? My real question is what’s the limits of a vector display and why didn’t it take off?

Just checked and seen a Vectrex for sale on eBay (UK). Really can&#x27;t think of any justification to pay almost £400 for it though.

Nobody makes a consumer &#x27;vector monitor&#x27; for modern computers. I know; I searched high and low for one a few years back.

6809 was really easy to do vector graphics with ASM, far more than pixels. Guess why. You only had to track X and Y...

Is it true that the Vectrex&#x27;s vector display can damage eyes?