knudsen@sri-unix (11/10/82)
Has anyone seen or touched the new Vectrex video game? I've read it sells for $200, which is CHEAP considering it has its own electrostatic (oscilloscope type) deflection CRT built in. What did you think of its quality (display and construction)? My interest (other than mild addiction to Battlezone tanks) is that, by hacking its hardware somewhat, you should be able to mate it to any general purpose [micro]computer and use it as a high-resolution graphics terminal for serious work (like music writing, mechanical design, etc). Can one get any tech info on it, or is builder playing mum? (I was at Carnegie [mellon] Tech back in early 70's when we built our own "Graphics Wonder" displays . Boy were they ever impressive, both for text and graphics.) Only shortcoming of vector systems is lack of color. You can see the vectrex reviewed in one of the video game magazines avaialable at your local 7-11, etc. Can't yet write my name in vectors -- mike k
klick (11/16/82)
I played Armor...Attack on the Vectrex a couple of weeks ago (at
the Sears at Fox Valley Mall in Aurora for you Chicago people).
It's pretty good - I had some trouble getting used to the controls,
but my husband and others who tried it had no problems. There is
one joystick - a fairly small one, but usable. Also, there are
three or four buttons on the control bar which have different
meanings depending on the game. The game reset button is on the
body of the machine. You can buy a second control bar for two-person
games - I don't remember how much it costs.
Games which are to be available include Starhawk (anybody else remember
that at the arcades?), Ripoff, Berzerk (I think), and a number of others -
I was surprised at the variety. A version of Asteroids (under another
name) is built into the machine.
All in all, the Vecttrex is better than I had expected from the
advertisements. If they put Tail Gunner on it (another arcade vector-
graphics game), I may be seriously tempted...
I haven't heard of any technical information out for it yet.
As far as quality goes, it's hard to tell in the store - it could be
worse, but there's little way of telling how it will stand up under use.
Has anyone out there bought one yet?
Vickie Klick
Bell Labs-Naperville
...ihuxu!klickwill (11/17/82)
Saw it once; graphics were obviously awesome; my only complaint is that the joystick has no definite 'contact point'...hard to position the jeep in armor attack exactly where you want it. I know nothing about the technical aspects of it.
ccc (12/14/82)
>From: Clayton M. Elwell [...!decvax!cwruecmp!ccc]
The December issue of BYTE says that the Vectrex uses a 6809. One
wonders if the other hardware will be hard to decipher. If the
company marketing Vectrex is willing to release technical docs, we
might have a first: public domain video games.
Just a thought,
Claytonhalbert@ucbvax.UUCP (06/09/83)
[I submitted this a couple of months ago, but it seems to have been swallowed. Pardon if you already saw it.] Jay Smith III, president of Western Technologies, Inc., which designed the Vectrex (and lots of other toys and games) gave a talk at Xerox PARC a few months ago. Part of the talk was a detailed description of how the Vectrex works. It has: a 6809, one 8-bit DAC, and a PIA (?) to steer the DAC output to 3 sample-and-holds, one for X, one for Y, and one for intensity. The PIA also can steer the DAC output to a comparator and directly to the audio system, bypassing the GI sound chip which is used normally. This direct audio input could be used for speech synthesis. There are 2 integrators for X and Y. The integrators ramp up to draw lines. The ramping speed is variable. If the ramping time is shortened, shorter lines will be drawn. Thus zooming is really easy. Lines are drawn relative to the previous beam position. After 12-15 lines are drawn, things may start to get off, so the system recalibrates by resetting the origin to 0,0, which is done by shorting the integrators. The comparator is used to read the input potentiometers, by asking the DAC to produce various output levels and comparing them with the voltages across the pots. The plug-in cartridge address lines are wide enough to address 32k ROMs straightforwardly. This is a very clever design. They were very good at minimizing parts count and still providing lots of flexibility. --Dan
davidl@tekecs.UUCP (David Levine) (08/31/83)
I just received the first issue of "Passport," the Vectex Owner's Club
newsletter. This newsletter is clearly aimed at the kid audience (it claims to
be written by one "Vecto," an alien stranded on Earth and the inventor of
Vectrex... give me a break!) but contains the following information of
interest:
New cartridges:
WebWars (looks like a space cross between Space Invaders and
Pole Position) - August
Bedlam (hard to describe) - August
Spinball (pinball simulator) - August
Fortress of Narzod (seems to resemble a Death Star Trench game)
- August
Heads-Up (animated soccer simulation) - September
Spike (talking cartridge - requires no additional hardware) -
September
New peripherals:
Lightpen - will cost about the same as a game cart, includes
Art Master cartridge. More lightpen cartridges will be
available in the Fall.
3D Imager - a goggle-like device which, in conjunction with
special 3D game carts, gives color 3D images - will
cost about $50 including 3D Mine Storm (!!) - available
September. More 3D games will be available in the
Fall.
No word on the keyboard. Rats!
I've also seen Cosmic Chasm, which first appeared as a Vectrex cartridge, as an
arcade game. I believe this is the first instance of a home game making the
transition to the arcades...
-- David D. Levine (...decvax!tektronix!tekecs!davidl) [UUCP]
(...tekecs!davidl.tektronix@rand-relay) [ARPA]
Vectrex, Art Master, Mine Storm, WebWars, Bedlam, Spinball, Fortress of Narzod,
and Heads-Up (tm) GCE, Inc. Spike (tm) Entex Industries, Inc.ttb@ihuxn.UUCP (Thomas T. Butler) (11/15/83)
--
I'm sure I missed a lot of good (or bad) info on VECTREX before I
knew what a VECTREX was, but now my son wants to buy one. If
anyone has any new info (good or bad) please post it. Anyone
with info already posted to the net, I would appreciate mail.
Thanks,
--
Tom Butler
..!ihnp4!ihuxn!ttb
(312) 979-7999bjb@whuxle.UUCP (11/16/83)
#R:ihuxn:-41200:whuxle:29900001:000:147 whuxle!bjb Nov 15 21:29:00 1983 I can't seem to find any Whippany area stores that sell any Vectrex anything? Does anyone know of one? B. Beare [harpo! | tty3B!] whuxlb!bjb