This Console was the Sh*t! | Nostalgia Nerd

[@TheVanillatech]

When I was about 7 I got into an accident with some fire. Ended up in hospital for 5 months on the childrens ward. Once I'd recovered enough to get out of bed into a wheelchair, I found the "games room". Back in the 1980's that consisted of lots of board games, some colouring books, an endless supply of "The Beano" comics and ... an original table cabinet Space Invaders. Every night, about 1am once the nurses had mostly gone home, I'd sneak silently down the corridor into the games rooms and turn on Space Invaders. The nurses kept the credit key in the top left hand drawer. I usually got about 2 hours of playing in before I was discovered. They either found my empty bed and went looking for me, or a nurse would be going off duty and rumble me on her way past the room from the glowing lights. I mastered that game. Eventually the nurses would take my wheelchair away at lights out to stop me from playing. I just scooted along the corridor on my butt for a few nights, then they gave me the wheelchair back. You cannot stop a gamer. Good times!

[@thejakefromstatefarm6768]

I don't know what happened to you but i know it must have been bad. Knowing it involved fire is horrific. But you managed to turn it into an amazing story. You are right, you can't stop a gamer.

[@teddyboukagain9985]

I bet the nurses told the story about the kid who dragged himself down the hall to play video games for years. Good story, thanks for sharing.

[@float6969]

I love this story. Thank you for sharing it with us.

[@raafmaat]

i loved this story but i was enticipating the Vectrec to be involved somehow...... xD

[@Heisenberg2097]

Can I sue my parents for buying me a VIC20 instead of a VECTREX? It all explains my crooked youth.

[@Planet_Xplorer]

I had Vectrex when I was a kid in Egypt. It was the joy of my life. Now I'm 51 years old and miss those days. 😁

[@Emancipatriot]

I love how gaming has the potential to bring so many people from different walks of life together. I hope you truly are exploring the planet

[@Planet_Xplorer]

@Emancipatriot Thanks my friend 🙏. Gaming those days was like reading a novel vs. watching a movie. I prefer reading novels. And yes I'm exploring the planet and still playing games at my 50s lol. I lived permanently in 5 countries 🙂

[@DarthVader1977]

Vectrex*

[@gvii]

I don't care that it is an old and out of production system. I still find it incredibly cool that they were willing to open it up to everyone freely and let people make whatever for it. As we all know, that doesn't always happen. And we've seen how vicious some companies can be when it comes to that kind of thing, even on something that's well and truly dead as far as they're concerned.

[@Breakfast_of_Champions]

Vector displays had a nice hypnotizing effect back then, as a kid you were really powerless against its spell. I hope the collectors can keep all their CRTs alive!

[@Daz555Daz]

I agree 100% about the part saying that the thing about Vectrex is that it's the only retro system where emulation totally fails to recreate the experience.

[@CallousCoder]

I love my Vectrex, got one last year filled some gashes with black oil paints (a prop master secret) used car dashboard restorer on it and it looks perfect.

[@adamsermet5953]

That letter was truly heartwarming. Should be forwarded to Nintendo as an example of how to treat their fans.

[@MarquisDeSang]

Sony and Microsoft are in a race for who will crash their console the fastest with WOKE content.

[@SammyRenard]

@@MarquisDeSang "Everything I don't like is woke!" Is the woke mind virus with us in the room right now?

[@RetroJack]

​@@SammyRenard Where did they say that "woke" applied to _everything_ they ddin't like? I think you suffer from the affliction of assumption. Edit: fixed spelling.

[@CantankerousDave]

@@SammyRenardAt least he didn’t sprinkle the usual “DEI” croutons on top of the word salad.

[@Pichuscute]

@@MarquisDeSang Okay, grandpa, let's get you back to bed.

[@spladam3845]

When we moved to Jersey I was in a band with a kid who had one sometime around 91. It was already old by then, but I had never seen one and became effectuated with it. It was such a unique treasure, and I had never heard of it!

[@eddiehimself]

In terms of colour vector displays, it wasn't impossible to make them but they required dual-layer phosphors where the electron gun could penetrate through one coloured phosphor to the other (since having different coloured dots alongside each other would completely defeat the point of a vector display). Even these couldn't reproduce a full range of colours due to only having only 2 phosphors, and because it required specific electron beam intensities to strike the first, second, or both phosphor layers to produce the different colours, it meant that it couldn't actually produce differing light levels. This obviously wasn't a big deal in the early 1980s, but as we got later on into the decade and things like VGA graphics, it wasn't a match for what colour raster CRTs could produce.

[@phill6859]

Full colour vector monitors are possible, but it requires a dot mask. This adds to cost, but mainly because few were made because it affects brightness and smoothness

[@ddummer]

Here in Sweden back in the eighties you could rent a Vectrex at your local kiosk for 24 hours and choose (was it) two or three games from a chart. :)

[@PieterPatrick]

Proud owner of one. People still make software for this.

[@Hiraghm]

If they had an OS9 cartridge for it, and a keyboard connected to the joyports, I would buy one, today.

[@valley_robot]

I was an owner of one , it was boxed with 2 games , I got it in 1983 , it was thrown in the bin in the 90s by my mum, I only found this out about 15 years ago , I was gutted , it was an incredible machine , an actual arcade in your house

[@HisVirusness]

As they should. It's a very impressive piece of engineering.

[@Daz555Daz]

I am so glad I still have the Vectrex I got for Christmas in 1984 - which really was after it had already failed. I still have the Vectrex and all but one of the officially launched UK titles that were released - I bought them all in the 80s. Space Wars escapes me - I never saw it on sale in the UK and prices today are a bit daft.

[@MicrophonicFool]

I was so jealous of my buddy who had a Vectrex. The authentic looking/playing Asteroids was almost worth the price of admission all by itself.

[@BCjeffro420]

Love the Vectrex I have 5 systems

[@TobyDeshane]

I was fortunate enough to have my dad bring one home from his regular Sunday tag sale efforts in the 80s. We had it for a couple months and boy was I in love with it. Such a great machine. It deserved a better fate in the console wars. Especially after finding out how cool the original engineers were.

[@TheDim3]

Very well produced documentary on something I’ve never heard of, thanks

[@chrislaustin]

I love the Vectrex, as it is truly a device that was ahead of it's time, and I actually wanted to buy one when the market crashed(it was only $50), but my mom wouldn't let me spend my money to buy one(she said it was a waste). Of course I bought one years later and was a HUGE collector for a time, but over the years have sold most of my collection, but still have a flash cart with tons of games. The overlays was another cool feature that many would probably assume wasn't that great, but it can actually enhance the game rather well when designed properly. I would have loved if the market hadn't crashed, and we could have seen more vector graphic arcade titles, but the homebrew community is insane for this thing. There is actually a flash cart out there that allows you to use arcade vector roms like Star Wars, and run them on the Vectrex, truly next level stuff. I've been gaming since the late 70's, and this is easily one of my favorite gaming devices of all time.

[@briscoelcamino7850]

I pllayed one of these in a department store in the mall when I was a kid. Sears i think. i thought it was awesome!

[@SabbaticusRex]

This would have blown my tiny young mind back in the day ..!

[@girlsdrinkfeck]

why ? its lines no texture etc

[@Kyanzes]

The 1982 $200 is about ~$650 today (2024) and $40 -> $130 (per-game).

[@Apple2gs]

I first played the Vectrex in 1982-83, at an Eaton's department store up here in Canada (and a year later at a video rental store). I was mesmerized by it, and wanted one more than anything! Unfortunately never happened back in the day, but as luck would have it, found one at a thrift shop decades later! It's been almost 20 years now I've had a Vectrex in my collection, and it's one of my favorite pieces of gaming tech! (along with my SNES's and Apple IIGS's).

[@Rando1975]

I had never even heard of the Vectrix till years after I was online, but it looks like such a cool system. Loved playing that Star Wars arcade game.

[@SonicGronk]

My mom or dad got one of these with all the games in the 80's. I had it in my room all the time as a kid and played on it almost every day. My dad and I played a lot of 2 player Armor Attack. I didn't know how rare and special it was until I was an adult, "my" Vectrex is the only one I've ever seen in real life (Sweden) and no one knew what I was talking about when I tried to describe it. Right now it is kind of lost because no one knows where the hell it is!😿

[@KlomboFanClub]

UGH i got to see one in person a couple years ago ....its hard to describe just how vivid the colors are and glass smooth the movement feels

[@JasonJrake]

Thanks for making this. Vectrex and the Atari 800 were the two consoles I had access to while still learning to talk. Such cool machines. I love having the world in my pocket, but I miss the physicality of old software and systems.

[@madcat789]

I work at a retro game shop, and we had one of these swing in back in the Summer of '22. A beautiful thing. It worked well, though needed to be cleaned up. It went to our festival, and sold quickly.

[@V3ntilator]

I play on Vectrex console every year at a Retro show in Norway. It's the only console besides Virtual Boy i play on there. Last time played on this were 3 months ago. Impressive 1982 console because of the slick 3D games.

[@laladoopsy]

I saw one of these in Gamestation back in the day for £100. I had £120 and it was that or the N-Gage QD and I chose the N-Gage Qd...ok I could watch Simpsons Mp4s and emulate Master System while I was on the bus to work but fuck I regret not getting this.

[@stevenphillips3506]

Battlezone is the goat.

[@Nebulous6]

What's really tragic is that the color version of the Vectrex was just about ready for release before the crash. Ugh! It would've been soooo cooool!

[@domm6812]

You do the best retro tech mini documentaries. Great stuff.

[@WarioSaysSo]

Vectrex was truly something unique and revolutionary in home video gaming! I mean it was all so neatly, well built on all aspects and IMO was more fun then Atari 2600, Intelvision or Colecovision thanks to its for-its-time great controller. I was lucky to be able to play on a Vectrex, and since these are very expensive and rare these days, that felt like a luxuary experience (!). I was at a retro venture and there was one there in fine condition for sale, including 4-5 games and its overlayers as well. $410 was the asking price and while I would have loved one, I could not pay that much money at the time. Luckily I was there to see a man buying it after one houer and I personally congratulated him to his investment. He was very happy about it, and told this had been a dream of his to own since young days. He told me he had 3 gaming dreams, and this was the 3rd and final one he had not achived and now he had it. He had his tween son with him and I told him, "Your son will really expereince something I very much doubts his gaming friends never will". The boy gave a smile to it and seemed to understand what a previlege this was.

[@mimasweets]

Last time I saw a vectex we were banned from earth in our neverending mission to review: everything!

[@SegaTron64]

ALL HAIL THE VECTREX

[@chrisnizer]

A vector graphics monitor and a 4-button controller with an ANALOG joystick?!?! C'mon now, Vectrex is the TIT'S! Most of us kids had one or two Mattel red-LED handheld games, MAYBE an Atari VCS. If you had a Vectrex you could've charged people money to play those games, run your own arcade!

[@Nebulous6]

You should see Vector Pilot and Vector Patrol. Vec Patrol even has '3D' cut scenes. On a Vectrex!!

[@bryanobrien2726]

I first ogled the Vectrex at Radio Shack when it was new . I never dreamed that we'd get one , but after the video game crash they were almost giving them away and my father picked one up with a bunch of games for Christmas . We played the heck out of it , it never lost it's coolness . I still have it to this day .

[@Rr0gu3_5uture]

A small arcade in my hometown (that sadly closed in 2014, due to the owners death) still had four or five, well looked after/calibrated, OG, upright vector graphic cabinets including Star Wars, Battlezone and Gravitar from the early 80s. The owner never replaced them because the arcade was next door to a very busy pub. Due to nostalgia, and after a few pints, patrons would spill in half drunk and spend all their money. A pretty good strategy if you ask me. Man, I miss that arcade!

[@tinman7551]

I remember this at the time, it was very niche 🤨. The arcade was absolutely king in those days. Damn good times 🥰❤️😍

[@TheVanillatech]

Arcade was definitely king until 1995-ish? Once the average PC housed a Pentium (or a fast 486) CPU, and the Playstation 1 was out, arcades suddenly lost their appeal. And then come 1996 when 3D accelerators came to mass market, it was GG WP for the old Aracade! :/

[@ezedjay]

The Vectrex was indeed the sh*t Vectrex Scramble is a beautiful piece of work 😍

[@CSLucasEpic]

The Vectrex was amazing! ahead of its time in evey way. I didn't have one, I had an Atari like 90% of the people back then. But I had a neighboor that had one, and I would play over at his place from time to time.

[@timhooglandyt]

I have one as well as the PiTrex for it. Its such a cool little system!

[@Video_Crow]

I'm glad to have two Vectrex - the original one I bought new back in the day, and one I bought a few years ago and repaired.

[@scherge]

New Nostalgia Nerd episode? 🧐 Noice! 🙂🍿

[@syrus3k]

Vectrex is badboi. My brother in law has one.. it's frikkin' awesome eye searing goodness.

[@ChishanFipz]

The death star explosion was the greatest thing I had ever seen in the arcade - those machines were gods to me back then

[@CallousCoder]

My first Vectrex experience was in 1983 at the local toy store where it sat in a partial blue Perspex privacy bubble like we had for phones. And you would slide in a guilder (a lot of money) and you could play that build in rom game. And I loved it.

[@enigma776]

Ah the Vectrex, was honoured to own one until it was sold from underneath me. The gentle hum and the little jingle it would play on startup. Then it was all glow and smoothness, Vectrex games were not bestowed with great sound or sweeping music during gameplay even though that AY chip was capable. It was all about the gameplay, Scramble on the Vectrex is quite possible the best version available. Even the version of Pole Position was decent. Star Ship is just Star Trek TMP by another name and well worth playing.

[@CptJistuce]

I haven't watched the video yet, but this was my first game console, and was bought when I was very small. Pretty sure dad bought it on clearance at Toys R Us, and what is possibly my actual oldest memory(they aren't date-stamped, after all) is of riding home in the car sitting next to it. Among other things, it has given me a lifelong love of vector graphics and first-era arcade gameplay that I likely would not have had otherwise.

[@Musha-Fyre]

Asteroids, Battle Zone, Omega Race never made to the system..they would have looked just like the arcades.

[@cooper1340]

I’ve still got mine boxed and working! My dad bought it half price in Woolies in 83 or 84 !

[@steinarvilnes3954]

I had a friend that had a Vextrex. It was a very unique console! It was very different from both other consoles and home computers! I actually enjoyed playing on it quite a bit, even if having a Commodore 64 myself.

[@C.I...]

Unique is an absolute. Saying something is very unique is like saying you wear shirts in size extra medium.

[@steinarvilnes3954]

@@C.I... It was the only one based on vector graphics spesifically.

[@Dr.Dawson]

One of the greatest home consoles ever by far! Sure others have great games but this gave you something the others could not. Vector graphics baby, yeah!

[@thirstyCactus]

3:08 I had that Sound Gizmo when I was a wee lad! First time I've seen it in ~40 years... damn I'm old.

[@EHiggins]

I had one of those too. I wish i had one to give the grandkid XD

[@thirstyCactus]

@@EHiggins There are some cool sound generator type products around now, but they're aimed either toward music production (like Euro-rack modular, Pocket Operator, etc.) or for very young children like Blipbox.

[@ElectronicWitchcraft]

I’ve never really got my head round the difference between a vector screen and standard crt until now. Thanks, Peter!

[@Michel-r6m]

Played one of these in the 90's. It is as simple as clever. You knew this was special just by the looks of it.

[@albertoalmeida3424]

The graphics and fps of these shooting arcades are mindblowing!

[@HisVirusness]

I've wanted one of these for so many years. I saw one in a thrift store in 1996, didn't think much of it and kept browsing. How I wish I could go back and get it. It was probably only $10, too; at that same thrift store, I got my copy of Yar's Revenge for $.50.

[@005AGIMA]

Great video as always Pete. The Vetrex was, I believe, the first home system I ever played on at a mate's house. Spike and Minestorm. Maybe I would have touched an ATARI in a shop....but I dont recall doing so before that day.

[@CantankerousDave]

Edit: a local retro game store had a boxed Vectrex on the shelf a while back. Priced at USD$800. That brief era of vector games at the arcade has always been my favorite. The arcade in the local mall had the sit-down Tailgunner and Star Trek, Ripoff, Star Castle, Red Baron, Armor Attack, the top-down swordfighting one whose name I can never remember, the works.

[@michaelfieser]

One of my best childhood friends had a Vectrex. Actually he had just about every computer related product in the '70 & '80s. I don't remember exactly what his father's job was, but it was something hardware related and every new electronic gadget/gizmo showed up at his house. Though it was a hand-me-down, he was the source of my first computer, a VIC-20.

[@kennethd4958]

I worked at Stone Age Gamer for a while.. this was the first place I played a Vectrex. Unfortunately by this time they were more expensive than I wanted to pay for one. Always loved them though and the community behind them is always making new games.

[@simonp5788]

Great vid. I picked one up recently. They are rare and expensive but well worth hunting down. Probably my favourite retro system. There are people making all sorts of brilliant home-brew games and peripherals for them such as UV overlays.

[@PedroFerreira-sx2gd]

Amazing and quite unique machine. There is not a similiar product. Unfortunaly you can t make a mini version as the costs of the screen are quite high, specially considering some components probably are hard to get

[@jhcali71]

My cousin had one, it was an amazing system for its time.

[@jon-paulfilkins7820]

I remember seeing them in the shops at the time, fascinating and hypnotic, but that niggling feeling that it was a one trick pony, but my, what a trick.

[@krz909_exe]

Played on it for days at a friends house, good memories!

[@antster1983]

9:52 The Videoholic himself, Ray Glasser!

[@WhatHoSnorkers]

It's a gorgeous machine!

[@TheExistentialNerd]

I wanted one so badly when I was a kid. Found one many years later at a used game shop...and I wasn't "feeling" their steep price. Emulation is solid for the platform, but this machine just screams a new lease as a "classic console". Granted it would have to be emulation, but if it came with a built in screen...it would sell decently, I am certain. I know I would get it.

[@hordeofzombine]

Still is the Sh*t! I have one set up in the living room. I put together a PiTrex cartridge and it runs some impressive homebrew and demos. Next upgrade is to get reproduction color screens, the originals are in rough shape.

[@docbones213]

I still have one^^ Solar Quest was my fave.

[@Kylefassbinderful]

Vectrex was very innovate. Forget the built-in game, forget the kick ass controller, it used vector-based graphics on a decently size screen in '82.

[@atomicskull6405]

The weird thing about the Microvision was that the cartridges/overlays contained the CPU as well as the ROM. The console contained only the buttons, paddle controller and the LCD screen. No idea why they designed it like that.

[@mylesl2890]

a few of my friends had this, and was a lot of fun to play. everybody knew how tech cool it was, always wanted one :). super review. it took me right back to HS and fun times....

[@ag3ntorange164]

I have three. One currently offline ready for a recap. It's the most magical home arcade experience you can get. Simply beautiful but only something you can experience in the flesh. Video can't capture it.

[@panqueque445]

This is such a cool console.

[@rusty8ucket]

Brilliant video buddy One of my favourites of all time

[@kkzooi]

I used to have a Vectrex back in the day and i loved the game Berzerk. However when we got a commodore the Vectrex was quickly forgotten about

[@Sinistar1983]

It's one of the holy grails I wish I could own. Unfortunately, it's incredibly rare and expensive.

[@federicocatelli8785]

You're not alone had the chance to get years ago.... thought it was too expensive

[@TheVanillatech]

@@federicocatelli8785 Everythings stupid money these days. Glad I got my collection together when it wasn't insane. I got six VooDoo 2's shrink wrapped from eBay back in the late 2000's for £27 each! Five of them are still boxed brand new. Also managed to get a huge load of random GPU's from a Recycle IT seller based in Manchester UK .... they literally priced things based on tier and VRAM, and I snagged dozens of deals including GF2 Utras, GF4 Ti 4600 and 4800's, AGP FX5900 Ultras, a pair of Rage Fury Maxx cards, and many more for pennies (not literally .... but great deals). I'm missing things I'd like - such as a working 486 system to test out my CPU's and play some early 90's titles with OG hardware, but I don't have the space and it's simply too expensive for me now to carry on collecting. Happy with what I managed to aquire over the years! XD

[@1whu965]

Great show 👍

[@stevekay6895]

Man, it sure was so much more fun thinking about what was to come. The present absolutely does not live up to my expectations of “the future”

[@jimmy21584]

I’d encourage any graphics/games programmers to check out the hardware to this: it foreshadows modern GPUs, with programmable “display lists”. Super interesting under the hood.

[@JMsolidsnake]

I remember playing the Vectrex when i was a kid at a relatives apartment. Loved it. Wish they would do something like Nintendo did with the Mini snes

[@more.power.]

Thank you for the great history blub on game consoles.

[@Colin_Ames]

Interesting documentary, as always. I doubt I’ll ever get the chance to play on a Vectrex, so thanks for showing it off.

[@stephenelliott7071]

"But to experience a Vectrex fully, you really need to own, a Vectrex". Stop it, I'm refraining from my Ebay purchases right now...But yes I have always loved the glow of vector graphic games and remember them fondly 😇

[@psprog]

I spent hours poring over the Silica Shop adverts featuring the Vectrex. Never got one ;-( tho the C64 wasnt bad! There's still absolutely nothing like that available now - I love bright vector graphics!

[@TuxedoPanther]

A great bit of kit, never had one but I admire the technology 👍

[@chrisnizer]

Have to agree with you, vector graphics looks amazing...TODAY, in 2024. Seeing them back when they were new was absolutely mind blowing! 🤯 Vector graphics is real simple process...until you need your objects to MOVE onscreen AND simulate moving in 3 dimensions. WAYYY out of my league, but very cool! P.S. Clean out the inside of that Vectrex...please! Ohhh....the humanity!

[@michaelturner4457]

At the time in 82-83, I'd never heard or or saw a Vectrex. I was aware of Atari VCS and Mattel Intellivision though. But I had a Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer then.

[@emmabentley7945]

All hail Vectron! , Vectrex bigger brother! 😂

[@RetroJack]

I have one which I've been re-capping forever. I keep putting off working on it because it cost me $1000 NZD and I don't want to blow it up!

[@MrKelaher]

Love mine :) Also have a ScopeTrex which is clone that works on analogue oscilloscopes .

[@teddine7366]

There was a vectrex at my grandma's house that belonged to one of my uncles back in the eighties. I always wanted one now that I am older but they go for a decent sum of money on the ebay and whatnot.

[@morbidlyabeast9737]

I have one, still in the box, and a bunch of games.

[@jon-paulfilkins7820]

Maybe it is time someone covered the UK's own digital crash of 84/85 when a lot of computer manufactures in the UK market failed, some had a zombies existence afterwards in some markets, others disappeared entirely. I mean even Sinclair could not survive and sold out to Amstrad.

[@johneygd]

I own a second hand vectrex and i do like that drawing program to draw stull on screen with a after market light pen. I really would like to play that pacman clone game on it as well etc… Now technically speaking it is possible to draw rasrer graphics an a vector display but in the case of the vectrex it has limited ram so it can only draw a few amount of lines on screen. It also doesn’t help that it only could generate 1bit black & white images. But i still believe in it’s full potential.

[@LordPapula]

Ahhhh… I adore a Nostalgia Nerd story.

[@JeffBilkins]

Maybe someone will make a new batch of vector screens with modern technology for the retro and novelty market.

[@polygonvvitch]

Lmao I did not expect to see Sir Jackie Stewart in this video. Amazing,