Is the vectrex worth the price of admission?

[corn619]

Well everyone has talked me out of buying a 3DO and I must admit for the amount of exclusives it had its not worth it. But today at work I was watching some podcasts on my iPod, and this show called Play Value mentioned this system called the Vectrex. It immediately sparked my child like retro interest. It comes with its own 9"monitor and has 3D vector graphics plus it looks really bad ass. They showed Star Wars and a couple of other games it looked really original, but is it worth $100.00? I might buy even if it does suck just because it looks awesome. Does anyone here own one whats your opinion on this system?

[Ack]

But your collection currently has no Jaguar. It looks really cool, plus you get homebrew!

[corn619]

But your collection currently has no Jaguar. It looks really cool, plus you get homebrew!

How is the homebrew scene for the Jaguar? I'm willing to bet the homerew games are better than the commercial games! The Jaguar was another system that struck my interest but the games sucked from what I can remember. If they sucked back then I can only imagine how bad they suck now. Not all video games are not like wine.

[ott0bot]

The vectrex is awesome and worth the money if the picture tube is in good shape. Otherwise it's not worth anything. If you liked the virtual boy at all, and wanted to meet it's intersting and more traveled grandfather, you have found it.

[scrotumwound]

The vectrex is awesome and worth the money if the picture tube is in good shape. Otherwise it's not worth anything. If you liked the virtual boy at all, and wanted to meet it's intersting and more traveled grandfather, you have found it.

vectrex>virtual boy<stubbing a toe after a paper cut on my pepe
the grandfather is much better than the virtual boy . i had vetrex and i miss it dearly, i have a virtual boy and could care less about it

[wilsona26]

Hello all, I am new to this place, but i saw this topic and it interested me so I figured I would reply to it. I have an Atari Jaguar, 3DO, and Vectrex. Vectrex is neat, but if you get a game that doesnt have the little color inserts for it, you're not going to get the whole experience. I always thought of it as a nifty arcade kind of console like the table top arcade pacman i used to have. I like bezerk, i got it for 2600, and a game like it krazy shoot out for 5200. The minestorm game is cool, and if you get a lucky system they came with a glitch on one of the levels that makes them more valuable to collectors. (or so i have read) i never had the glitch, but id like to find one someday. The light pen was a cool addon, but more gimmicky to me. Like mario paint was kinda dumb to me also. Everyone is pretty right on the 3DO though. Not much good to say about that one. Had a lot of potential, with a never released M2, but too pricey, but if you have a collection, pick it up just to check off a block. Now the jaguar is a nifty system in my opinion. They got some neat games that didnt make it to other consoles cause the major publishers were going for the "cool" systems. If you ever get one, the CD attachment is kind of worth something for the light show while playing audio cd's. They got a great version of Wolfenstein 3D, Cannon Fodder, Iron Soldier (cartridge), Iron Soldier 2 (CD), Vid Grid (just for the Jimi Hendrix video), Theme Park (I like hearing the little people puke), of course Alien Vs Predator, a strange game called Baldies (CD), and one of my favorites, Attack of the Mutant Penguins. Its such an odd game I had to love it. I hope this helps you. I would personally go for the Atari just because there is a lot more for it than Vectrex.

[scrotumwound]

the guy above me knows nothin he's from norfolk

[j4ck]

Wow wilsona, thanks for that! Very informative. I'd track down a Jaguar, but I haven't seen many in Australia.

[D.D.D.]

Having played my friend's Vectrex over the years, for $100, that's not worth the price of admission. For $20~$30, sure.

Oh and not having a Jaguar in the collection in more a plus than not. Get the Vectrex for $100 if you're really contemplating the Jag. That or just get an old XJS for a few grand and fix it up.

[Hatta]

I have a vectrex, and it's one of my favorite systems. I've got the multicart which helps a lot. I don't have to go searching for games.

The vectrex is nice, as there are a lot of electronics projects you can do with it. There are plans to make your own light pen on the internet, there are plans to make a ps2 controller adapter too. There's even a video of someone playing the star wars arcade game on MAME with a vectrex display. Pretty freaking neat if you ask me.

You really do want overlays, but there are instructions on the net for making some. I haven't gotten around to it yet, but it looks very doable. There are good scans of the overlays for use with MESS floating around somewhere.

There are also a number of home brew games available. I'd really like to get my hands on the Gravitar clone Gravitrex. One thing that gets me is that the Vectrex screen would be perfect for a vertical shmup, but afaik no one has made one.

So yeah, it's a great system. If you can get one for less than $100 with multicart, I'd jump on it.