In February 1984, after losing $31.6 million on the Vectrex, Milton Bradley announced the discontinuation of the console and cancelled development of new games. However, the video game crash of 1983 turned Milton Bradley's support of the Vectrex into a costly mistake, even despite reducing its price by 25% and then later 50% in desperation to sell units. Milton Bradley's greater resources allowed the Vectrex to be released in parts of Europe by mid-1983 and, through a co-branding agreement with Bandai, in Japan as well. European release Vectrex with Star Ship game and overlay The launch sales were strong enough that Milton Bradley bought out General Consumer Electronics in early 1983. It was publicly released in November at a retail price of US$199, just in time for the holidays. After a brief hardware and software development period, the Vectrex was unveiled on 7 June 1982 at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago. The system was licensed to General Consumer Electronics in 1981. The demo led to a system originally conceived as a handheld called the Mini Arcade but, as Smith Engineering shopped the idea around to developers, it evolved into a tabletop with nine-inch screen. An auxiliary yoke was used to keep the raster television's horizontal fly-back high-voltage system running. A demonstration of a vector-drawing cathode ray tube display was made by connecting the deflection yoke in a standard television to the channels of a stereo amplifier fed with music program material. They found a 1-inch cathode ray tube (CRT) and wondered if a small electronic game could be made of it. He, Mike Purvis, Tom Sloper, and Steve Marking had gone to Electro-Mavin, a surplus warehouse in Los Angeles. The Vectrex was conceived by John Ross of Smith Engineering in late 1980. A color handheld version of the Vectrex was conceived in the late 1980s, but was shelved because of its manufacturing cost and the success of the Nintendo Game Boy. The Vectrex was the first console to have a 3D-based peripheral. Several publications lauded it as one of the best consoles available at the time. Strong initial sales caused General Consumer Electronics to be acquired by Milton Bradley, however, just mere months later the Vectrex would succumb as a victim of the video game crash of 1983 and was discontinued in early 1984.ĭespite its commercial failure, the Vectrex was praised for its software library, unique graphical capabilities, and built-in monitor. As development progressed, it morphed into a tabletop system that was manufactured by General Consumer Electronics. The console was conceived by John Ross, of Smith Engineering, in late 1980 as a handheld called the "Mini Arcade". The Asteroids-inspired Mine Storm was built into the system. Optional peripherals included a pair of 3D goggles known as the "3D Imager" and a light pen for drawing directly on the screen. Games came with translucent color overlays to place over the screen. A detachable wired control pad could be folded into the lower base of the console. The Vectrex, in contrast to other video game systems at the time, did not need to be hooked up to a television set it had an integrated monochrome CRT monitor. Originally manufactured by General Consumer Electronics, it was later licensed to Milton Bradley after they acquired the company. It was first released for the North America market in November 1982 and then Europe and Japan in 1983. The Vectrex is a vector display-based home video game console - the only one ever designed and released for the home market, developed by Smith Engineering.
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