Editing VectrexMad! Productions

{|cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" width: 22 em align="right" border="1" padding: 6px; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; background-color: #C0C0C0; border:1px solid #8888aa;"
|-bgcolor="#C0C0C0"
|align="center" colspan="2"|'''''VectrexMad! Productions'''''
|-
|align="center" colspan="2"|
[[File:Vectrexmad.jpg|220px]]
|-
|'''Owner''':
|[[P. Ian Nicholson]]
|-
|'''Founded''':
|[[2008]]
|-
|'''Known for''':
|Modern [[Vectrex]] [[hardware]] <br> Various [[Vectrex]] tinkerings
|-
|'''Current Product''':
|[[AutoFire Dongle]]
|}

==Vectrex introduction==

[[Vectrex]] enthusiasts usually seem to fall into two camps, the first of which who got into the system when it first came out, and those who entered the scene years later.

[[P. Ian Nicholson]] falls into the latter category, only just entering the scene in late [[2007]] when he acquired his first system, but quickly built on his late coming by tinkering around with his [[Vectrex]] soon afterwards and creating new [[hardware]] applications for it and all.<ref name="vectrexmadwebsite">[http://www.vectrex.co.uk/ VectrexMad!'s website]</ref>

==Contributions to the Vectrex scene==

[[P. Ian Nicholson|Nicholson]] started his [[Vectrex]] [http://www.vectrex.co.uk/ site] in January, [[2008]]. Although [[P. Ian Nicholson|Nicholson]] would later pass along the occasional [[Vectrex]]-related news tidbit, the site also concentrated on rare [[Vectrex]] documentation that few (or no) other sites had, such as [[Vectrex]] patents and all.<ref name="vectrexmadwebsite">[http://www.vectrex.co.uk/ VectrexMad!'s website]</ref>

The original [[VecVoice]] (then later the [[VecVox]], as the [[VecVoice]] would become obsolete) was a modern day [[homebrew]] [[hardware]] device that enabled the [[Vectrex]] to handle speech. Although not made by [[P. Ian Nicholson|Nicholson]], in April, [[2009]], he would create the [[VecVox Deluxe]], which he made by wiring up a speaker to the [[VecVox]] that he acquired on [http://www.ebay.com/ e-bay], giving it a better tone, which also led to the unit being housed into a speaker cabinet as well.<ref name="vectrexmadwebsite">[http://www.vectrex.co.uk/ VectrexMad!'s website]</ref>(Note: this was a one-time only project that was not intended for mass production or sale.)  
Then in May, he also helped the [https://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.vectrex/ Vectrex News Group] with a survey of the most wanted game [[overlay]]s in order for some new reproductions could be created. The votes were totaled and announced in June on [[P. Ian Nicholson|Nicholson’s]] site in order to proceed with the next step of creating the [[overlay]]s, which the most popular ones of [[Pole Position]] and [[Mine Storm]] were made and put up for sale on April 14, [[2011]]<ref name="vectrexmadwebsite">[http://www.vectrex.co.uk/ VectrexMad!'s website]</ref>.

In July, an announcement was made about his [[AutoFire Dongle]], which connected in between a [[Vectrex]] and the controller, allowing rapid fire to occur by holding down button four (rather than repeatedly pressing it, saving on the wear and tear of the controller), and then in August they were ready for sale (at 12 pounds U. K.), along with a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWORA6LOt8o YouTube video] being released of it as well, showing the unit in action. The first batch immediately sold out, which, as of late [[2010]], VectrexMad! is only making them on a as requested basis.<ref name="vectrexmadwebsite">[http://www.vectrex.co.uk/ VectrexMad!'s website]</ref>

In [[2010]], the [[AutoFire Dongle]] was reviewed in issue 41 of Revival magazine. Although not an application created by VectrexMad!, [[P. Ian Nicholson|Nicholson]] also showed a [[Vectrex]] cover created by Nanny’s Sewing Treats on his site, who had already been producing covers for several gaming consoles. The idea for the [[Vectrex]] cover originated on the forums of [http://www.atariage.com Atari Age], although the original batch did not fare well, since no one at Nanny’s Sewing Treats had a [[Vectrex]] in their possession in order for the covers to fit properly. Chris Romeo of the [http://www.vectrex.com vectrex.com] site lent them his [[Vectrex]] and [[P. Ian Nicholson|Nicholson]] was involved in giving them feedback (which resulted in a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkhJYORRDxI video] being made on his [http://www.youtube.com/user/vectrexmad YouTube channel] in regards to it).<ref name="e-mail">E-mail from Nicholson.</ref>

In August of that year, [[P. Ian Nicholson|Nicholson’s]] site showed how he ran one of his [[Vectrex]]es through a tv, also complete with a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9R3mTI4CDk YouTube video] of it, and in December he started keeping a high score record for [[Vectrex]] games for anyone who wanted to participate by sending in a photo of a high score, the first of which was a [[Protector/Y*A*S*I|Protector]] high score that was sent in on the 13th, which others soon followed.<ref name="vectrexmadwebsite">[http://www.vectrex.co.uk/ VectrexMad!'s website]</ref>

[[P. Ian Nicholson|Nicholson]] has also had 10 articles printed for Video Game Trader magazine as of [[2010]], all in regards to the [[Vectrex]].<ref name="e-mail">E-mail from Nicholson.</ref> And in [[2011]], his site also posted photos of what could have been an early design version of the [[Vectrex]], looking radically different than the later, released version. In 2011 [[P. Ian Nicholson|Nicholson]] quit writing for Video Game Trader magazine and  now  has [[Vectrex]] related articles printed  in the  quartely published magazine called Retrocade Magazine which first  launched in early 2012.

Things remained quiet until a [http://vectrexmad.blogspot.co.uk/ blog] was started up on his site, the first entry being dated June 7, [[2012]], when [[P. Ian Nicholson|Nicholson]] told of how [[Rudy the Rud]] (creator of the [[VecArcade Construction Kit]]) made a reconstruction of the [[Mini-Cade]], a [[Vectrex]] tabletop ''arcade'' machine that was distributed to U. S. locations in the 1980s, which played a timed version of [[Mine Storm]]. [[P. Ian Nicholson|Nicholson]] had expressed for a while of wanting to create a similar product, only in a full-sized standup ''arcade'' machine this time around, along with having extra lives, rather than time being granted when coins are inserted into the machine. Finding an ideal sized model would be a bit of a problem, due to the [[Vectrex|Vectrex's]] screen being smaller than ''arcade'' units, but a unit close to what he was looking for was found and purchased on June 10, which it was delivered on June 27.

Unfortunately problems still remained in getting the [[Vectrex]] to properly fit in the cabinet, but as [[P. Ian Nicholson|Nicholson]] stated in the July 8 blog entry, after speaking with a carpenter, he said he would reduce to the sides of the cab, along with cutting a single control panel as well (although there would not be enough space for a second controller for any two player games).

[[P. Ian Nicholson|Nicholson]] has dubbed this idea as to being the "[[Vec-Cab]]"<ref>VectrexMad!'s blog.</ref>.

==Future endeavors==

VectrexMad! Productions had made a mention or two in regards to a future [[homebrew]] game at some point, although it is now only at 60% complete (which [[P. Ian Nicholson|Nicholson]] would prefer not to announce it until it is ready). He is also looking to continue to create future [[homebrew]] and/or [[hardware]] applications for the [[Vectrex]] as he thinks them up (time allowing)<ref name="e-mail">E-mail from Nicholson.</ref>, along with probably making a third batch of the [[AutoFire Dongle]] as well.  Although work has finally started on [[P. Ian Nicholson|Nicholson's]] [[Vec-Cab]], there is still not a set completion date for the project as of yet.

==Trivia==

In late [[2011]], [[P. Ian Nicholson|Nicholson]] entered the Retrocade Magazine Vector War tournament, involving several [[Vectrex]] games. He ended up placing second in the contest, which his and all other players' results can be seen [http://www.retrocademagazine.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=47 here]

==Links==

*VectrexMad! Productions [http://www.youtube.com/user/vectrexmad YouTube channel]
*VectrexMad! Productions [http://www.vectrex.co.uk/ web site]
*VectrexMad!'s story of [[Vectrex_Stories:_VectrexMad!|becoming involved with the Vectrex]]

==References==
{{reflist}}


''[[AutoFire Dongle]] image was used with permission.''



[[Category:Homebrew]]
[[Category:Hardware]]
[[Category:Homebrewer]]
[[Category:Vectrex personnel]]