Well there sure is a lot for this day, so lets just dive right on in!
Steve Jobs passes away[]
No, it’s nothing really Vectrex-related (except for possibly several vector-like games appearing on the Apple II computers and the Vectrex being labeled as to looking like a “black Macintosh”), but Apple founder and creator of many Apple products (such as the iPad) passed away yesterday, it was reported.
Starting from the early days at Atari to creating Apple to helping form the highly successful Pixar animation studios, Jobs was a visionary that made Apple the huge success it is today.
R. I. P. Mr. Jobs and may strength and peace come to his family and friends in time.
New Vectrex releases[]
The homebrew game of Sundance from FURY recently got a release, and early copies of the long-awaited Vector Pilot from Tutstronix also made it into the hands of the game's beta testers (which will be available for purchase for everyone else within the next week or two).
New pages[]
A review for Spike has been added since the last update (scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the Review tab to read it), along with finally getting not only more Vectrex stories from Vectrex wiki member Kokovec (his story can be read here), but VectrexMad! also sent in his story the next day!
Also, questions are being prepped for Kokovec, as he is the creator of the homebrew games of Becky's Message and Koko's Retribution, so be on the lookout for a page being created for him sometime in the near future!
Final results for Vector War tournament[]
A Vector War tournament had been announced on the Retrocade Magazine forums, pitting Vectrex owners to send in their scores in regards to various games that were chosen for a contest, which the winners were announced and scores will be put up in the next issue (one of them being VectrexMad!, who came in second place!).
You can read all about the scores and games chosen for the tournament (Armor Attack, Scramble, Solar Quest, etc.) here.
New Vectrex videos[]
YouTube user desfek44 released a video of an unknown Vectrex carrying case?! This definitely seems to be the, uh, case, as the Vectrex fits snugly inside with barely any room to spare, although with compartments for cartridges and overlays, which it is believed these were for salesmen who were showcasing the system to stores and the like.
Also, YouTube user Kokopellivideos (note: this is Kokovec once more!) made a video of the "Vectrex extender", which adds 18K of extended memory to the Vectrex, along with a web server (! What will people think up next for our machine?!) for uploading files from an FTP server, along with providing an API for 3D object rotations, extended math functions, and more.
Vector gaming forums![]
Well well well, vector games get their own forums! These were created by Vectrex wiki founder Darrylb500, currently having 13 members and nearly 250 posts in just a little over three weeks' of existence! Here’s the press release:
Being a cross of the old Vectrex forums (R. I. P.) and a vector gaming forum on Yahoo! Groups (also long dead!), the vector gaming forums takes things a few steps further by also having discussions on raster vector ports and even current vector-like online and portable device/cell phone games.
There are also forums for any kind of game console, from the oldest Pong machines to the most current gaming rigs available such as the XBox 360, but the main focus are on the beloved wire-frame games. And even though people who join can have whatever avatar they want (just as long as it abides by Proboards’ TOS), there are currently nearly three dozen vector icons on the site to choose from as they wish, covering coin-op, Vectrex, raster ported, and even some current online vector-like games.
http://vectorgaming.proboards.com/index.cgi
Gaming expo, Houston, Texas, U. S. A., November 11-12[]
And finally, the H. A. A. G. (Houston Area Arcade Group) is not only holding their annual gaming expo on November 11-12, but it is also their 10 year anniversary. Although most arcade games (both video and pinball games) are from the “classic” era of the late 1970s through the mid 1980s, some pinball machines date back from the 1930s, and there could also be current gaming consoles such as an Xbox 360, which its presence graced the previous year’s show, with people playing Guitar Hero on a gigantic tv screen that was several feet wide. See the official site for information on what else to expect (drawings, door prizes, tournaments, swap meets, ticket prices, location, etc.).
Normally something like this would not make the news on this wiki, however, several arcade vector cousins have appeared at these expos; right now Asteroids, Asteroids Deluxe and Star Wars are confirmed to appear. This is still an early list though, as only 76 games are confirmed as of right now, as over 100 standalone machines have appeared at the last several expos...along with several other home game systems, such as the Vectrex, which Darrylb500 has confirmed one appeared last year with the Sean Kelly Multicart. So hopefully it will appear once more. (Later edit: nope, it didn't make the cut. Maybe next year...)
Until the next time, keep on gaming...