The Vectrex

June 16, 2014 by stopXwhispering

The Vectrex has always been a mystery to me, I haven’t really read up on it or anything, but it has crossed my path of hunting down retro games all over the web more than ones. I’ve always been intrigued and thought many times about whether I should get it on eBay or not. It was always pretty expensive, and I had no clue if I would be able to play it or not (because of power outlets and such). I didn’t even know what to expect from it, but it sure looked cool! :D Recently though a friend found an ad in Sweden from a guy who was selling one! I got so excited I rushed to buy it instantly! I might sound like a total n00b, but I actually prefer not knowing about games and even systems until I get them in my possession, that way I can experience them the same was as I would if they were new, the only thing I basically research when game shopping are the prices so I don’t overpay ^^

This one was originally sold in Sweden (I didn’t even know it was released here!!) and it had a bunch of games and extras :D

The first problem I encountered was how to turn the Vectrex off?! It started immediately when I plugged in the power cord.. but I didn’t wanna change cartridge or move it until I figured out how to turn it off first! I had to google for about 40 minutes before I found out! I discovered an old original users manual for the Vectrex as a PDF that someone had scanned in (THANK YOU!!) and finally read my way to understanding that the volume lever IS ALSO the on/off button. At first I didn’t believe it, because I kept turning it to max and the minimum but nothing happened, but like with any old machinery you have to be patient! After turning the volume knob all the way to the left (turning the volume down) until you hear a click, just leave it there for a little while, the system will power down after all the juice has run out of it! Haha, this was trippy >.<

It has a cartridge slot on the right side of the screen, and that’s where you insert the games. It comes with one built in game as well called MineStorm :D

The system has two controller ports, I got two controllers with the system ^_^ One controller can be folded into the front of the system so it’s not lying around :D The controller is kind of awkward when used though. It’s big and bulky, not really comfortable to hold so the best way to play is to put it in front of you on a flat surface in my opinion.

On the above picture you can see the controller folded into the bottom of the system, it’s got the logo on the back of it :)

I also got 19 games with it, they were:

Armor Attack	Art Master	Bedlam	Berzerk
Blitz!	Clean Sweep	Cosmic Chasm	Flipper Pinball
Fortress of Narzod	Hyper Chase!	Rip Off	Scramble
Soccer Football!	Solar Quest	Space Wars	Spike
Star Hawk!	Star Ship	WebWarp

When I added them to my collection on retrocollect.com it said I had all the games for it, but I haven’t researched it any further. Perhaps there are more games that came out in North America? Then again, I’m not sure whether this system is region free or not…

Every game that I got had it’s overlay! Overlays are a colorful transparent plastic cards that you put in front of the screen to give the illusion that you’re playing in color ;D Since every game displayed on the Vectrex is white on black it sure provides some variation :) My favorite overlays are Bedlam and Scramble:

Here’s some other really pretty ones:

Another amazing accessory I got for the system was the Light Pen! This is used together with the Art Master program. You can Sketch, Connect or Animate ^^ It works amazingly well! :D

If anyone knows if there are more games released for it that I don’t know of, please enlighten me :D

All my Famicom pickups from Tokyo game shops

June 15, 2014 by stopXwhispering

Finally updated the Famicom Collection Library, and also the Famicom Collage with the 103 Famicom carts I acquired in Tokyo :)
It was not easy getting it all back home with a weight limit of 23kg for the suitcase and 10kg for the carry on, I had to send home 7 packages (all weighing less than 2kg, because then it will count as a “letter” and be muuuuuch cheaper) ;D

Now I’m up to 868 unique Famicom carts (986 in total counting doubles..). It’s getting hard to find stuff I don’t already have for the system…

Here’s the thumbnails of all the 103 games I got in Tokyo!

Retro game pickups in Tokyo

June 9, 2014 by stopXwhispering

Finally I’ve had some time to go through all the games that were already on my desk before leaving for Japan, and also the 117 games I bought while in Tokyo!! :D

On this trip to Tokyo I mainly focused on Famicom, I just went through every shelf of every retro gaming store and picked up anything I found that I didn’t already have! This concluded in a few really rare and expensive titles, but also a lot of junk like baseball games and unplayable mystery solving games and RPGs, but I’m really happy to finally have Gimmick!, Over Horizon and Snow Bros in my collection :D

Snow Bros wasn’t as fun as I had hoped. Kind of like Bubble Bobble, but not as cute :/

Over Horizon is a great shooter! The visuals are so pretty ^_^

And Gimmick! was also a lot of fun! So adorable, but yet difficult! ^_^

I also found Chip n’ Dale Rescue Rangers in pretty condition and Gebara (or Guevara) which I’ve only ever encountered once before and it was too expensive that time. Below is also a game called Jigoku Gokuraku Maru. I had never seen it before but the cover art reminded me of Genpei Toumaden so I assumed it was good ;D and it was! But it’s just a sidescrolling action platform where you play as a red-headed girl :)

Guevara is a fun Commando-style shooter where you can team up with a friend (who then plays as Fidel Castro) ;D

I found a Famicom cartridge copy of After Burner, I’ve never seen that before either.. I have it for Sega Master System and Mega Drive though.. Also got Cross Fire and Guardic Gaiden (Guardian Legend).

Cross Fire was kind of fun, very much like Dead Fox (Code Name Viper) but not quite as good.

I’ve been looking for Wanpaku Kokkun no Gourmet World but it’s been awfully pricey on eBay, in Tokyo however it was much more affordable ^_^ The middle game is called Pyokotan no Dai Meiro and it’s kind of like a maze game but with various mini-games whenever you open chests and stuff. It was interesting :) I also found Moero Twin Bee on a cart! I’ve only ever seen it for the Disk System, I didn’t think it existed on a cartridge, but I was pleased to find it ^_^

Wanpaku Kokkun no Gourmet World was OK, kind of easy and childish though.

In Moero Twinbee you can play three players simultaneously! This blew my mind ^___^

These were just a few of all the Famicom cartridges I got (103 in total!), but I also scored a few Super Famicom Games:

And some PC Engine and Sega Mega Drive games:

Now this was a few of the pickups, I will make another post soon with all the rest of the Famicom carts when I’ve uploaded them to the Famicom Collection Library :)