Vectrex Paperwork - An Analysis

[desfeek]

I had seen most of what's on that site, but one piece I was flipping through is the Japanese magazine pdf they have on gametronik

It is really interesting, because it was printed around 1997-1998 (look for Pikachu!) - so it has information about "Mr. John Dondzila's 'Vectrex the after'", unreleased homebrew 'Vectrexodos', a REALLY terrible Dark Tower overlay design, as well as a crazy, realistic drawing of Spike (and matching funny cartoon) and a hilarious translation:

"Eek! Help! Spike! Oh! No! Morry!"

[VectorX]

^lol!! Engrish strikes again!

Poor Morry! ;D

[VectorX]

Giving this a bump, since I included it on the current edition of the Vectrex wiki news

vectrex.wikia.com/wiki/Vectrex_news:_3/23/2013

[desfeek]

I could send you the .jpgs in a message if you want to update the wiki with the actual photos too, let me know

[VectorX]

Thanks, but I usually don't include (m)any pics with the news.

BUT...maybe some kind of paperwork article could work. They could definitely be used for something like that. So that would be a good idea.

[gamezone]

Thanks to all for sharing your information. Reminds me of how Atari was trying to give away deals and also NEC with the Turbo Duo .

[VectorX]

That's happened a lot. Worked well with Sega with the Saturn where you bought three games and got a fourth for free (or maybe it was buy two get one free).

[gamezone]

Sad part is it always when the systems are on their last leg. I can't think of one system that was helped by this form of bribery.

[VectorX]

Actually the Saturn deal I mentioned happened when the system was still new. Maybe in other cases that's true though, as companies try to make money off of them for as long as they can (makes sense).

[wyldephang]

When a company is forced to liquidate their inventories, having been pushed to the absolute limit of market relevance, they're definitely not worried about longevity. It is a bit depressing, though, to have that image of Vectex executives closing up the office for the final day, moving on to a different business venture and leaving the legacy of their work behind. I know that a lot of collectors have benefited from these closeouts, but I don't think the industry will ever experience another crash or liquidation. For one, endangered game companies simply merge into some other conglomerate. Other than that, the market is too stable and game manufacturers take too few risks. Indeed, the modern gaming industry is lurching in the wrong direction. There are no risks, thus no creativity; no incentive to improve anything, thus a bottomless descent into total mediocrity. The intrepid trailblazers of the Golden Age crashed and burned, while the modern industry feeds on the carrion of their ancestors and swell with profits, having perfected business but never coming close to achieving "good gaming." I washed my hands of it, but I still can't remove the damned spot.

[VectorX]

Yep, that's the way it is with gaming, or any entertainment medium that's been around for several decades, is that hardly anything is new any more, unfortunately.

Just try to make a good product with replay value is about all we can ask for now.

[VectorX]

As I had stated in another thread, attached are two shots in regards to paperwork of the Mine Storm version(s?) of the Vectrex where it goes well past level 13.

The first one is that separate sheet I mentioned, although it actually didn't mention the alien forces and space dust like I thought (I've since corrected that post). Notice how it says that if your Vectrex screen goes blank after clearing level 13 then to press reset. Well, isn't THAT interesting: does that mean there are two versions of Mine Storm that go past level 13 with the space dust? Mine has never done that, it just skips straight to 15.

The other shot is from part of the instructions, which actually does mention the dust and alien forces.

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