Retro remake consoles are getting seriously old-school now – meet the Vectrex Mini

It’s becoming clearer now that most old consoles and computers are ripe for a remake. From handhelds to mini versions of things such as the Commodore 64 or Spectrum, everything seems to be making a comeback.

I’ve told this story here before, but my first console was an Intellivision back at Christmas 1979 (I’m still here, kids). At the time, the competition was the ColecoVision and the Atari 2600, but the Vectrex was also about, but I have no real memory of it. I think I have a vague recollection of seeing it in an Argos catalog (weird UK shop), and thought it was quite cool, but it was super expensive, as the “TV” aspect of it was built in.

Of course, as a kid, I didn’t realise that it was a black and white vector monitor that had overlays placed over the screen to provide color. Anyway, it’s the only machine of its type ever released on the home market, and that makes it special to me and many other retro gamers.

So, exciting news then that the official Vectrex Official X account has just posted images of a prototype Vectrex Mini hidden away at Gamescom.

It’s going to be interesting to see more on this, as obviously we are not going to be getting the CRT screen, which of course was the main draw; rather, it looks like this is an AMOLED screen. I’ve tried emulating vector games, and they are tough to get right, not because of the game itself, but the phosphor trails the graphics left behind – the hallmark of the genre, never looked “quite” right from the original hardware. You can get close, but close is not close enough.

The company behind this new Vectrex setup is a new one that has picked up the rights it seems. There is no problem with that of course, that is what happens these days, and at least it seems to be making serious progress on reimagining this classic old machine.

It’s a tough one to live up to, though, because the original was so specialized. I don’t want to say anyone can emulate an Atari these days because that does a huge disservice to the talented community out there, but getting this to look just right will make or break it. I still want one though.

You can follow the progress of the Vectrex Mini on the new website for the machine.