GCE Vectrex (1982-1984)

GCE Vectrex 

🥇First (and Only) Vector-Based Home Console with a Built-In CRT Monitor 

The GCE Vectrex, released in November 1982 for $199, remains the only home video game console ever built around a dedicated vector monitor. While every other system of the era connected to a standard television to draw "raster" images (made of rows of pixels), the Vectrex used an internal 9-inch monochrome CRT to draw objects with perfectly crisp, mathematical lines—exactly like the high-end Asteroids and Tempest machines found in arcades. Because the monitor was black and white, every game was packaged with a translucent plastic screen overlay that snapped onto the front of the unit to simulate color and reduce the "flicker" inherent to vector drawing. The console even featured a built-in game, the frantic Asteroids-clone Mine Storm, which famously suffered from a "Level 13 bug" in early units that would crash the game as the player progressed.

Despite its brilliance, the Vectrex was a victim of the 1983 video game crash; after GCE was acquired by Milton Bradley, the system was discontinued in early 1984, leaving behind a small but legendary library of 28 official titles. In 2026, the Vectrex is a blue-chip collectible; a working unit in "Grade A" condition typically commands between $500 and $700 on the secondary market. However, original units are notorious for a "speaker buzz" caused by poor internal grounding—a quirk that modern enthusiasts often fix with "audio cap" mods to let the system's clean 8-bit chiptunes shine.

Vector Graphics - What are they? 

Vector Graphics are a form of computer graphics that uses visual images that are created from geometric shapes, such as points, lines, curves, and polygons. Some iconic video games that used vector graphics include "Asteroids" (1979), and "Star Wars" (1983).