Jump to content
IGNORED

Why does the Vectrex get more attention than the Entex Adventure Vision?


PDog

Recommended Posts

It's been discussed on Atariage before.

 

A friend of mine owns one, I've had a play around on his. Very cool cheapo display technology but only 4 games and afaik one homebrew demo. There are probably very few working examples left, hence the price they go for.

 

An interesting curio but nowhere as cool as a home vector arcade system, the Adventurevision has a very weak CPU (733hz), 4K (max) ROM, 64 bytes RAM so there's not nearly the scope for games that the Vectrex has.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agree... AdventureVision cannot hold a candle to the Vectrex in just about any regard, with game selection and reliability being two huge factors.

 

Personally, I think people are crazy for spending what they do on some of this stuff. $3k is beyond nuts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Why does the Vectrex get more attention than the Entex Adventure Vision?

 

28 original Vectrex games, many excellent including built-in game Mine Storm

4 original Adventure Vision games

 

90+ Vectrex homebrews and growing, many excellent

1 homebrew Adventure Vision game

 

Very few remaining Adventure Vision are working because of fragile display technology that is difficult if not impossible to repair

Thousands of working Vectrex that can be repaired with intermediate soldering skills

 

Well made quality mini arcade Vectrex controllers

Mediocre Adventure Vision controls, similar in quality to electronic games from time

 

Vectrex 3D headset and light pen accessories are fun

Adventure Vision had no 3D headset or light pen

 

Vectrex in mint condition available for $150-250

Adventure Vision not even working is $800-1500

 

I'm sure there are more reasons, but those should be enough to answer the question.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Adventure Vision is an interesting piece of equipment. A rather peculiar system that's seems like a LCD handheld on steroids. BUT I'm really not sure why you'd make a comparison with the Vectrex. Aside from being cartridge based, designed to give the impression of an arcade cabinet and having a monochromatic screen, there's not much similarities. Quality and technology is far superior with the Vectrex and it equated to a much better game support and comparative success.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BUT I'm really not sure why you'd make a comparison with the Vectrex.

They are both all-in-one mini arcade consoles from 1982...

 

^ OP probably just looking at it from a self-contained all-in-one mini arcade or gaming system is all. May as well compare the Virtual Boy to the AdventureVision next. :lol:

Nicely done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its more comparable to a cheap handheld or LCD game. Its cheap and plasticy in feel with a crap joystick and mushy buttons. The low resolution display (150*40 'pixels') wobbles a lot due to its mechanical nature so it wouldn't think it'd be great for your eyes playing for long periods of time, much worse than the Virtual Boy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If so many people think it's junk, why does it go for such rediculous prices?

 

There are many rare and useless things that are valued because of their rarity. Why else would someone pay $30K for a NES game?

 

Value is in the eye of the beholder.

 

This has been my holy grail for years and years now. I'll never own it because it's reserved for only the wealthiest few collectors.

 

I have had the opportunity to play an Adventure Vision and closely examine another that wasn't working. Playing it cured me of wanting to own one. Examining the broken one and trying to help repair it convinced me that it was even if I had cash to burn, it wasn't worth the investment. The display mechanism is inherently flawed and will never be reliable and durable, which is why there are so few working examples.

 

I would suggest trying one out (perhaps at a gaming expo or museum) before spending the money. You may be cured of the desire to own it just as I was.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well lets do the math:

 

 

Vectrex - The cost of 3 Xbox one games, One ticket to an 80's rock concert, The price of one tire on a car

 

Adventure vision - The cost of reshingling your house,a new furnace, taking your significant other on all inclusive vacation, groceries for a year

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rarity is often the determination of what sells for what in our hobby, not quality or relative value. It's why an Apple I can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars, but is ultimately far less interesting than a bog standard and exponentially cheaper Apple II.

 

AdventureVision is a collectible curiosity, Vectrex is a thriving, desirable platform. The only similarities between the two is that each is a stand alone system and each has unique display technology.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ya, I don't know in what universe the 2 systems are even expected to be compared. Superficially they're "the same" because they're small and portable. But the Vectex was only portable because it was forced to include its own display because nobody had large vector displays at home to hook game consoles to, if there had been access to TV-sized vector displays in homes you can bet that the Vectrex would have been a separate console just like a 2600 or NES or Colecovision. The Entex game is nothing more than an upgunned handheld game. The Vectrex is the only vector home game system in existence, the Adventure Vision is just another raster system (150x40 pixels?!) with a fragile spinning mirror display that causes headaches to look at. While both are monochrome the Vectrex uses overlays to fake color, the Entex version is always red. The Vectrex has arcade-quality controllers that can be unplugged (if the Crash hadn't happened I can believe that other controllers would have surfaced) and allow for 2-player simultaneous games (Space Wars is fantastic that way). The Adventure Vision has crappy handheld-quality buttons and a single joystick making every game 1 player at a time. There's no comparison at all.

 

People pay stupid money because the damn thing is so rare because it never sold well when it was new because people evaluated it solely on its merits and they all agreed that it sucked ass. Because of that the few still in existence are now expensive as hell. It's the same as why people were paying over a million dollars for an original '70 Hemi 'Cuda because so few of them were made (and less survive) even though there are loads of '70 non-Hemi 'Cudas and Barracudas in existence and those weren't nearly as pricey even though they look the same and many had stout engines. But the rarity of something sometimes forces the price up, it is usually no indication of how much better the thing is.

 

The Entex Adventure Vision is nothing more than the grandfather of the Virtual Boy - both are small, self-contained, have monochrome red displays, crap controllers and are a pain to play. The Virtual Boy is 32-bit, though, with a bigger/better display so it looked better. And it was stereoscopic. But otherwise, equally niche.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Virtual Boy does have a crap controller? Just curious, what aspect of the controller didn´t you like?

I also don´t feel any pain playing the Virtual Boy, but I guess that´s the case because my eyes are fine and I can also watch 3D movies or play the 3DS without any issues.

Only thing is if you don´t like the color red very much, you are out of luck. :grin:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Virtual Boy does have a crap controller? Just curious, what aspect of the controller didn´t you like?

I also don´t feel any pain playing the Virtual Boy, but I guess that´s the case because my eyes are fine and I can also watch 3D movies or play the 3DS without any issues.

Only thing is if you don´t like the color red very much, you are out of luck. :grin:

 

More preference than anything, I really really hate joypads of any stripe and the Virtual Boy version also had batteries packed in it, making it much heavier than it should be. I prefer arcade-type controls and also controls that are designed to be sitting on a flat surface (like those in arcade games) though some, like paddles, work well hand-held, too.

 

As for the headaches, I don't own a Virtual Boy, a friend of mine does and had it at work for a little while. It's a pain to lean into it and play and then add the red color and 3D, I couldn't play it for too long, it got uncomfortable. I can imagine if I was obsessed with beating a particular game that I would have strained my neck and eyes playing over and over, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Putting the battery pack on the controller was a bad design decision. As the Virtual Boy is not really that portable most people will use the AC adpater anyway and even then that adapter was huge without any good reason. SInce I have modded my controller with a power plug for an AC adapter I have to say I find the controller quite good for what it is without any clunky battery compartments or adapters.

For the Virtual Boy you also need a desk in the proper height to play it and one of those adustable office chairs is also helpful, that is basically the same when using a mircoscope. :)

When you have that and your eyes are OK you can play that thing for hours without any issues. Nintendo planned an adjustable stand where you can set the height also, but that never came out.

I also have one of those US store kiosks and there it is a bit easier to adjust the height and angle.

Edited by vectrexroli
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...