+x=usr(1536) Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 Think about it. If the Vectrex had had a raster display and been named the Rastrax, GCE would have sold several hundreds of millions of units and bought up Atari. It would have replaced the 5200, 7800, XEGS, Panther, and Jaguar across several generations. Nintendo would only have been able to license and distribute it in Micronesia, and the Famicom would never have come to fruition. Sega would have licensed its smash arcade game Subroc 3D as a Rastrax exclusive for use with the 3D Imager, and would have stayed a third-party publisher, never venturing into the console hardware market. Berzerk and Scramble would have been ported with pixel-perfect precision to the platform, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture would have achieved sales success that made the entire Pac-Man merchandising empire of the time look like an insolvent lemonade stand. Microsoft would have given up on the IBM PC platform, instead seeing the advantages of the 6809 CPU. They would have shifted all development focus to OS9, thus turning the Rastrax into the world standard for desktop computers. Also, Sony would have never made the PlayStation, instead developing a CD add-on for the Rastrax that would have become the real iPod a couple of decades later. Right now I'd be typing this on the keyboard of my RastraxBook Pro, too. 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godslabrat Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 Obviously. I mean, what's left to discuss? You'd have known all that if you'd read "Unicorn: The Biggening and Smallening of the Ataribox" 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMaddog Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 Your recorded historical facts are no match for my Magical Childhood..... 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarilovesyou Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 Seems reasonable. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenixdownita Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 Think about it. ..... Location:913 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90015 LOL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted September 11, 2018 Author Share Posted September 11, 2018 Location:913 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90015 LOL Used to get tacos there when I was in the area, and they're really good. The lengua definitely comes recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepthaw Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 guys i come from a world where vectrex *did* have a raster display we ended up with skynet and i was sent back in time to make sure they had a vector display you are all crazy to want that i'll admit donkey kong on rastrax was good though just not worth having rasterminators killing my family good 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlepaddle Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 I wanted the Vectrex BECAUSE it had vector graphics. I bet in that alternate universe you describe, all the engineers at GCE would have quit and somebody like those behind the modern Coleco would have taken over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 Came in expecting this thread to be locked liked the others Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godslabrat Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 I wanted the Vectrex BECAUSE it had vector graphics. I bet in that alternate universe you describe, all the engineers at GCE would have quit and somebody like those behind the modern Coleco would have taken over. You clearly don't know what your talking about. My imaginary scenario is right and yours is wrong. Also: your mom. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlepaddle Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 You clearly don't know what your talking about. My imaginary scenario is right and yours is wrong. Also: your mom. My mom always knows what she's talking about... just ask her. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepthaw Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 the universe i come from also had good atari 5200 controllers when the rastrax drove atari out of business they snatched up all the unsold joysticks from the 5200 failing and used them to precisely pilot their hunter killer drones until the ai was perfected they still lost the overlays and the operators would forget which button was the flamethrower though so it wasn't as bad as it sounds 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamemoose Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 Raster Vectrex....what would be the point? It'd be another Coleco possibly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Video Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 I was going to say, "but having a vector screen was what made it what it is" but come to think of ut, outside of computers (and handhelds of course) it's the only console with the primary display built in. Who knows? But what would the cost be for raster as opposed to vector? Vector and b/w tv are basically the same tube, it's the computer or tuner that determines raster vs vector. Color tubes are different as raster screens literally have a grid built in while vector doesnt. Granted, odysey, nintendo, and sega all had deals with tv manufacturers to have their console built into a tv, granted not common, but they still exist.I Then instead of meerly recapping, we'd be looking for monitors and says it reintegrating the console with newer sets lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarilovesyou Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 Came in expecting this thread to be locked liked the others Wait for it... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted September 12, 2018 Author Share Posted September 12, 2018 The more I think about it, the more I think that I should tear the display out of my Vectrex and replace it with an LCD. Then I could make the Rastrax that never happened and prove how awesome this would have been. Also, I will replace the controller with the Atari 5200 stick, but it will be the kind that works. I've watched every episode of Sliders, so I know what needs to be done to make that happen. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digdugnate Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 and the next leap could be the leap home.... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarilovesyou Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 RASTRAX 4 LIFE! TOOOOOOO SWEEEEEEEEET!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almightytodd Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 Built-in CRT ...Portrait orientation ...Monochrome ...Raster Hmmm... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted September 12, 2018 Author Share Posted September 12, 2018 Don't forget: Portable by sticking your hand into a slot above the top of the monitor If it wasn't for the Rastrax Vectrex, there never would have been a Mac. Until Steve Jobs saw the prototype in a Belgian Tiki Bar, the 128K Mac was going to look like an understuffed duffel bag with a keyboard and mouse attached to it. Also, the Rastrax would have had the first mass-production 3.14" floppy drive, which was going to plug into the second joystick port. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akator Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 The Rastrax is a confusing subject even to the most hardened industry veteran. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger03 Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 the universe i come from also had good atari 5200 controllers when the rastrax drove atari out of business they snatched up all the unsold joysticks from the 5200 failing and used them to precisely pilot their hunter killer drones until the ai was perfected they still lost the overlays and the operators would forget which button was the flamethrower though so it wasn't as bad as it sounds Did the HK's crash or refuse to fly at all? those joysticks are terrible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMaddog Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 I bet the Rastrax was one of the supported systems on the Zimba 4000... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 I was going to say, "but having a vector screen was what made it what it is" but come to think of ut, outside of computers (and handhelds of course) it's the only console with the primary display built in. One would think so until you have seen a Philips Videopac G7200 or its predecessor, the Philips N60. But yes, from an US perspective those are oddball systems. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 I think the N60 is a thing of beauty. It's funny to think that a CRT (especially in color) would have cost a lot more than the XY display of the Vectrex, despite how unique and cool that display has always looked to us. But here I go, trying to be serious when user1536 made a nice piece of satire. Well done sir! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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