For those that have seen one running, the Vectrex is an absolute delight for the senses – vivid wireframe vectors projected onto a built-in CRT, with almost liquid fluidity and bold vintage sound effects. The PoiTrex: Vectrex to Raspberry Pi Interface is an incredible device which replaces the CPU of the original machine by connecting a Raspberry Pi Zero to its cartridge port – providing a superb alternative to playing games and unique access to programming your own!
The PiTrex replaces the Vectrex CPU with an ARM CPU running at 1GHz and 512MB of RAM; which is an almost infinite update from the original. The seller has created a wiki page covering the details of the module; with schematics, circuit descriptions and updates. It’ll also support some Vectrex emulators meaning you can play a host of vintage games from back in the day, once you have them on your SD card. Games such as Asteroids, Tailgunner, and Battlezoe can all be played with save states to put you back where you left off – a godsend for those unforgiving older games.
PiTrex is an open-source project with code hosted at GitHub – and is available in a customised Vectrex cartridge case, or without. The PiTrex is sold by OmberTech who are based in Australia, and have a wealth of gaming goodies in their store.
