Vectrex Mini retro console shatters Kickstarter goal within minutes — it will now cost $173, up from $115 and $150, to secure yours.

Vectrex Mini retro console shatters Kickstarter goal within minutes — it will now cost $173, up from $115 and $150, to secure yours.

If you didn’t set your alarm clock for the opening up of this cute retro mini-console remake project to backers, you’ve already missed the Founders Edition tier ($115), the Early Bird tier ($150), and are now looking sheepishly at The Vectrex Mini Standard Edition at $173. If it has gotten too rich for your blood, you can always just grab one of the extensive retro gaming T-shirt designs which this project seems to have precipitated and play an emulator on your PC.

Please be warned that crowdfunding a project is not a guarantee of receiving a finished product. Backing a crowdfunded project is akin to an investment; you believe in the project and want it to succeed. You are not purchasing a retail product.

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Mark Tyson Social Links Navigation News Editor Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

pug_s I remember playing one of these at someone's house at long time ago. I remember that they could not remove me out of my seat playing that thing. Reply

thisisaname At the time of writing, the project has actually powered beyond €520,000 in backing, with over 2,600 backers pledging support. Unless my maths is wrong that is an average of $200 each far more than the $173 you say is now the minimum to get one. Another thing if the screen is 5 inches not 9 that is a lot more than half the size. Reply

DSzymborski thisisaname said: Unless my maths is wrong that is an average of $200 each far more than the $173 you say is now the minimum to get one. Another thing if the screen is 5 inches not 9 that is a lot more than half the size. Well, the math for the second is wrong. since it's area. These are not squares, but a square that has sides that are five inches long only has just under a third the area of a square that has nine-inch sides. The same is true if it's the diagonal measured, as is typical for screen; a square that has 3.54-inch sides is the same ratio to the square that has 6.36-inch sides (since each side would be the diagonal over sqrt of 2). Now, without the exact measurements of the system, one can't be precise, but from the image, it's quite obvious that it's less than half the size! It's always good to remember area when buying pizza. A 16-inch pizza is about 78% more pizza than a 12-inch pizza. Also, you made a wrong math assumption with the calculation. You can't divide 520,000 by 2,600 to get the price paid per mini console because there were a lot of tiers. For example, 400 people bought the bundle that cost $287 and 245 people bought the bundle that got you a black one and a white one for $379 (well, the euro equivalent that was $379, of course). There were also a few tiers cheaper that didn't get the console, but only handful of people bought the t-shirts only. Reply

doughillman Half the size of the already small original and, far more importantly. NOT vector graphics. No thanks. Reply

thisisaname DSzymborski said: Well, the math for the second is wrong. since it's area. These are not squares, but a square that has sides that are five inches long only has just under a third the area of a square that has nine-inch sides. The same is true if it's the diagonal measured, as is typical for screen; a square that has 3.54-inch sides is the same ratio to the square that has 6.36-inch sides (since each side would be the diagonal over sqrt of 2). Now, without the exact measurements of the system, one can't be precise, but from the image, it's quite obvious that it's less than half the size! It's always good to remember area when buying pizza. A 16-inch pizza is about 78% more pizza than a 12-inch pizza. Also, you made a wrong math assumption with the calculation. You can't divide 520,000 by 2,600 to get the price paid per mini console because there were a lot of tiers. For example, 400 people bought the bundle that cost $287 and 245 people bought the bundle that got you a black one and a white one for $379 (well, the euro equivalent that was $379, of course). There were also a few tiers cheaper that didn't get the console, but only handful of people bought the t-shirts only. Oops I meant to write that is a lot less than half 🙁 Reply

TerryLaze doughillman said: Half the size of the already small original and, far more importantly. NOT vector graphics. No thanks. Vector graphics would need a crt and those aren't made anymore…. Also with a good display you can replicate vector graphics pretty well. Reply

bit_user TerryLaze said: Vector graphics would need a crt and those aren't made anymore…. Even if they were, the size, weight, and heat were definite negatives. They also wear out faster most LCDs and you'd better not drop them! As someone who continued using CRTs longer than most, I have absolutely no desire to go back. TerryLaze said: Also with a good display you can replicate vector graphics pretty well. This. I saw a demo running on a Vectrex emulator, side-by-side with a vintage unit. The emulator lovingly recreated all the effects and artifacts of the original, including the diffuse glow you'd get when the beam went just outside the active display area! @doughillman , if they're using the same emulator I saw, it's really good enough that there's no point in using one of the few original units still in existence, unless you're an absolute purist or buying it as a museum piece. Reply

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