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Vectrex Mini interview - David Oghia talks up the nostalgic vector powerhouse

Having been wowed by the news of the Vectrex Mini at Gamescom , I rushed off some questions to VectrexOn's main man  David Oghia . After a post-event, well earned, break, he's kindly given us a lot of detail about the project and some new images of the unit to share.  His story mirrors mine somewhat, Vectrex represents a glowing, unaffordable, obelisk of gaming power from our youth! But he's had the energy and drive to do something about it, and met the right people to get the job done!  What first got you interested in Vectrex and what spawned the idea of a Mini version? I’ve always been passionate about retro-gaming, but my first love was computers rather than consoles — the ZX81, then the Commodore 128. I only really discovered the console world in the late 90s, which is when I got my very first Vectrex. Of course, I had seen it in stores back in 1983, but at that time it was far too expensive for me.  Today, I own five Vectrex systems at home. Vector-based games ...
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Pix'N Love Rush (PSN) Review

In a reverse of the Angry Birds review, here we have a fun game that was a bit of a lottery to play on a touchscreen phone, but a delight to play with the firm controls of the PSP. Now, every twitch of your control movement is accurately carried out on-screen, something rather vital in this homage to classic 8-bit gaming.
It is impossible, for older gamers, not to notice tiny motes of DNA from other games; a little Bubble Bobble, some Bombjack, Joust and many others are all, in some way, in the genetic make-up of this simple but fun game. The aim is suitably 8-bit, collect the "+" coins, avoid the "-" ones and shoot any enemies on the screen.
There are three modes to play, classic, cursed (a leaping survival mode) and on/off with various sub-modes. In classic, there's a 5 minute mode for bite-sized travel gaming and the infinite mode for longer plays, all with the aim of maximising your score or beating the existing high score.
The design too is a delight, instead of hearts for lives, you have tiny blocks around the edge of a single heart to indicate your health, the combo meters fill up pixel-by-pixel and for every combo you get the level theme changes into a suitably retro landscape. Music is of the brilliant plink-plonk from the time and fits the pacing perfectly.
Pix'N Love Rush is everything a mini arcade game should be, fast and furious, challenging and with its own unique style. It has found its perfect home on the PSP (ok, and the Xperia Play) and shows perfectly how the past of gaming still applies today.
Available on PSN for £1.74 [Sanukgames]
8.5/10 Bright, breezy and brings back dozens of memories

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