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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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What is MonoGame, and why do we need it?

MonoGame is a development system, tagged as "Write once, play everywhere!" That's not quite true as you can't easily port MonoGame titles to the Vita, yet. That nugget came out in a Q&A with the Axiom Verge crew, AV is a MonoGame title and Sony is still developing new tools to port the game, I'm guessing via expert port team Blitworks - see video.

The good news is, it sounds like it shouldn't take too long, although if Sony is involved - you never know. Previous MonoGame titles like Fez have come to the Vita, but it seems Blitworks has a new, easier, way in the pipe.



But what else could enabling MonoGame ports to the Vita bring us? Bastion was also built with MonoGame and has been announced for the Vita, presumably they're waiting on the same porting tools. Other developers using MonoGame include 17-Bit software, whose Skulls of the Shogun would be a good Vita game (they're also bringing the Unity-powered Galak-Z to the Vita). Then there's a host of other games that might get a port if the process is easy enough.

Developers are hopefully still keen on the Vita, if there's enough good vibes among the dev community about revenue and the loyal fanbase. I'd rather like to see the currently-in-Kickstarter tower defence Hydraulic Empire get a port, and there are bound to be more.


With Unity looking like it is moving ahead without much Vita support, Sony getting MonoGame and other dev tool support is vital to keeping the trickle of games coming, let us know if you think of anything else that would be a great Vita game. Any developers care to comment?

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