521: The Story Behind the Vectrex Mini - The Retro Hour EP521
The Retro Hour (Retro Gaming Podcast)
The Retro Hour
4.9 • 558 Ratings
🗓️ 6 March 2026
⏱️ 105 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week we’re joined by David Oghia, the man behind the upcoming Vectrex Mini. We explore his journey from discovering the ZX81 in the early 80s to working on official Star Wars publications and visiting Skywalker Ranch, before diving into the revival of one of gaming’s most unique consoles. David explains why the original vector-display Vectrex remains so special, the challenges of recreating it with modern hardware, and how the Kickstarter campaign unexpectedly smashed its funding goal. We also discuss games, overlays, controllers and what the future might hold for the reborn Vectrex brand.
Contents:
00:00 – The Week’s Retro News Stories
46:05 – Vectrex Mini Interview
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Show notes
Triforce Arcade Emulation: https://tinyurl.com/ycxwe6hw
Rave Racer On Consoles: https://tinyurl.com/38mbt8pu
Remote Vintage Mainframes: https://tinyurl.com/mryykp8k
Evercade Wireless Controller: https://tinyurl.com/5bjmj36x
Unreal Tournament 2004 Patch: https://tinyurl.com/4cutcc3d
Hyper Sentinel Fusion: https://tinyurl.com/mrdeupdt
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Potential. |
| 0:02.0 | Potential can sometimes feel daunting, scary. |
| 0:06.0 | But today's the day you decide to act on it, |
| 0:10.0 | with a higher technical qualification. |
| 0:13.0 | Designed with employers, it will give you the skills you need to land the job you want, |
| 0:18.0 | because today is your day. |
| 0:24.5 | When anything is possible, if you make it happen. |
| 0:26.6 | It all starts with skills. |
| 0:28.3 | See how you can get started. |
| 0:29.9 | Search skills for life. |
| 0:33.7 | Coming up on this week's show, RaverRacer hits the consoles. |
| 0:35.5 | The Evercade gets a controller. |
| 0:38.8 | And we get the inside story of the new VectTRETS Mini. |
| 0:51.8 | And the Retro Hour podcast is brought to you every week with our sponsor and our good mates at Bitmap Books. |
| 0:53.1 | Now, brand new from them, |
| 1:01.5 | leaps and bounds, a visual guide to nine console generations. Now, this amazing new book charts the history of home video game consoles, exploring how nine generations of hardware |
| 1:06.9 | transformed our living rooms, connected communities worldwide and shaped modern entertainment. |
| 1:12.0 | Blending, expert insight, detailed illustrations, incredible design that you know from Bitmap Books, |
| 1:17.3 | iconic systems and forgotten flops in there as well. And these technological leaps are the defined |
| 1:22.6 | gaming culture, weighing in at more than 330 pages. You can get your copy right now at bitmapbooks.com. |
| 1:30.6 | And with our good mate's replay events who later this year are bringing back the UK's |
| 1:34.6 | longest running retro games event, of course, the Mighty Play Expo. |
... |
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