Jay Smith (Vectrex, Microvision) at CGE
I'm going to announce the industry legends we've confirmed attendance for at this year's Classic Gaming Expo at the Classic Gaming Expo site, but in this forum I'm going to detail them so you can take note of which games and items that you might want to bring along for signatures!
Jay Smith
During classic video gaming's early years, Jay Smith, then president of Western Technologies and Smith Engineering, had a vision.
In 1979, he designed Milton Bradley's Microvision, which was the world's first handheld system to use cartridges. The compact design was incredibly innovative, featuring game cartridges that contained their own micro processors and overlays. Though the world wasn't quite ready for the Microvision, the concept of independent, portable game systems and exchangeable screen overlays would experience a rebirth of sorts in Mr. Smith's next innovation.
In 1981, he presented the concept of the "Mini Arcade" - a self-contained game system featuring vector graphics and its own 5" monitor. The idea was initially pitched to Kenner but rejected. A few tweaks to the design - most notably a bigger, 9" monitor - attracted another company, General Consumer Electronics (GCE). In the summer of 1982, GCE's Vectrex was launched.
Both of these systems still have a great following, and they're both extraordinarily unique even by today's standards. Meet the man who made it all happen at Classic Gaming Expo.
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