Vectrex Multi-carts

[heyricochet]

So I got a vectrex today (thanks clubninja!) and its pretty awesome and everything I hoped for, but I'd like some more games, namely armor attack. While searching on ebay for vectrex I found these multi-cart games. I'm guessing they are illegal, but whats the deal with these? Are they any good? buggy? Will they infect my vectrex?

[RCM]

So I got a vectrex today (thanks clubninja!) and its pretty awesome and everything I hoped for, but I'd like some more games, namely armor attack. While searching on ebay for vectrex I found these multi-cart games. I'm guessing they are illegal, but whats the deal with these? Are they any good? buggy? Will they infect my vectrex?

They are not illegal and they're awesome. I have a Sean Kelly multicart with the entire Vec library and some nifty homebrew stuff. The only down side is it didn't come with the overlays. No biggie though, the games are still awesome.

[wberdan]

i second a recommendation for the sean kelley multicart


willie

[yok-dfa]

Will they infect my vectrex?

x_x

[Mayhem]

They are not illegal and they're awesome.

Technically Jay Smith only released the Vectrex ROMs for non-profit use, so theoretically it's against his wishes. I'm not sure if anyone has actually directly asked him his opinion on multicarts however.

(note here, by that I mean that people building multicarts isn't illegal but selling them... that's a different matter)

Regardless, my personal preference would be to get a VecFLASH cart from Richard Hutchinson ( www.vectrex.biz ) instead. You get to pick which games you upload to the 16 x 32k bank areas, so if you want to change, you can just write something else there instead.

[ozyr]

Technically Jay Smith only released the Vectrex ROMs for non-profit use, so theoretically it's against his wishes.

But what if those selling the Multi-carts are selling them at cost? (not the ebay folks)

[Mayhem]

I'd imagine it would be fine, but then I figure no one's asked JS about them to find out his opinion.

It's the same thing with the carts from Mark Shaker's site. They are sold at cost and the homebrew authors let him do that. Apart from V-Frogger, every homebrew author I spoke to regarding putting their games on the (now defunct) Retro Gamer cover CD refused, mainly because they didn't want anyone profiting from their work.

So having any homebrew games on anything but a non-profit multicart is going against their wishes as well...

[heyricochet]

Will they infect my vectrex?

x_x

That was a joke :-p
Well, since I watched a Sean Kelly one go for over 100 on ebay Its probably a little out of my range. I was more looking at the 20 dollar one that seems to be on ebay a lot now.

[heyricochet]

Double post.

[ClubNinja]

Here's the problem with the cheap one on eBay (that I saw). This guy is basically going to stick a few games on the eprom (in this case, 8 games) and call it a day. Unless you want to invest in an eprom burner and put a socket on that board so you can easily put the chip on and pull it off, then those are the only games you'll get.

For my buck, the Sean Kelley cart was a great buy for me. I also researched the VECFlash, which is very cool, but I didn't want to bother with transfering games around when the Kelley cart already had everything I really wanted.

(Glad you're digging the Vec!)

[Mayhem]

Sean actually sells his version for $75 on eBay if you keep watching (and don't want to pay any more). I say "keep watching" because they tend to go very quickly.

I do wonder if some of the purchases are by people who are later reselling them for more money due to demand. I think I'm probably right.

[K3V]

Yeah I was able to get one from Sean directly on eBay for $75 during his last round of sales. They didn't last long - you've really got to be on the ball to pick one up.

Definitely worth it though. I'd like to get a VecFlash someday too for loading up homebrews and the like.

[Pantechnicon]

If you're just wanting to play the games, a Sean Kelly multicart is the best investment you can make for your new Vectrex. Vectrex + Multicart = Instant Collection. There's really nothing more to say. I got mine through a trade with Sean at CGE a couple of years back but would have gladly paid his asking price for it just the same.

[Darth Sensei]

There's a Sean Kelly multi on ebay right now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vectrex-Multi-Ca...QQcmdZViewItem

[heyricochet]

What about this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/36-Vectrex-games...QQcmdZViewItem
Its ~60 bucks shipped for 36 games. I would gladly pay 75 for a sean kelly, but thats probably about my upper limit for a one time expenditure on vectrex games. Its hard for me to drop a bunch of cash at one time, but if I drop the same amount over multiple purchases then I don't notice.

[rbudrick]

Regardless, my personal preference would be to get a VecFLASH cart from Richard Hutchinson ( www.vectrex.biz ) instead. You get to pick which games you upload to the 16 x 32k bank areas, so if you want to change, you can just write something else there instead

.

How much are these? Are they still selling? It doesn't seem obvious from the site.

-Rob

[Mayhem]

I believe he was waiting for a new supply of the repro cart cases before making some more. Email him to find out!

[wberdan]

i dont know about now, since he has a game store-
but sean used to take "x" amount of games for a multicart...
meaning that you can (could?) trade him for one
chances are he may be less likely to do that now that he has the gamestore

willie

[club210]

The S Kelly multi cart people brag about is definitely worth it. Especially since now getting reproduction overlays is not too bad.

All games is one place = good.
Instant collection = sweeeeet.

[K3V]

The S Kelly multi cart people brag about is definitely worth it. Especially since now getting reproduction overlays is not too bad.

All games is one place = good.
Instant collection = sweeeeet.

Who is selling repro overlays? I'd like to get myself a set...