PiTrex

PiTrex

Console: Vectrex
TV Standard: Other
Country: Australia
Release Date: 2019-01-02
Players: 2
Co-op: No
ESRB: Not Rated
Type: Action
PiTrex screenshotPiTrex screenshot

The PiTrex cartridge replaces the CPU of the Vectrex video game console with the modern processing power of a Raspberry Pi Zero single-board computer. With an ARM CPU running at 1GHz and 512MB of RAM, this system is capable of emulating vintage vector arcade games. It also provides an easier, and much more powerful, environment for developing new games. Plus it can run Vectrex game ROMs loaded onto the Pi's MicroSD card akin to a multicart, by running a modified version of the VecX emulator.

Needed

Raspberry Pi Zero: The "Raspberry Pi Zero WH" is the recommended model. A "Raspberry Pi Zero W" will also work but requires a pin header to be soldered on, and a "Raspberry Pi Zero" also lacks wireless support (wireless/networking/Bluetooth functionality is currently only supported in the Linux environment, and work on the related software is not yet finished). These can be purchased from suppliers worldwide, see the Raspberry Pi website for official suppliers (note: currently doesn't mention the Raspberry Pi Zero WH, though it is available from many suppliers who offer other Pi Zero models). The new "Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W" is now supported but does not improve performance.
MicroSD card: Recommended 256MB or larger. Cannot be larger than 256GB.
Vectrex (any model)
This version of the PiTrex board is functionally identical to the previous "developer release" with all the available software, see the wiki for a technical description of the (minor) changes. A high quality circuit board with hard-gold plated contacts is used to minimise wear from repeated insertions.