Zvg Vector Arcade Interface
Asteroids, Tempest, Lunar Lander, Battlezone and of course Star Wars are some of the most memorable arcade games from the 1980s, but they are also some of the hardest to emulate with modern raster-scan monitors because they used vector graphics (all straight lines, dots and gloriously futuristic images).
While searching for details of the old Star Wars arcade game I came across a vector generator that can bring these razor-sharp classics into the 21st century.
The ZVG (Zector's Video Generator) is a PC-driven vector generator that's compatible with MAME arcade software (DOS only). It connects to an ECP-compatible parallel printer port and drives any analog X/Y Monitor including any dual channel oscilloscope that can be set to an X/Y mode. The company also supply a variety of cables to simplify assembly.
"There were more than 30 vector based games made in the 80's. To acquire a collection that includes all these games would be a monumental feat. Just to find that many vector monitors alone would be no easy task, not to mention the cost! Vector based arcade monitors haven't been made in 20+ years, and you can't simply use one vector monitor for all these games. Each monitor has different specs and runs at different speeds, making them incompatible between different gaming hardware. The hardware was unique for most of these games, making multigame conversion kits difficult to design."
Zektor ZVG vector arcade hardware.