The Retro Hour (Retro Gaming Podcast) 521: The Story Behind the Vectrex Mini - The Retro Hour EP521
Mar 6, 2026
David Ogier, designer and entrepreneur who led the Vectrex Mini revival and has a background in publishing and retro collecting. He recounts his Vectrex origins and the decision to make a mini version. Conversations cover display and emulation choices, overlays and controllers, peripherals like the 3D Imager, the Kickstarter surge and how development and fulfillment were handled.
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How A ZX81 Sparked A Lifelong Tech Passion
- David Ogier discovered home computers via a ZX81 at age 12 and traded his mother's car to get one.
- That early ZX81 and later Commodore experience sparked a lifelong passion that led him to collect multiple Vectrex consoles and pursue the Mini project.
Building The French Star Wars Magazine From Scratch
- David co-created the French Star Wars magazine after four years negotiating a Lucasfilm license and worked on layouts using early Photoshop and Quark tools.
- He visited Skywalker Ranch, dug through unreleased photo archives, and even managed a recreated widescreen cover image for the magazine.
Why A Mini Is The Smart Way To Relaunch Vectrex
- The Vectrex Mini was chosen as a mini-first product because an affordable, portable homage is the most practical way to relaunch the brand.
- David argues CRT replication and FPGA were impractical and costly, so a well-tuned LCD with emulation gives a faithful experience at ~€150.