In the early 1980s, the Vectrex was a niche games console that used a vector display to achieve high-quality graphics, making it attractive to hackers and retrocomputing enthusiasts, however there were rumours that it was originally intended to be more than just a games machine.
After extensive research, Intric8 found a reference in an old issue of Electronic Games magazine, which detailed plans for a keyboard, RAM and ROM expansions, and a “wafer drive” supplement that would have turned the Vectrex into a serious home computer to rival offerings from Commodore and Sinclair.
However, the magazine article may have been largely speculative rather than based on true planned product developments, with the developers of the console merely trying to generate publicity for their machine in a highly competitive market.
Further investigation into the “wafer drive” mentioned in the article suggests that it was likely a type of early floppy disk drive, perhaps the Rotronics Wafadrive which was an early form of data storage using flexible disks.
