If you have never seen one, I strongly recommend seeking out a real vector arcade machine. The monitor has a beautiful, otherworldly appearance that can't be captured in photos or emulation. Somehow the lack of the raster grid makes the image feel more tangible. In an arcade the vector machines have an aura that even the best raster machines don't have.
For me, it's the intensity and brightness that really stand out. In Asteroids, the ship and rocks are clear, smoothly drawn straight lines, but the shots from enemy ships are intensely bright points that actually make a small circle around it on the CRT also glow faintly.
The first time someone sees what Asteroids really looks like is pretty special. Those ridiculously bright bullets burn themselves into your retina in a way that simply can't be emulated.
Comments
If you have never seen one, I strongly recommend seeking out a real vector arcade machine. The monitor has a beautiful, otherworldly appearance that can't be captured in photos or emulation. Somehow the lack of the raster grid makes the image feel more tangible. In an arcade the vector machines have an aura that even the best raster machines don't have.
For me, it's the intensity and brightness that really stand out. In Asteroids, the ship and rocks are clear, smoothly drawn straight lines, but the shots from enemy ships are intensely bright points that actually make a small circle around it on the CRT also glow faintly.
The first time someone sees what Asteroids really looks like is pretty special. Those ridiculously bright bullets burn themselves into your retina in a way that simply can't be emulated.
I can't recommend this more. Especially because the CRTs aren't made any more and eventually all of the current ones will die.