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Exploring the ZX Spectrum's glorious rebirth as a gaming keyboard
I remember it like it was yesterday. I'm sitting there, in my parent's lounge, as my dad comes down the stairs with what looks like a black box. He peels back the paper sleeve to reveal a polystyrene insert that houses a small black keyboard with stubby rubberized keys, a huge power brick and a handful of cassette tapes. I quickly learn that the keyboard is a Sinclair ZX Spectrum, an 8-bit personal home computer that relies on a cassette deck to load and save games. I played it off and on for a year, getting to grips with games like the The Hobbit and Horace Goes Skiing, but my interest waned when I finally got a Sega Master System and immersed myself in the world of Sonic and friends. The Spectrum was returned to its polystyrene home and placed back in the attic, where it remains to this day.
Watch WH Smith's incredible 1988 video game sizzle reel
"Konami's latest coin-op hit bursts onto your computer screen. Beyond infinity lies the evil galaxy dominated by the forces of the despotic Salamander. A hero must persuade his compatriot to join him on a journey into hell and beyond. To defeat this devil they most overcome forces mankind cannot perceive in his wildest nightmares. Organic monsters of destruction, nuclear spiders, infernos burning like raging seas in torment, caverns of despair, demons beyond dimensions of our minds. You are that hero. Now is the time. Pilot your spacecraft on this lethal mission with skill and strategy to amass the weapons systems vital to your success. Screen after screen of exciting arcade action in this faithful conversion of Konami's follow-up to Nemesis. Sci-fi shoot 'em up at it's best. Salamander takes you a stage further."
ZX Spectrum handheld smashes £100,000 funding goal in two days
Remember that new ZX Spectrum video game console we told you about yesterday? Well, it's already smashed its £100,000 ($156,477 USD) crowdfunding goal on Indiegogo. Barely 48 hours have passed since the campaign went live, but already the first 1,000 Sinclair Spectrum Vega systems have been funded. That means the all-in-one controller and console is no longer just a pipe dream, with the first units scheduled to reach backers by April next year. If you're interested in claiming one, but missed out on the first "limited edition" batch, creator Retro Computers has added a Kilobyte Plus tier that'll put you first in line for one of the next 3,000 units. The company says they'll go into production roughly two months after the first run of consoles have been delivered to backers.
The ZX Spectrum returns as a plug-and-play console
The popular ZX Spectrum series of microcomputers has resurfaced as a crowdfunded plug-and-play console produced in a collaboration between Sinclair Research founder Clive Sinclair and tech startup Retro Computers. The ZX Spectrum was a low-cost home computer that proved especially popular among game developers and hobbyists in the United Kingdom in the early 1980s. The Indiegogo-funded Sinclair Spectrum Vega includes over 1,000 built-in games, and additional titles will debut as free downloads following the console's launch next year. Users can also add their own games to the Vega's library via an included SD card slot. Backers who pledge £100 or more will receive one of the first 1,000 Sinclair Spectrum Vega consoles to enter production. Shipments are scheduled to begin in April, 2015. [Video: Retro Computers]
The ZX Spectrum has been reimagined as an all-in-one gamepad
The ZX Spectrum was a landmark computer in the 1980s that gave Britain classic video games such as Elite, R-Type and Manic Miner. Now it's coming back as the Sinclair Spectrum Vega, an all-in-one controller and console that's styled after the original, but uses modern advancements to make it sleeker and cheaper. The new model has been put together by Retro Computers, a startup backed by Sinclair Research, the company founded by ZX Spectrum inventor Sir Clive Sinclair. A working prototype has been completed and now the team is pitching on Indiegogo to get the first 1,000 consoles in production.
The Goonies returns with new graphics, sound, $0 price tag
The Goonies may have been good enough for Cyndi Lauper, but not for Sloth Team, a group of dedicated fans who have recreated Datasoft's ZX Spectrum adaptation of the 1985 film for modern PCs with new aesthetics and additional content. Unlike the more popular NES Goonies game, which was a typical platformer, Datasoft's attempt at the license sees players controlling two of the Goonies as they solve puzzles necessary to move from room to room. Highlights of this new version of The Goonies include wholly new graphics, new music and additional stages. Best of all, the remake is available as a free download for anyone with a PC or Linux machine and functional Internet connection. At Sloth Team's official site you'll find both a demo and the full version of the game at the always attractive price of "absolutely free." [Image: Sloth Team]
Sinclair ZX Spectrum turns 30, gets immortalized as a Google Doodle
Today's Google UK doodle celebrates both St. Georges Day and the little home computer that became a British phenomenon, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. To be competitive with the rival Commodore 64, the 16KB of RAM-packing machine retailed for just £130 ($210 in today's money), punched well above its own weight and was often the first computer bought by techno-phobic families. Designed to be as programmer-friendly as possible, the founders of Shiny, Rare and Blitz Games studios all cut their teeth on the computer that introduced the world to Manic Miner, Jet Set Willy and Dizzy. It lasted a full decade in production, selling five million units before Amstrad purchased the money-losing unit and closed it down. Despite its demise, it's still got a loyal following from a generation of fans, something we doubt can be said about the Amstrad machines that replaced it.
Unofficial remake of first Batman game released
For a full-color history lesson, we suggest you check out the recently completed and simply adorable remake of Batman -- the first Batman! The 3D isometric gem was developed by Jon Ritman and Bernie Drummond, and published in 1986 by the once formidable British games giant Ocean Software -- a sort of ancestor of the modern-day Atari Inc. through its Infogrames lineage -- for the ZX Spectrum, MSX and Amstrad CPC (and PCW) "microcomputers" (contemporaries of the dominant Commodore 64). The game stars an Adam West-looking Batman on a scavenger hunt around the deadly Batcave for seven pieces of the Batcraft (so he can get it hovering again and go rescue Robin, of course). According to the Sinclair User review (issue #50, pg. 51), Batman is notable for being an early, if not the first, game to implement a checkpoint system. The unofficial remake of Batman was developed by Tomaz Kac (who also faithfully remade Ritman and Drummond's Head Over Heels followup) and is available to download and play for free on PC. An earlier freeware remake, dubbed Watman, was released for DOS and Game Boy Advance about ten years ago. Consider yourself schooled. [Image sources: Retrospec / RudyKoch]
ZX Spectrum Laptop mashes in a Toshiba Libretto 110 for some fun retro times
Let's not get hung up on trying to figure out a use for this thing, and just admire it for what it is: awesome. Jim built this "Spectrum ZX Laptop" out of an old ZX Spectrum 48k and a Toshiba Libretto 110, using the Libretto for innards and the screen, while the Spectrum serves as a case and keyboard. The "laptop" gets a couple hours of batter life, and naturally Jim is running Linux on here -- he plans to emulate some old ZX Spectrum games with it, but mostly it's just art. A shot of the two machines in their original states is after the break.[Via Hack a Day]
