ZX Spectrum - Returning as handheld game console!

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For all you retro freaks out there like me, who grew up with the ZX Speccy (And where I cut my teeth playing Elite!), I think this is gonna be a must have :D

http://www.theverge.com/2014/12/2/7...trum-is-coming-back-as-a-retro-gaming-console

Sir Clive Sinclair earned his knighthood by building some of the earliest affordable computers for the home back in the 1980s. One of his best-loved machines was the ZX Spectrum — think of it as the UK equivalent of the Commodore 64 — which is now being recreated by an Indiegogo project endorsed by Sir Clive himself. The new Sinclair Spectrum Vega simplifies the original keyboard into a rectangular gamepad and comes preloaded with 1,000 games for the Spectrum. What's more, you can use an SD card to load up old Spectrum games you still have lying around, and the company behind the project, Retro Computers, promises to iteratively release more free games once the console is out.
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kile

K
I've been playing Boulder Dash, Feud, Night Shade and Deflector on a Spectrum emulator on my Android phone for over 2 years. I really don't see the point of having a separate device just for that.
 

Hermit

Hermit
That's the problem with it. People can find emulators for their smartphones that do the job just as well. So £100 for this? hmmm...not too sure about that. There is that "cool factor" yes, but that's about it. It doesn't even look to be a handheld. Just a controller you plug into a monitor or TV, like the Sega megadrive ones you can buy.
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The handheld I thought would do well was the Neo Geo X, but that got pulled by SNK due to it being a bit substandard. Shame that :(
 

Bald Avenger

B
I would recommend looking at Tau Ceti for another Speccy space adventure.

Tau Ceti was, like Elite, years ahead of its time in some ways. Not least its user configurable screen layout.
 

littleminxundr

littleminxundr
reload said:
Loadingscreen vid
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The feels...

Best game on the speccy for me is still Apache Gunship (Microprose).
Though I actually played Horace Goes Skying first hand!
I still love to code in Sinclair Basic too. Though in an emulator you have to opt for 128k Speccy, because that was the first ROMversion that allowed for typing the code out.

Years ago, I met Sir Clive at a convention and I had prepared some awesomely intelligent question for him to answer... but when I finally met him, I fangirled hard and went OMG!! OMG!! You're Sir Cliiiiivvveeee!!!!!! *bounce, bounce, jump* and his attention was taken by people who kept it together, lol.
 

Varrag

Varrag
Awesome! I am still keeping my 48k (along with CPC464), and it's working. Microdrive is probably kaput, though (sadly, I don't have healthy cartridges to check it out so maybe it's ok too).

edit: as the guy above me said... how are we supposed to play Hobbit or other text adventures without the keyboard?
 
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[VR] Mad Mike

[VR] Mad Mike
I cut my teeth on the 48K, and have a massive place in my heart for it.... but that being said, £100 imo is unrealistic.

they would have been better off releasing an emulator for the PSP/PS vita / any other even remotely recent handheld with a proper control pad, and charged less for it imo.

If my PSP has not been stolen I would have been all over this for £25, but £100 and as a standalone?

I suppose it *may* cover its costs to a very limited demographic but its niche is so so small.

People like me are happy with emulation on our existing hardware, where as real retro die hards would probably rather play on the rubber keyed original.


I am out I am afraid.
 
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littleminxundr

littleminxundr
Mad Mike said:
I cut my teeth on the 48K, and have a massive place in my heart for it.... but that being said, £100 imo is unrealistic.

they would have been better off releasing an emulator for the PSP/PS vita / any other even remotely recent handheld with a proper control pad, and charged less for it imo.

If my PSP has not been stolen I would have been all over this for £25, but £100 and as a standalone?

naaaah, I am out I am afraid.
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I hope for a PS-Vita emulator!! I use mine merely to remote-play The Last of Us... It has some interesting games, but those mostly rely on 'having friends' in the facebook 'beg for stuff' model.
 

reload

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£100 is a bit steep yes, as others have pointed out you can run an emulator on your smartphone without breaking sweat. That said, there's something... unsatisfying about emulators versus a physical device, at least in my own humble opinion.

As it's an Indiegogo crowdfunded project (https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/sinclair-zx-spectrum-vega) though, assuming they make their funding it may well be the case that down the line it becomes a lot cheaper.

Hell, you can use Raspberry Pis to emulate a lot of stuff too. Can't cost an extra £75 for the chassis/keys etc. http://www.raspberrypi.org/tag/emulators/ if interested.
 

Steve50

Steve50
I play a load of Speccy games on my nvidia tablet (via a controller) considering how poor the hardware was and its flaws (ahem.. attribute clash) it still had a HEAP of superb games out for it that are still just as fun today. :)
 

Magic Man

Magic Man
Memories, memories. The surprise of getting a 48K when I thought a 16K was all I could have hoped for.

Reading the BASIC book from cover to cover.

The memorised sounds of the tape loader...

C-90 tapes full of copies of others games with tape counter positons written on the card inlay.

Having to use my dads upright cassette deck because the little player I had didn't have a tone control and couldn't put out the right audio... (until I got one that did)

Buying the + upgrade keyboard.

Slomo device to slow things down. Opus Discovery One disk drive 'attachment'. Currah speech addon. Kempston and Quickshot joysticks.

Good times... :)
 
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