The Spectrum - reproduction ZX 48K Spectrum

Skerries

https://www.smythstoys.com/ie/en-ie/gaming-and-tech/retro-gaming/the-spectrum/p/243333

I have my order in

SuperBowserWorld

Definitely the coolest 8 bit home computer of all time. It was punk/indie/fun/hackable/alternative/cheap while C64/Amstrad ... were corporate snores. 😁

Includes a copy of Crash magazine ❤️

I wonder is it a compilation issue that reviews the games that come built in with this thing.

deadl0ck

I'd say it will be just a copy of the latest edition of the new version that Fusion Retro Books do: https://fusionretrobooks.com/collections/crash-magazine

LambshankRedemption

Do I need it? No. Do I have room for it? Arguably not. Can I afford it? ngh.. probably. Do I want it? Hell yeah!

Skerries

Amazon lists it as a 32 page mini mag

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PLAION-GmbH-The-Spectrum/dp/B0DCZLFHB1/ref%3Dmp_s_a_1_1?crid=13JNWZPTZ1BJ0&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.dWvrts7aTlKjOx2mc4apDbbanalSuVN_nP831MfqXLBzRHs45uuxG6EqEBqYx4ReCKHLtOCLxRw1tDaf1jVSQkHx4NkkPSn_qY-zEjpltV7wm-GTIBhwC0nUOJcMEju5mDq6X-aGaCtiQAdrlxAT3DE3Eq9W0fzmuWeR6Eu-EVx3PzYuoGwr1M-RdevIZWPsTaPPkOLy-8mthuHwrdBNKQ.9uO8C_bzVwEFTMuXbTRGtIv2FBi85xdSfjq_IfspFHk&dib_tag=se&keywords=spectrum+zx&qid=1724697699&sprefix=spectrum+z%2Caps%2C70&sr=8-1

SteM

Went from a ZX81 to a Spectrum back in the day, it has Manic Miner pre installed so I'll probably pick one up.

CiDeRmAn

I want one, as an owner of the machine back in the day.

The option to play your own stuff from a USB isn't new, and the full collection of Speccy games has a lot of lousy awful efforts.

But, with a well curated list, there's more than enough great games to get stuck into.

NIMAN

Would be an expensive buy for a bit of nostalgia, but will you really play it?

I mean, most folk who are still into gaming and had one of these when they were a teen, more than likely have a gaming PC or a ps5?

When you see games on those, why would you wanna play incredibly simple games from the 80s and 90s? You might for a day or two, but you'll get bored quickly and it'll lie in a cupboard surely?

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122552153#Comment_122552153

Tbh the first thing I thought of when I saw it was the thoughts of playing around with basic again. I reckon a lot of people will look at it that way rather than the games.

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122552191#Comment_122552191

Ah right, I misunderstood what it was. I didn't realise it was a full Spectrum replica. I thought it was a new box loaded with old Spectrum games, made to look like a Spectrum.

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122552207#Comment_122552207

Well I don't know myself but I'd assume it comes with basic!

SteM

The description says emulates 16k/48k/128k so I'd imagine it has basic.

McDermotX

https://youtu.be/EnfQ13nFJYc?si=kNOItvC7eEuvu0uI

Official vid......your BASIC is at the end

Jeff2

The one I had I couldn't get new games for it at the time so with it connected to the TV I recorded it on vcr while stopped the games loading. And it would list from the start incode what went wrong.

Then I learnt what the code meant and could ad edit code my own code to the game to change it.

I even wrote code for my own games with this that included adding my kids name when something happened . Gas times.

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122552153#Comment_122552153

You say that as if fancy graphics equate to great games. They don't. Many of the greatest games of all time are from the 80s and 90s.

SteM

Remember typing game code printed in magazines to play them, and then save them to cassette.

Sid 1984

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122553076#Comment_122553076

And not working because you missed a colon on line 68……. 😁

SteM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122553097#Comment_122553097

Think that was bad? Typing on the ZX81 was worse and sometimes the (16k!) ram expansion pack on the back would wobble and come loose meaning you'd loose all of the work if you hadn't saved it!

That thought me the meaning of patience when I was a kid at least.

LambshankRedemption

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122552191#Comment_122552191

Funnily enough thats my main interest too. I can emulate every game ever made for it on a Raspberry Pi, but when I had access to a Commodore 64 and later an Amstrad 464, I was too young to start BASIC, and I got access too late, and living in rural Galway didnt help. So yeah, coding something in BASIC is an aspiration.

McDermotX

TBH, there's a decent physical template already there for a proper reproduction of the Spectrum with the Recreated Spectrum from a few years ago. Knocked together for Elite, it was in the end, just a Bluetooth keyboard for hooking up your iPad and whatnot, but it had a decent feel, even for the keys which this version will hopefully end up with. Agree about the RETRO embossed on the front, which is unfortunate, but there's probably some wariness or lack of will dealing with the Sinclair trademark - think Sky still hold that, certainly the Next developers had to get permission for their design from them.

Like many of the 'mini-consoles' it's ultimately destined for the shelf after a little tinkering about with, but at least this time around they had the sense to just go for the 'full thing' first as opposed to the 64 and Amiga minis ahead of full size versions - hard to see an appetite for a tiny fake keyboard especially when it's more or less required as the 'main controller'. These days most retro Spectrum users will either be using an original, some clone like a Harlequin, MiSTer or a Next in any case, so it's little more than a curiousity for those users, but it's nice to see any new product with a retro angle, and if it opens a door for anyone looking for some nostalgia it's all good.

Elite's Recreated Spectrum

Hoop66

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122553302#Comment_122553302

Yeah, me too. I'm obviously a bit older then you - I learned BASIC on the Speccy when I was 17!

If this properly emulates it'll be amazing fun. 128k - imagine!

LambshankRedemption

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122553822#Comment_122553822

I'm just wondering, would I not be better off buying a dead Spectrum(For about a tenner), take out the internals, add in a raspberry Pi, and go from there. Would it not be a similar user experience?

Theres nothing stopping me learning BASIC now on one of my systems.

It would be a pure nostalgia purchase, but where does it stop. There's no end of stuff I had and want again, or didn't have and did want, which inevitably will end up on a shelf.

Hoop66

That's where self-control comes in…

(says the guy who excitedly bought gig tickets a few weeks ago, then couldn't be arsed to go)

CiDeRmAn

By the time you buy a non working Spectrum and perform the surgery needed to revive it, you may well end up spending quite a bit more in time and money compared with simply picking up this new Spectrum device.

I have a feeling that there will be those driven because they owned one back in the day, such as myself.

And there will be those who also own at least one ZX Spectrum of some hue, and want this device as it is, itself, an interesting artifact.

It's much like the logic in owning a PC Engine Mini, you can emulate these titles on almost anything with a screen, but then there's the joy at a tangible device, which brings back not only the games but the experience of playing them

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122556971#Comment_122556971

The UI also, if done tastefully, can add to the experience with these things.

Boxman

Edit:

Perhaps try before you buy..

https://torinak.com/qaop/play

I love Commando

https://torinak.com/qaop/play/commando

mm_surf

Sigh. Pre-ordered.

M.

Sheep Shagger

Am not a gamer at all but i would buy this for Manic Minor alone....presumably there's no other way of playing it anywhere else.

I think we had a tape machine beside our spectrum?

Closest I've seen to it is a YouTube video…

https://youtu.be/BgUzteADsRI?si=hIKyBDIO68EMGaCc

Can see me caving to buy it.

SteM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122559400#Comment_122559400

Just Google 'manic miner online' and you'll see websites to play it on. Quicker than loading it by tape 😉

Boxman

https://torinak.com/qaop/play/manicminer

mm_surf

And I'm sure speccy fans already know, but for the zx-curious, the website "world of spectrum" has a massive archive of software. They secured permission to distribute for almost everything ("ultimate" software a notable exception)

https://worldofspectrum.org/

M.

SteM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122559037#Comment_122559037

Thanks for that. Ant Attack drove me crazy when I was a kid. I see the same level of frustration in my son when he plays Fortnite that caused my Dad to confiscate that tape from me when I was young.

Inviere

Caved and ordered 🤷🏻

Hoop66

Yeah, me too.

Quigs Snr

on the one hand… even though I was a C64 guy, there has always been a small shelf in my game room dedicated to Spectrum. So there’s no reason for me to buy this…

….. but on the other hand there was also no need for me to buy any of these either since I have in many cases vastly larger physical collections of each.

It’s a form of mental illness I expect.

Tom Mann Centuria

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122560161#Comment_122560161

I'd suggest Spectrum Computing as well, personally I find it far better experience for browsing and downloading games these days. Codemasters, Melbourne House a couple of other big hitters distribution denied on WoS and Spectrum Computing but still very easy to find.

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/

Lady Eklipse revision of the Spectrum TOSEC on archive.org is a brilliant resource too, and if pokes work on this emulator (I'm sure they probably do) she has a brilliant collection of those too.

https://archive.org/details/zx_spectrum_tosec_set_september_2023

For things a bit more left field and demos, music etc. I'd recommend ZXArt

https://zxart.ee/eng/mainpage/

A Portuguese site called Planeta Sinclair gives lots of news and reviews of modern games, Google translate required obviously!

http://planetasinclair.blogspot.com/

Talking of modern games Itch.io has lots (and lots) of modern Spectrum games, some of which are fantastic and well worth trying out to see just how much modern programmers can squeeze out of the Spectrum. Pat Morita Team from Spain and Sinc Lair and Zosya Entertainment from Ukraine/Russia are teams well worth checking out.

https://itch.io/games/tag-zx-spectrum