Jaw dropping new bit of kit?
I must admit to exclaiming “What the **** is this?” when I first came across this a day or so ago. As anyone who knows me or reads these pages knows, I am more than a little bit of a ZX Spectrum evangelist. So to see what appears to be a cut down gaming version of my beloved machine was to say the least a shock. Add to that the fact that Uncle Clive is actually involved in a ZX Spectrum based project himself and my jaw nearly hit the floor. The Sinclair ZX Spectrum Vega is being marketed by Retro Computers Ltd, a start-up based in Luton in which Sinclair Research Ltd (Sir Clive Sinclair’s company), is a shareholder. The marketing and development of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum Vega is under licence from Sky In-Home Service Ltd, who currently own the intellectual property rights to the Spectrum.
The project involves the creation of a gaming computer akin to a ZX Spectrum shaped joypad. Direction buttons on the left hand side and 4 keys modelled on original Spectrum keys on the right. They will even be made of vulcanised rubber apparently, just like the originals. The machine itself will have flash memory pre-loaded with around a 1000 games, but has software installed allowing the potential installation of over 14,000 games which will be downloadable as they become available, free of charge. Retro Computers Ltd is making arrangements with the owners of the software rights to Spectrum games to donate a combined software royalty to the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.
The Vega has been developed by the author of “The ZX Spectrum ULA: How to design a microcomputer” Chris Smith, who is a former ZX Spectrum games developer and one of the world’s leading experts on Sinclair Spectrum technology. The Vega will be manufactured in the UK and will start with the initial Indiegogo funded run of 1000 units, with a further 3000 units planned to follow. All further sales of the Vega will be via their website.
What did I just see?
My thoughts on the Vega? Well, I think I need time to digest just what I have just encountered, but my initial concerns are with it’s lack of keyboard. Surely a machine that relied so heavily on that keyboard for many of its games, and I’m talking about text adventures (think The Hobbit), role playing games (think Lords of Midnight) and complex arcade action games such as Psytron, can’t be any use with most of it’s keys missing? And no talk of a joystick port. Well there were an awful lot of games built around the use of a joystick back then so why no provision for it? The jury is still out here at RGC towers. More thoughts to come in a later article once I’ve had time to get over the shock of it all.
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