I've been craving for a ZX Spectrum for the better part of the last 20 years, but -as the above photo should have already made clear- the long wait is finally over. No more house visits to Speccy owning friends, no more emulation-only fun, no more begging, no more avoiding loading times or fiddling with interfaces. A lovely Sinclair ZX Spectrum + complete with tape recorder, joystick, joystick interface, manuals, an assortment of cables and an interesting selection of mainly obscure games has finally arrived, while more Speccy goodies are already on the way and The Hobbit has been sitting on my desk for more than a week. Oh, and so you know, this Spectrum is quite possibly the best 30 euros I've ever spent online. And no I shouldn't be posting this over at Retro Treasures.What's truly weird throughout this long waiting period though, is the simple fact that I've always been a huge Spectrum gamer/fan, despite never actually owning a Spectrum. I have, you see, been emulating the thing on everything from the 16-bit Amiga, to my current PC, to my trusty Pocket PC and have also been constantly asking people to get their ancient 8-bits out of the closet. Then again, Manic Miner is among my top favourite games, Ultimate and Mr. Ritman are still being daily praised, dozens of text adventures have already been beaten, hundreds of reviews have been drooled upon and hours of arguing over Match Day II have been spent. So, well, hoorah for my new acquisition I guess! I can finally enjoy my fav games the way Sir Clive intended.
Also, with the added pleasure of the almost proper Plus keyboard, 8-bit interactive fiction will hopefully become a daily fetishistic practice. Let alone the fact that such keyboards have been know to turn simple gamers into creative people...
Related @ Gnome's Lair:
The first thing I thought on looking at that photo is that I still have to read that issue of Retro Gamer...
ReplyDeleteFair enough. It's a fine issue, it is. I on the other hand would attempt to discover the NSFW bits.
ReplyDeleteSounds pretty awesome. Even though the only retro gaming I do is with DOS games (and an occasional SNES game). You are a lucky man (gnome?) to have such a fine piece of hardware.
ReplyDeleteI have fond memories of playing on a friend's Spectrum in early 80's Edinburgh, the original tiny model with the rubber keys that is - none of those new-fangled real-looking keyboards for us back then. Android 2 was the game we played, endlessly it seemed. I loved it! ;)
ReplyDeleteNot so lucky really Ithmeer. Cunning! That's the word. And I'm also hatching a cunning plan regarding a SNES too.
ReplyDeleteAhhh, Android 2. The rubber beermat version of the Speccy. How delightful. How absolutely brilliant dear JMcL63.
Ah, my dear Gnome, this post endears you to my heart even more!
ReplyDeleteI actually am the proud owner of ZX Spectrum+ ever since '91. I wanted Amiga, but my parents didn't have enough money (it was Poland two years after the official fall of communism), so I ended up with ZX Spectrum+... which turned out to be a great machine indeed.
I wrote more about it in this post:
http://www.bartsnews.net/2007/04/happy-birthsday-spectrum.html
(also, there's this ZX Spectrum tag beneath the post, click it for more ZX goodness)
It's like they say (although in totally different context): "You never forget your first one".
I still have my original ZX Spectrum+ and I even got it modded so it would connect to my parents TV, unfortunately the keyboard foil is wasted and I can't find someone who would repair it for me.
Nevertheless, it is still with me and when I become a CEO of software (okay, games) company, it will be hanging on the wall of my office to show everyone what I started from.
And I really have no idea why the link in my comment does not work - I guess you'll have to copy/paste it.
ReplyDeletePS. Cooking up a post on new ZX Spectrum emulator for the PSP.
Excellent! The Spectrum + was the first computer I owned back in the late 1980s. It's a brilliant machine because not only does it look cool but it has much better keys than the "rubber-keyed" original 48K model.
ReplyDeleteIf you need advice on which games to try and collect for it, btw, I might just be your man...
Right that's it! I'm coming to Greece for a Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy-fest! Happy days!
ReplyDeleteAhh, that was a heart-warming dear Barts. And I'll be digging all over your place for extra Spectrum bits and posts immediately. Oh, and when you become CEO of anything please do hire... :)
ReplyDeleteWell, Matty mate, any tips, especially on the obscure indie side of things which you seem to actually understand, would be more than welcome...
Right. Already ordered a dozen extra tequila bottles Father. What time will you be here?
That is the first piece of Speccy porn I've seen. Great photo - that indeed belongs on the cover of Retro Gamer. :) What an awesome machine.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading "On the Edge: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore" right now, and it's interesting to see how Tramiel tried to force Sinclair out of the computer business by continually dropping their prices on the VIC-20. Goooo Sinclair!
(swiftly mails Darran @ RG and asks for money)
ReplyDeleteOh, seems they don't care for it... Shame.
I've been meaning to read On the Edge for quite some time now, and it should be in my next Amazon bundle... Didn't know about them dirty VIC-20 tricks, though I can't say I'm particularly shocked. Mr. Tramiel surely wasn't the nicest of person. Then again Sir Clive, being such a brilliant inventor, was so hell-bent on flamboyant self destruction (see the C5) that it didn't actually matter...