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Next ZX Spectrum

October 18, 2016 — 3 Comments

I’m really surprised to be typing that there’s going to be a new ZX Spectrum, it’s been FOREVER since my career really took off developing games for the original one.  My big break was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (called the Hero Turtles in the UK), that gave me a #1 Hit and plenty of work followed.

It’s now a museum piece of hardware and so I must admit I’m excited to see this team making a new one, it’s a retro dream!  (Heck, it even looks cool!)

They have a surprise in the FAQ that it will run ZX81 games as well.  Are you kidding?

I just signed up for their newsletter…  Will be interesting to see it develop.

http://www.specnext.com/

 

 

 

I don’t have a copy yet, but just getting a glimpse it looks like Sam has hit it out of the park.

This kind of work is important as it’s recording some of the video game industry history in an incredibly high quality format.

More info here:

http://www.bitmapbooks.co.uk/products/sinclair-zx-spectrum-a-visual-compendium

Pack1_large

Ben Heck blew me away when he started to tear apart a ZX Spectrum.  This is UK hardware yet he was able to completely rebuild it into a new form.  I was so amazed!  It’s the kind of stuff that really inspires me to want to learn more about electronics.  I have Arduino but this is a another whole level of expertise.

Image of Handheld ZX Spectrum.

Handheld Spectrum made by Ben Heck.

He did it in 3 stages:

PART 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GcwcyL9LgM

PART 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTBZHjzwdQQ

PART 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA8isV5rijA