Don't forget the ZX Spectrum!

[jawsfan1975]

I remember my Grandad getting me the 48k Spectrum for Christmas 1983 in England....the very first game I played was HARRIER ATTACK. Gremlins game was also fun as it featured animated (somewhat) screenshots. Would love to get my hands on one but I doubt I'll find it in the USA now.

[Eidolon]

Originally Posted by brettallica

Ah yes...I just went and looked at these on my larger monitor (those other posts of mine came from the iPhone), and now I can clearly see that these are not the same units. Not even close, really. The one on eBay says "CZ Spectrum" in the upper left corner, while the authentic ones say "ZX Spectrum." Further, the one from Wikipedia has the embossed "Sinclair" relief on the case right there above where it says "ZX Spectrum." Obvious discrepancy there. Plus, the angles and chamfers on the casings are totally different from each other.

ah, it might be one of these Russian-made bootleg Spectrum 'clones' I hear about sometimes. Never seen one before.

[Eny-]

Originally Posted by Eidolon

yes, which is why it isnt widely known (at least outside the UK and apparently Russia), and it's games dont turn up on the Wii like C64 games do.
A real shame as there's some great stuff available for it. Ultimate Play The Game are probably the most well known company, and they did brilliant packaging as well.
http://www.worldofspectrum.org

It was big in Europe, not just the UK. I had 4 Speccy in my time. The 48k and then when the company got picked up by Amstrad the 128k +2, +2A and 3

Still have the +2 and +2A systems

[TheWildWhelk]

I'm running Windows XP Pro (Avid doesn't make friends with XP Home) so any recomendations for a top-notch ZX Spectrum emulator? I have loads of speccy game files, but not sure what's the best emulator to run 'em on for XP. Cheers guys...

[Eidolon]

try Worldofspectrum.org for advice.

Amstrad should make a BD player with a built in Speccy emulator.....

[Eidolon]

my +2a seems to have stopped loading tapes for some reason. Can't figure out what's wrong with it.

[TheWildWhelk]

Originally Posted by Eidolon

try Worldofspectrum.org for advice.

Amstrad should make a BD player with a built in Speccy emulator.....

My workload has finally eased and i've managed to find a fully shareware ZX Spectrum emulator that runs just fine on Windows 7, namely the first-class 'Fuse' emulator. Combined that with my library of Spectrum titles mostly gotten from WorldOfSpectrum.org and i'm extremely happy. Even managed to source the 'rarer' (ahaha!) titles from Ultimate Play The Game like Bubbler and Martianoids.

[L-Rouge]

Yea I had a ZX Spectrum 48k, I likely thrashed Starquake and Camelot the most, followed by Eric (a very cool Bomber man style game) and School Daze/Back to School and Ghost Rider. oohh and Capcom's Commando. I had a demo of Marsport (awesome) and Sweevo's World but the latter needed a password which I never nailed .

[snakeoo]

I had a spectrum +2 128k back in the day. And hundreds of tapes. It was an awesome system.

[Eidolon]

I was lucky enough to get the new model, the ZX SPectrum Next. Nice machine, a couple of minor issues with it that are apparenlty going to be fixed in the next batch.
Runs all Speccy software, plus it's own new games and also runs software from other machines. Recently it became able to download games directly from the World of Spectrum website.

[Eidolon]

Originally Posted by TheWildWhelk

I've ran many emulators down through the years, whether it be for the Amiga or Mame, but the 'console' i still keep coming back to is the Clive Sinclair's ZX Spectrum. I've completed all of the Ultimate Play The Game titles (even Bubbler and Martianoids) and still try to beat personal bests on the likes of Jet Set Willy 2 and Atic Atac (think speed run on the latter.)

Various emulators are also perfect for playing those previously-annoying multi-load games, such as Karnov. After many years, i finally finished that.

Anyone else have favorites for either the rubber-keyed beast or it's brothers?

There's an exhibition called I Grew up 80's that's currently touring UK museums, amongst the things on display are a rubber keyed 48k Spectrum with some games, and an Atari 'woody light sixer' VCS/2600. It's worth a visit if it comes to anywhere near you.

https://www.theatkinson.co.uk/exhibition/i-grew-up-80s/

The exhibition does refer to a Fighting Fantasy book as a Choose Your Own Adventure book though, which feels rather off, and features the predictably mistransformed Transformers toys.

Originally Posted by L-Rouge

Yea I had a ZX Spectrum 48k, I likely thrashed Starquake and Camelot the most, followed by Eric (a very cool Bomber man style game)

Eric and the Floaters? That actually was the first Bomberman game. They changed the title in the uk on account of the IRA bombings going on at the time.