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ONE OF THE classic computers of the 80s is making a comeback as a handheld gaming device.
The Sinclair ZX Spectrum Vega+ Console, which is being developed by Retro Computers, is looking to raise €130,000 (£100,000) through the crowdfunding platform IndieGoGo.
Based on the original ZX Spectrum computer, the Vega+ is backed by the computer’s original creator, Sir Clive Sinclair.
The look of the handheld is similar to many modern handheld consoles like the PS Vita, but will come with 1,000 games installed on the device. It will also be compatible with as many as 14,000 ZX Spectrum games out there, and has a microSD slot for expanded storage.
“In this new conception of what a games player wants from their games console, our design team has taken advantage of major advances in technology … by replacing most of the electronics in the early Sinclair computer products,” says the company.
The cost for one will be £100 (€129) and the campaign has raised more than €38,000 so far within its first day.
The same company was responsible for releasing a modern version of the classic Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer at the end of 2014.
The device, which plugs straight into your TV, also came with 1,000 games preloaded and raised £155,000 (€200,000) in total through IndieGoGo.
Although if that’s a little too expensive for your tastes, you can always play some ZX Spectrum games on your browser through the Internet Archive.
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Nostalgia overload. My first computer was the spectrum.
I remember the ZX81 was the first to come out – 1kb of memory. One!
All we could do was programme it to make patterns, and that was an effort.
Then the Spectrum, then the Spectrum 125 (125kb of memory), which had hard plastic buttons instead of those rubber ones. I think the rival was the Commodore 64, which was a massive yolk for such low power.
How much would an old spectrum be worth. Gave one away years ago
9500
I had the zx81 too! My current PC has 8,000,000 times as much RAM and it’s even slower.
Gets me why no one has tried to bring back the Nintendo
My 16K ram pack kept falling off.
About 40 quid max, all in.
Speccy was great. Here is a great little tune created with the noise of the loading games. This is actually kind of catchy. http://www.retrotvads.com/2008/11/the-speccy-song/
Loved JetPac on the Spectrum. Loved listening to the high pitched noise that happened when loading games from cassette tapes. Such memories…ah that takes me right back…
Terrible when the booklet got lost for the colour code password to play. A lot of guessing and reloading!
T’was a wonderful computer. The game Chaos was amazing, up to 8 players!
Wouldn’t mind getting my hands on one of them!
Does this or the older version have the game flimbos quest ? Or where can I get it. Girlfriend has my head done in years looking . Could only find it if I got her a commodore 64.
Del, you can use a ZX spectrum emulator to play pretty much any game for the machine on just about any device you can think of…..
I appreciate your time and for sending the link , but I’m a joke when it comes to this. She has an iMac if it could be played on that ? And if you could guid me to a simple link , that would be great .
Ok, I’d recommend M.E.S.S. for OSX.
It emulates all the old computers and theres instruction sites all over the place for its usage.
They’d be better off producing a handheld commodore 64, a more popular computer at the time in terms of raw sales?
A long as they don’t try the same with the Sinclair C5….
Nice design, but with quality of games available on smart phones now a days I just don’t see much of a market for a new handheld console.
I bet you can’t get virtual stip poker anymore though.
It’s not about the graphics. The playability was amazing. Games like Booty and Jetset Willy and Chaos!
That’s Christmas sorted!
Now if only we could get super mario world as a game on an iPad?
Spectrum was a bit before my time but would love if they brought out something similar for the SNES or MegaDrive
They kinda did already for the Megadrive at least
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3816789.htm
They have a hand held sega mega drive in Argos too 50 games loaded on it and can add more Roms have similar devices on amazon that play nes snes megadrive the whole lot on one console… meant to be unreal and not overly pricey.
The speccy was my first soirée into the world of computers and I absolutely loved it. This console is a neat looking device but I would argue that its appeal is pretty limited, especially in todays fast moving tech climate. I mean, who would really want one?
Just saying if I was gonna introduce my new gaming console I probably wouldn’t wear a bird design shirt or have my jumper thrown over me! Or be creep af in the video! But that’s just me…
Aw the memories, my first ever computer. Took an age to load a game, but it was lovely in all 8mb.
I still have an original one somewhere in the home place.. All 1k memory in it
Where’s the cassette tape? Where’s the rubber keypad? Where’s the analogue tone on loading and saving? Where’s the overheating power supply to keep your hands warm in a pre- rated draughty single glazed bedroom? Where’s the analogue tv with badly aligned colour masking? Where’s the fun in a PS lookalike probably with dumbed down graphics?
Retro gaming is fun for 10 min then you want to get back to real graphics.
have your say