What are your thoughts on the Sinclair Spectrum

I don't know what the systems are like these days. But I remember back in the day the Spectrum was in the same era as the C64 and Amstrad. There were fanboys for each system. I was a c64 guy.

The speccy never really had the same graphic level as the c64. But it did have some good games. But yea, I think you had to be a dedicated follower of the speccy system. From what I can remember there was different versions of the speccy too. I remember one with a rubber keyboard, and then probably the more known one with the tape deck built in to the keyboard unit.

I don't understand why people who are good at programming these days don't remake the old games on mobiles, some would work well I think.
 
Scania said:
Fair point re the C64’s price level, it wasn’t a marketing competitor to the Spectrum but it was in the playground and magazines etc which is unfair of course.

The most reliable we sold was the Acorn Electron and BBC Micro but both were priced accordingly and the BBC especially was fantastically built and reliability was excellent, but at a huge price (£399 in 1983!), it was designed to survive in schools and indeed many did.

I seem to recall the Amiga A500 being known as “The Boomerang”, you’d sell one but..... :D

I find your take interesting - I myself am an avid Acorn fan of the era, thus far I’ve been prevented from building up a collection,but, I’m single now..... :D

I’m wondering if the sheer volume of Spectrums produced (and sold by the likes of me in my Dixon’s days) masks or highlights issues, we had a hell of a lot back but they outsold by a margin of 3-1 at least.

Yes though, the earlier Amstrad derivatives were a nightmare! :D
Click to expand...

I have quite a few Acorns too! Sadly most of the Acorn 32 bit machines have died due to leaking cmos batteries that eat the motherboard. And the 8 bit BBCs, have dodgy filters in the PSUs that let fly with a big hiss and loads of smoke!
 
I have nine Speccies - nostalgia is a thing. There is huge support for them nowadays and lots of specialist add-ons and repair shops. £50 for a boxed 48k in good condition is a reasonable price.
There are several good Speccy groups on Facebook including 'Spectrum Forever' and 'Sinclair For Sale'. Worth joining up if you are going to have a play.
 
The spectrum was badass, even if I explained you still wouldn’t understand because you wasn’t there. Buying one now isn’t the same so don’t bother.

I still have all my spectrum games in the attic. Renegade was brilliant game that I still play today from time to time.

Barry mc Guigans boxing brilliant
 
almoststew1990 said:
Having been getting interested in earlier and earlier retro gaming (originally just being interested in 2002-2007 XP gaming, then Windows 98 gaming, then DOS gaming) I am beginning to get into 80s gaming. I see videos on the C64 and Amiga and kind of want one, but they're pretty hard to find locally.

However, there is a Sinclair Spectrum available for £50. I get the impression this will be really quite primative compared to the Amiga (and even the C64?) and I was wondering if it is worth picking it up for £50 with 3 games. Are they all tapes, or floppies? Is it worth sticking with, er, other methods to experience the Spectrum?

Are they are widely supported as Commadore machines in terms of SD card expansions etc. Will they use teh common joysticks (9-DIN I think they're called that a lot of 80s and 90s computers and consoles used?)
Click to expand...

You mean... you've never owned one before?

People buy these old machines to collect them for nostalgia's sake or they're putting them in a museum. Its doubtful you'll find much to interest you unless you're curious or into a serious nostalgia trip. If you're curious then get an emulator its much easier.
 
I wanted a Spectrum when I was a teenager at school, but couldn't afford one so I got a ZX81 instead. However I spent a lot of time at friends houses playing on their Spectrums, typing in games and playing on

Funnily even though I built my career on the C64, the Spectrum still seems to generate the most nostalgia for me, presumably because due to the social aspect while I was at school, and because I never owned one (well at least not a rubber key version - I did have a plus for a while but it just wasn't the same).
 
The spectrum was a great system. The C64 did seem the more capable machine at least in the sound department but I never felt the graphics were as good, usually quite blocky, maybe down to the programmers. I always thought the spectrum version of renegade was the definitive version, even better than the arcade, Amiga and C64. Don't take that as a slant against the C64 though, I just picked up a C64 mini and remember outrun being good on it along with other games.

In a way thats kind of what I miss most of all. Look at games now, Resident evil on the Xbox / PS4 or switch? Whats the difference? Back in the day did the Amstrad, C64 or spectrum have the best version of that game? All would be graphically different, maybe with a different approach to the same game. All very samey now.
 
The-Plethora said:
The spectrum was a great system. The C64 did seem the more capable machine at least in the sound department but I never felt the graphics were as good, usually quite blocky, maybe down to the programmers. I always thought the spectrum version of renegade was the definitive version, even better than the arcade, Amiga and C64. Don't take that as a slant against the C64 though, I just picked up a C64 mini and remember outrun being good on it along with other games.

In a way thats kind of what I miss most of all. Look at games now, Resident evil on the Xbox / PS4 or switch? Whats the difference? Back in the day did the Amstrad, C64 or spectrum have the best version of that game? All would be graphically different, maybe with a different approach to the same game. All very samey now.
Click to expand...

Consoles vs pc vs different pc specs. Theres all sorts of differences
 
Speccy 48k was my first computer. So many happy memories. I could make a huge list of all the great games, but my favorite was Amaurote. I found it in the budget bin at Woolies for two quid. Even now, over 30 years later, I can still feel the sensation of actually being in that futuristic city. Even with the simple monochrome graphics and bleepy sounds....it will never leave my mind.

I've always maintained that the more your brain has to "fill in the gaps" to create the world in your mind, the more memorable the game becomes. Skyrim, for example, is an amazing game that I adore...but it hasn't hardwired itself into my brain like those early games. With Skyrim, the amazing world is presented to my brain on a plate. With Amaurote, my brain had to do all the heavy lifting and it has thus been permanently etched into the fabric of my mind.
 
Curio said:
Speccy 48k was my first computer. So many happy memories. I could make a huge list of all the great games, but my favorite was Amaurote. I found it in the budget bin at Woolies for two quid. Even now, over 30 years later, I can still feel the sensation of actually being in that futuristic city. Even with the simple monochrome graphics and bleepy sounds....it will never leave my mind.

I've always maintained that the more your brain has to "fill in the gaps" to create the world in your mind, the more memorable the game becomes. Skyrim, for example, is an amazing game that I adore...but it hasn't hardwired itself into my brain like those early games. With Skyrim, the amazing world is presented to my brain on a plate. With Amaurote, my brain had to do all the heavy lifting and it has thus been permanently etched into the fabric of my mind.
Click to expand...
An example where the designer took the graphical drawbacks and either worked around them or incorporated them into the aesthetic of the game. Knight Lore, Alien 8, 3D Ant Attack (there's a ZX81 version of this now), Zombie Zombie
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom