Move over, ZX Spect...
 

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[Closed] Move over, ZX Spectrum Vega

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There's a new boy in town.

http://www.specnext.com/

Designed by Rick Dickinson (who designed the original); 512K RAM; ULA+ (extended video modes); HDMI out; SD card...

Not vapourware, a working prototype already exists.

I think a little bit of wee just came out.


 
Posted : 30/04/2016 12:11 pm
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Hmmmm....

Interesting. Very, very interesting


 
Posted : 30/04/2016 12:30 pm
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More info.


 
Posted : 30/04/2016 12:32 pm
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Word from the PCB designer, the board will fit in a regular "48" case (I assume that's a Spectrum+ he means) for the purists.


 
Posted : 30/04/2016 12:36 pm
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Very nice case for an FPGA based board. Hopefully that keyboard is nice and modern feeling (not like the Speccy+/QL is resembles)


 
Posted : 30/04/2016 1:42 pm
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I did wonder that. I hated the Plus / 128 keyboard.


 
Posted : 30/04/2016 1:44 pm
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How would this be different from running an emulator (I use ZXspin 😀 )? Sorry for the doofus question, but if there are no new speccy games and the old ones can only ever be what they are, what's the point?


 
Posted : 30/04/2016 2:39 pm
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Does nothing for me...


 
Posted : 30/04/2016 2:46 pm
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How would this be different from running an emulator (I use ZXspin )? Sorry for the doofus question, but if there are no new speccy games and the old ones can only ever be what they are, what's the point?

Good question. Superficially, not a lot. However.

It's not an emulator, it's recreated hardware. So you won't have to wait for your device to boot up an underpinning OS and then load up Spin, it'll be up and running by the time your finger's let go of the power switch.

You won't be limited by what the emulator makers have chosen to implement, so games that rely on some timing quirk or undocumented feature won't explode. Theoretically at least.

It also contains new hardware, it's got double the clock speed and four times the RAM of the old top-of-the-line 128. [url= https://sites.google.com/site/ulaplus/home ]ULA+[/url] brings enhanced video, hello 64-colour palette shifting. There's a new sound chip in there (and the one from the 128). And so on.

if there are no new speccy games and the old ones can only ever be what they are, what's the point?

Because there [i]are [/i]new games for the Spectrum, people are still writing them (and tweaking the old ones to take advantage of ULA+). Granted not a vast amount, but there's a passionate retro community behind the Speccy and if this thing sells then there are a number of people who will be all over it to see what it can do.


 
Posted : 30/04/2016 3:51 pm
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Yes, it's all very nice, and I was there when it first arrived, but why re-do it? Is it just for old blokes who remember the first one? I think I'll pass.


 
Posted : 30/04/2016 3:52 pm
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So you can play Manic Miner and pretend you're at school.

Rib tickling.


 
Posted : 30/04/2016 4:19 pm
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I have an Oric emulator. For about 15 minutes it was a blast, then I realised how much gaming has come on in the last 30 odd years.

Jet Set Willy and Manic Miner really aren't that good.


 
Posted : 30/04/2016 4:55 pm
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Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.


 
Posted : 30/04/2016 5:12 pm
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Jet Set Willy and Manic Miner really aren't that good.

I've just banned Molgrips for a fortnight.


 
Posted : 30/04/2016 6:12 pm
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😀


 
Posted : 30/04/2016 6:17 pm
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Does nothing for me...

Have you checked its plugged in?


 
Posted : 30/04/2016 6:37 pm
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R tape loading error, 0:1 🙁


 
Posted : 30/04/2016 7:21 pm

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