Printers such as the Sinclair ZX printer which were designed for earlier Spectrum models can also be used with the Spectrum but will only work when the computer is running 48 BASIC, They are not suitable for use when the Spectrum 's special features are in use. This type of printer plugs onto the edge connector at the back of the computer. The Spectrum can be used to control electronic musical instruments such as synthesizers and drum machines which conform to the MIDI standard see page Your Spectrum can be connected to a wide variety of other computer peripherals such as light pens, disk drives and modems.
Make sure that the equipment is specifically compatible with the Spectrum as well as other Spectrum models. The Commodore 64, the Dragon 32, and the BBC Model B were all tough competitors, but Sinclair came in cheaper, and with its very small but stylised look, it was one that felt more like a high tech toy.
It was within the price range of skeptical parents when their kids wanted a home computer ostensibly for playing games! Manufactured in the Timex factory in Dundee, the ZX Spectrum led to Dundee becoming a vibrant game development cluster that's still a significant one today, with Abertay University offering the first computer games degree in the world in And yet that was the ZX Spectrum revolution.
All this success culminated in a knighthood for Britain's most famous geek, arise Sir Clive Sinclair, whilst newspapers carried many stories of teenage 'whizz kid' game developers getting rich and buying fast cars. Software publishers and developers sprang up everywhere to feed this new market. These were pocket money games that kids could afford to buy weekly. Mastertronic was first, but was quickly followed by Firebird, Players, Codemasters, and then many more.
With customers buying a game a week, many new games were needed. This led to enormous opportunities for young game developers, and the variety of games available exploded. Whilst creativity was going wild, and the diversity was giving rise to new genres, the quality was very random. However, this gave opportunity to the leading magazines, Crash and Your Sinclair, that thrived on rating and advising players on what they should buy.
We, meanwhile, watched from afar and saw that whilst the Spectrum was the biggest market for computer games, it's one that we had missed In , we'd made our choice to buy a Dragon 32, because of its proper keyboard. By this point we knew exactly how to make great games fast and this was a relatively soft market, with most good games developers on other computers. In , after the huge success of Super Robin Hood our first game published by then newcomer Codemasters , they arranged to convert it to the Spectrum.
We started into our next game, Ghost Hunters, and a Spectrum turned up in the post from Codemasters co-founder David Darling, with a note: "Here's a gift, why don't you put Ghost Hunters on to this yourselves and have all the royalties. By yourself. While going to school. This is where the UK game industry came from. Kids today may not have access to the same tools for learning primitive coding. I asked Goodwins whether that was something missing from the tech experience today.
I think it's closer to the Spectrum, because it's so cheap, and relatively limited. Clive Sinclair's ZX Spectrum: 'This is where the UK games industry came from' A former Sinclair employee explains why the company behind the iconic ZX Spectrum refused to understand its importance to a generation of gamers.
Luke Westaway , Richard Trenholm. Sinclair User Sinclair User The Sinclair ZX Spectrum was one of the most important early home computers, an affordable model that inspired a generation as it brought amateur programming and computer gaming to the masses. This is that interview, first published April 23, 'It died halfway across the Hammersmith flyover' I asked Goodwins which console he worked on, and was promptly reminded that "we didn't call them consoles back then!
They contained amongst others the disk operating system, as well as changed and improved bank switching routines. Due to the extensive changes on the ROM and mainly the used hardware, this last Spectrum version created the biggest incompatibilities both for programmes for the original version and for the Spectrum As additionally the expansion port was changed, the bigger part of the availabe hardware accessories as e.
But finally the production of it and with this the history of one of the most successful computers of the 8bit era ended in With the last Spectrum also the name Sinclair bowed out finally from the world of computers. ZX Spectrum. Categories : Hardware In other languages Deutsch.
Home Computer. Processor :.
0コメント