Off on a bit of a non-SAM tangent (but probably somewhat related for
most of us) I came across this the other day:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/8304237/ZX-Spectrum-relaunch-gaming-goes-back-to-the-future.html
Lots of you have probably already heard this, but I don't remember it
being mentioned, so thought I would! ;-)
Supposedly a company were going to relaunch the zx spectrum this year
(by the looks of it, as a 48k speccy keyboard that links up to an
iPhone or similar to run an emulator), to coincide with the 30th
anniversary, but it doesn't look like it's going to materialise any
time soon. I know something similar is/was being planned for the C64?
However, it got me thinking... Obviously in this day and age, many of
use want to enjoy the retro gaming experience, but we haven't exactly
got the space to keep things set up. I intend to have my SAM set up
permanently at some point, but I very much doubt I'd ever get the
space to dedicate to other systems, so clearly something that
pleasantly replicates the original experience quickly and easily with
modern advantages would be a pleasing alternative.
So I figured, what would make an easy to use 'spectrum' emulator for
playing all the old games? You'd want HDMI output for ease with modern
televisions, SD card storage, and have it all fit into one of our old
rubber keyed friends. How do you do this on a budget at that size? The
first thing that popped into my head, is the Raspberry Pi (if it ever
gets to selling!!). Small enough to probably fit in a speccy case,
with HDMI out and card reader. Surely this could make for a fairly
cheap and effective 48k Spectrum emulation experience?
I think the Speccy is particularly suited, because let's face it, for
most of us it was about the games more than anything. I don't think
anything similar would work for the SAM, because what makes that such
a unique experience (for me, anyway) is the original and additional
hardware in addition to the software. But for a speccy I could see it
being great fun, to play the games with ease on a keyboard that
replicates the old experience but with updated advantages. (I think a
SAM equivalent would have to be more along the lines of Colin's
'SAM-in-a-can' projects, but rather than old SAM parts, something that
accurately replicates the original hardware with modern additions)
Not being much of a tech person I'm not sure about the feasibility,
but it seems like a wasted opportunity in todays market where
retro-gaming has had somewhat of a resurgence?
Warren
