Posted by boyo on Feb 11, 2011 18:34 (Feb 11, 2011 18:34)
With the announcement in the Telegraph website, which was a little hard to believe if I am totally honest, of a new ZX Spectrum computer to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the little machine, Retro Fusion have been waiting with baited breath for more news.
Steve Wilcox of Elite Systems was contacted - as the 'rumour' originated from this 1980's company (yes they are still going) to see if some light could be shed on the possiblity of a new machine.
Well the press release arrived today, and to be honest we feel a little deflated here at RF towers. Looks like the 'new' spectrum is in reality going to be, initially, Jet Set Willy running on an iPhone/iPad connected to a TV via an appropriate TV out cable from Apple. In the future, Spectrum games from Elite will be compatible with a bluetooth keyboard.
In our view, would it not be easier to boot up a Spectrum emulator on your Laptop and output it to your TV via a common, cheap VGA cable and then play. Or are we missing the point?
Anyway the press release in full:
A major feature of the Apps (which are expected to go live on the iTunes App Store w/c 14th February and will at a later date be offered as an in-app purchase within the “ZX Spectrum: Elite Collection / HD” apps) is the support (either at launch, or in the first update) for TV-out on iPhone 4, 4thGeneration iPod Touch and iPad. (Requires, separately sold, Apple TV-Out Component Cable or Apple VGA Adapter, or 100% compatible).
Other features of the Apps include:
iDaptive (i.e. user-definable, game-specific joystick, keypad & canvas) Controls, an instructional video for which can be found by Googling “Tiny URL 22qh8hl” and here: http://tinyurl.com/22qh8hl
‘auto save’ on exiting any game
separate infinite-lives version
Speaking about the Apps, Elite® MD Steve Wilcox said,
the Apps will always be priced at £1.19 (Euro1.59, US$1.99)
later this year, just ahead of the 30th Anniversary of its launch, Elite will be re-launching the Sinclair ZX Spectrum; the re-publishing of Matthew Smith’s signature game ‘Jet Set Willy’ along with the exploration of support for wireless keyboards is all part of our preparation
to locate the Apps, just search for “ZX” at the iTunes App Store
Steve Wilcox, Elite®
Tel. + 44 (0) 154 326 8826 Mail paperboy@elite-systems.co.uk Web www.elite-systems.co.uk
About Elite®: Elite Systems Ltd was incorporated in England in 1984 and is one of Europe’s most long established developers and publishers of entertainment software.
About ZX Spectrum: The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the UK in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd. It sold in excess of 5 million units worldwide. The ZX Spectrum software library currently consists of some 10,000 games.
About Matthew Smith: Matthew Smith (born 1966) is a British computer game programmer. He is best known for his games Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy for the ZX Spectrum, released in 1983 and 1984 respectively. Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy are two of the most famous and popular ZX Spectrum games of all time. Matthew created this game when he was 18 ...
Colour me a little disappointed to be honest. I wanted a plug in and play speccie with the entire back catralogue. In other news I would be glad for the moon on a stick.
Mar 17, 2011 00:23:36 (
Mar 17, 2011 00:23
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