ZX Spectrum
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
The ZX Spectrum was an 8-bit computer created by Sinclair Research Ltd. It was first released in the UK in 1982 with 16K RAM expandable to 48K. Later, the 48K became standard and, in 1985, the 128K Spectrum was launched, including an upgraded sound chip.
The machine itself was fairly crude, with a primitive 8 colour (plus a further 7 "shades") graphics display, allowing only two colours per attribute square (8x8 pixels). This meant that the computer's graphics capabilities were extrememly limited. Until the advent of the 128K sound chip, sound was also limited to an internal "beeper", although later, this could also play through a TV set.
Programs were loading into the spectrum, and most other 8-bit machines by audio tape. This meant you had to attach a tape recorder to the computer and play the tape. The tape consisted of a lot of screeching which the computer could understand as code. Whilst the spectrum was loading, it would make a lot of pretty (well, blue and yellow) colours at the side of the screen and make some screechy noises to upset other occupants of the house (TV sound output allowed this to be turned down). Later models of the Spectrum had tape drives built-in and with the advent of the Spectrum +3 in 1987, a disk-drive was added. The Spectrum even experimented with early CD-Rom technology, with some software being made available on CD, loaded by hooking up a CD Player to the machine. This loaded quicker than tape, but failed to take off in the 8-bit market.
Despite its' considerable shortcomings, the Spectrum enjoyed a loyal fan base, especially in the UK, and remained a popular computer right up until the early 1990s, several years past it's sell-by-date.
The main reason for this was the large range of cheap games available. In the early period of the games market, in the 1980s, many games were written by a single programmer, often working from home, who would either sell the finished product to a company or market and sell the game himself, thus cutting out the middleman and keeping the price low. This approach to games-production meant that games were the product of one person's idea and were free of the insidious influence of "focus groups" and "marketing gurus" that plagues many modern enterprises, including the games market. Some excellent games appeared during this period, including Manic Miner, Rebelstar, Jasper and Tau Ceti.
This situation did not last, and by the late 1980s, the games market had modernised and games were the result of a group effort of programmers, graphic artists and market-research. This produced some fine games. It also produced a lot of derivative and personality-free tat. The bedroom programmers did still exist, but it took a brave/intelligent software boss to publish an original idea. Most of the software houses were interested in games similar to popular titles.
For the Spectrum, the crunch came when it attempted to compete with the new 16 bit machines of the early 1990s, the Amiga and Atari ST. Rather than play to it's own strengths, games would try and emulate the abilities and stylings of games on these machines. It failed to work and the Spectrum market became horribly stale. This, and the fact that the machine was now completely archaic, killed the Spectrum off as a commercial machine by about 1992.
The machine itself was fairly crude, with a primitive 8 colour (plus a further 7 "shades") graphics display, allowing only two colours per attribute square (8x8 pixels). This meant that the computer's graphics capabilities were extrememly limited. Until the advent of the 128K sound chip, sound was also limited to an internal "beeper", although later, this could also play through a TV set.
Programs were loading into the spectrum, and most other 8-bit machines by audio tape. This meant you had to attach a tape recorder to the computer and play the tape. The tape consisted of a lot of screeching which the computer could understand as code. Whilst the spectrum was loading, it would make a lot of pretty (well, blue and yellow) colours at the side of the screen and make some screechy noises to upset other occupants of the house (TV sound output allowed this to be turned down). Later models of the Spectrum had tape drives built-in and with the advent of the Spectrum +3 in 1987, a disk-drive was added. The Spectrum even experimented with early CD-Rom technology, with some software being made available on CD, loaded by hooking up a CD Player to the machine. This loaded quicker than tape, but failed to take off in the 8-bit market.
Despite its' considerable shortcomings, the Spectrum enjoyed a loyal fan base, especially in the UK, and remained a popular computer right up until the early 1990s, several years past it's sell-by-date.
The main reason for this was the large range of cheap games available. In the early period of the games market, in the 1980s, many games were written by a single programmer, often working from home, who would either sell the finished product to a company or market and sell the game himself, thus cutting out the middleman and keeping the price low. This approach to games-production meant that games were the product of one person's idea and were free of the insidious influence of "focus groups" and "marketing gurus" that plagues many modern enterprises, including the games market. Some excellent games appeared during this period, including Manic Miner, Rebelstar, Jasper and Tau Ceti.
This situation did not last, and by the late 1980s, the games market had modernised and games were the result of a group effort of programmers, graphic artists and market-research. This produced some fine games. It also produced a lot of derivative and personality-free tat. The bedroom programmers did still exist, but it took a brave/intelligent software boss to publish an original idea. Most of the software houses were interested in games similar to popular titles.
For the Spectrum, the crunch came when it attempted to compete with the new 16 bit machines of the early 1990s, the Amiga and Atari ST. Rather than play to it's own strengths, games would try and emulate the abilities and stylings of games on these machines. It failed to work and the Spectrum market became horribly stale. This, and the fact that the machine was now completely archaic, killed the Spectrum off as a commercial machine by about 1992.
