ZX SPECTRUM

Best of British Manufacturer: Sinclair research | Year: 1982

Sir clive Sinclair’s 8-bit marvel was a huge success in the UK and helped lead the gaming revolution that started off in bedrooms up and down the country. Many talented developers, from David Perry and Matthew Smith to the Stamper brothers were linked to machine, while huge companies, like codemasters and rare, built their early businesses off the humble 8-bit micro. Little wonder, then, that it’s placed so highly in this list.

Steve crow, Former ZX Spectrum programmer how important was the Spectrum to your career?

the ZX Spectrum was absolutely fundamental in launching my career. My first professional game, Laser Snaker, was published for the Spectrum. after that, as I continued to progress as a game creator, the Spectrum was the ideal platform to create large expansive games and was always the machine I developed my games on.

What was the Spectrum like to code for compared to its peers?

compared with c64/atari 800 the Spectrum had virtually no built-in graphics or audio hardware, such as sprites, audio chip or any form of hardware screen scrolling. However, it had one advantage: a faster

processor with some pseudo-16-bit operations. this made it like a blank sheet to work with, as everything had to be done in software. It was up to you, the programmer, to write the fastest sprite routine or create great sound and music from a speaker that could only be moved in or out! this made it a great challenge to work on and also very rewarding at the same time.

What is it you personally love about the Spectrum?

It is such an iconic design – it doesn’t look like any other personal computer – with its rubber keys, rainbow stripe and all the basic words accessible from key combinations truly a unique and efficient design.

Why do you think the Spectrum has such a vibrant following after all these years?

It was the right Pc at the right time. It was affordable to the average family, had fantastic games available and gave so many of us such wonderful memories of our childhood. Saving up your pocket money and then the excitement of loading up and playing the latest game to come out! I think it is that feeling of reliving those times and all the memories associated with them that keeps the ZX Spectrum so popular today.