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Winner Announcement: Ben Heck's Portable ZX Spectrum!

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element14's The Ben Heck Show

Join the Ben Heck team every week for amazing hacks! Watch them build and mod community-inspired projects using electronics!

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Congratulations to and !

 

You have been selected as winners of Ben's ZX Spectrum Portable!

 

 

 

 

We're giving away two Portable ZX Spectrum builds from the Ben Heck Show.  Tell us what the ZX Spectrum means to you in the comments below for a chance to win.

 

The ZX Spectrum, an 8-bit personal computer from Sinclair Research Ltd., is a beloved retro computer from the 80s. While it didn't gain a lot of traction outside of the UK, especially in places where it was undercut by the Commodore 64, it did more to define British gaming culture than any dedicated gaming console. Much like the color used in Apple's old logo, the word Spectrum highlights the machine's color display.

 

Since launch, over 24,000 software titles have been released for the ZX. Not including clones, it sold in excess of 5 million units worldwide.

 

 

 

{gallery} ZX Spectrum Slideshow

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In 1983, the video game bubble formed during the golden age of gaming burst as the market became flooded with too many consoles and poorly designed games. Atari, the most popular video game console before the crash, reported $537 million in losses for 1983. Atari had the dubious distinction of releasing the poster child for this era when it rushed to market the highly anticipated E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial game. It's widely regarded as one of the worst games ever and is frequently cited as a contributing factor to the video game crash of 1983. The game was so bad, all remaining unsold versions of it got buried in the New Mexico desert.

 

Around the time dedicated gaming consoles became widely regarded as a passing fad, home computer gaming continued to thrive. Low cost machines like the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spectrum proved to be popular alternatives to dedicated gaming consoles.  While it didn't have the same impact outside the UK, its influence on gaming in the UK is undeniable. In its day, a British game publisher would develop for the ZX Spectrum and begrudgingly port to other machines later.

 

 

The low cost of the machine, a catalog including thousands of games, and cheap distribution of games thanks to cassette tapes factored into its continuous popularity in the UK. The ZX Spectrum was widely adopted as a gaming platform despite its lack of built-in joystick ports, primitive sound generation, and color support that was not optimized for text display.

 

Ben Heck's ZX Spectrum Part 1
Ben Heck's Portable ZX Spectrum Part 2
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Enjoy games on the ZX Spectrum? 

 

Tell us what the ZX Spectrum means to you.

 

If you were influenced by the ZX Spectrum let us know what makes the ZX Spectrum special.  Tell us about what games you enjoyed or what made the system stand out. Feel free to share images, an achievement such as a high score, or anything you can think of related to the ZX Spectrum.

 

If you haven't had a chance to experience the ZX Spectrum then feel free talk about a rival system such as the Commodore 64 instead.

 

 

Directions:

Step 1:  Log in or register on element14, it's easy and free.

Step 2: Post in the comments section below and share your experience with the ZX Spectrum. Videos, pictures and text are all welcomed forms of submission.

Step 3:  Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!  We will accept entries until 3:00pm CDT Aug 1st, 2016 and announce our winner August 5th 2016. If you need something to do between now and then make sure to check out what is happening This week on element14 Community, or watch more Ben at element14.com/TBHS.

Attachments:
imageGiveaway_TC.pdf

  • My first Spectrum was long after the 48K, it was a +2, yes the one with the attached cassette player. I used it mostly to play games, such as IK+, Year Kung Fu, the Formula 1 (CRL), Match Day, and did some programming too. The Basic of Spectrum was by far the most complex to program on, and eventually I purchased an Amstrad, but hey... +2 was love on first sight, so I kept till till now..

  • I actually never had a ZX Spectrum, however my first computer was a TI 99/4A which my dad still has. I loved that thing. I used to write programs in basic all the time. We had so many different cartridges with TI invaders and so forth. Such an amazing platform.


  • I had never heard of the ZX Spectrum, but we did have a Commodore 64 with the 1541 disk drive.  I had always wanted an Atari 2600, but my parents never bought one.  I used to play with the kid next door because he had one.  That was the only reason I went over there, I couldn't stand him, he was mean and he always cheated.  I bought an Atari 2600 off of ebay a couple years ago so I finally have one now, it looks like it has never been used.  I still have our Commodore and all the games.  My dad and I spent many weekends entering programs from the back of magazines and spent many late nights trying to figure out what we did wrong.  I recently bought an SWL cart from Microlog so I can use myC64 to decode radio teletype from my SB-102 Ham radio.

  • Here is my little Spectrum story:

     

    The ZX-Spectrum was built in two version at that time. One with 16KB of RAM and one with 48KB. Of course I could not afford the 48K Version so my first ZX-Spectrum was the 16KB-Version. This was my second computer. My first was the ZX 81 from Sinclair. I wrote a Space Invader-Clone for that. (That broke the Shift-Key, because I used it as the fire button. image )

     

    After a short while I realized that I would like to create larger programs (as of that time there was not much software available in germany, where I live), so I bought the 48K version. With a friend of mine we founded a small software company which we named "Kekssoft" (Cookiesoft) and we developed a few adventure games and a game (I don't remember the name) which was a game of light cycles (as we saw and loved in the movie "Tron"!).

     

    Nowadays all the old hardware is emulated in software and so my love to the Sinclair-Computers lives on on my mac. But I recently backed a project from the original Sinclair company which plans to bring a handheld console under the name "Spectrum Vega Plus". But how cool would it be to have a real original portable ZX Spectrum in my hands. I would love it.

     

    Needless to say that I love your shows. image Thanks for each and every one of it. They inspire me to do projects on my own.

  • I have to be honest, I haven't had much experience with the ZX Spectrum- though I am a sucker for that era of video games! I wasn't around to experience what it must have been like to play on a ZX Spectrum, though I've heard of one and have yet to get my hands on some of the games. My experience, in retrospect, is on the Atari 2600 and Commodore 64, wherein I played games like Pong and Frogger with my Dad as an activity; since my dad isn't too into video games, but played games from that era- it was my best compromise! Through this, I finally found something both my Dad and I can enjoy, and I've grown to love the games. I have found myself collecting games and systems from the early 80's to play with my Dad, since it's something fun we can both enjoy. In short, my experience is through the fun times I had, and still have, with my Dad... and I've been chasing new, fun experiences ever since.

  • I'm just a tad too young for the ZX Spectrum! Though I was born into the right country. Had I stayed in England, I suppose I would have more experience with it, but alas, I moved to the States when I was a lad.

  • Like for many of here it was THE beginning. First interaction to the world of computers. Loved my Speccy and never went to the C64 area, even if it was supported more. Games like Jumping Jack, Trashman, Highway Encounter, Spy vs Spy, Saboteur, Tir Na Nog, Jet Pack and many more defined my taste in videogames. Unfortunately I had to sell my machine back then to be able buy an Amiga 500. It's really a shame, the Speccy is the only of old computers of mine I don't own now. Few years ago I made hommage with my blog design to the ZX.
    LOADING.... headers

  • The ZX Spectrum is one of those things that, while popular, just wasn't easily seen among us here in Australia. Despite only being 15, I got myself one with my own money at the age of 8, but it dissappeared when I moved houses. I loved just generally messing around with it and pushing the thing to take on tasks of 2008, and that was definately something I enjoyed immensely. I can just imagine the fun I could have playing games and messing around even more now, in an age where that kind of device is seen extinct by all but me.

  • Unfortunately there really wasn't much access to the ZX Spectrum series as my early foray into personal computing started with the Commodore 64 and Apple II. The portable ZX is definately a very neat build!

  • I've only used it in emulation but would love to win one.
    Here is just one video I've made with it. Hope You enjoy ! image
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPemk1pd98U