Here’s the full game list:

Atic Atac, Battletoads (NES), Battletoads (aka, Battletoads Arcade) (arcade), Cobra Triangle (NES), Conker’s Pocket Tales (GBC), GunFright, Jetpac, Knight Lore, Lunar Jetman, R.C. Pro-Am (NES), Sabre Wulf, Underwurlde (C-64).

You can check out the current list of games in the entire Evercade library with my master list, found here. There are 625 titles on cartridge, not counting unlockables, with dozens more built into the various hardware. You can check out my IGN review of the Alpha Mega Man and Alpha Street Fighter bartops here. I’ll have a review of the HyperMegaTech Super Pocket series for IGN soon.

The post Evercade announces Rare Collection 1 cartridge, plus updated game list! appeared first on Armchair Arcade.

This is it: the Sinclair ZX Spectrum Next crowdfunding campaign you’ve been waiting for is here, going live this Saturday 19th of July at 8am UK time on Kickstarter.

Click here to set a reminder from Kickstarter as soon as the campaign is live, as we’ve got a batch of 100 Early Bird machines going at a nice discount and they are bound to go fast.

There has never been a better time in retrocomputing, and the ZX Spectrum Next Community is the best one out there. Don’t believe us? We just crossed the 200 exclusive games and apps made just for the Next by legends such as Clive Townsend, Michael Ware and Mike Dailly to name but a few. Who could guess the Next would spawn so many cool games for us to play into the sunset? But here they are!

The Sinclair ZX Spectrum Next Issue 3 is our most powerful Speccy yet, and now includes new fully licensed cores for the Sinclair QL and… The Commodore 64. Yep, you read that right, the Next Issue 3 can run all the software for the Sinclair QL and the C64 straight out of the box. We don’t even know how many thousands of games and apps that amount to, but it’s a lot.

The full campaign page going live soon will feature all the technical details you want about the Next Issue 3, its new capabilities and, of course, surprise stretch goals: expect games, upgrades and goodies galore. In the meantime, here’s a cat getting out of the bag for you…

Because this is our third campaign and the #3 on the Speccy keyboard is Magenta, we’re celebrating with an exclusive translucent magenta case for anyone keen to mod their Sinclair Spectrum Next with some wires and LEDs under the hood – or just want a Next that looks, well, pretty unique!

We hope you join us and support the Sinclair ZX Spectrum Next Issue 3 coming to life, boosting our already vibrant Speccy community even further, and getting your very own machine to explore. We can’t wait to have you on board.

Thanks for your time!

The ZX Spectrum Next team

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There are 48 built-in games, including popular titles like Manic Miner, The Hobbit, Saboteur!, The Great Escape, Head Over Heels, Match Day II, Target: Renegade, and Alien Girl (Skirmish Edition). Included in the box is The Spectrum console, quick start guide, HDMI cable, and USB-C cable. As with the other “The” series systems, you need to supply your own USB AC adapter.

While the ZX Spectrum, in its bastardized Timex Sinclair 2068 form, didn’t make a dent in the US market, it proved a wildly popular budget computer platform in the UK and other select regions. While I suspect this will be a tough sell to US consumers due to its unusual graphics and overall modest gaming capabilities, as a US-centric enthusiast myself (with a variety of ZX Spectrum and Timex systems in my collection), I can say it’s still worth exploring for retro gaming and computing enthusiasts with an open mind. It had some great isometric action-adventure games and, as with any retro computer worth its salt, a unique “personality.” Thanks to the working keyboard, you can even play in the authentic way with the original-style wonky keyboard, as well as program in BASIC. Of course, the USB ports will no doubt support the usual external joysticks and keyboards.

While these are not meant as replacements for the original computers, they’re always fun for more casual uses, and, frankly, if you don’t enjoy the 48 built-in games, you’ll likely never enjoy the platform, as there are many all-time greats in there. It’s probably the best overall game list of any of their “The” series (though, of course, you can always add your own games via the SD card slot).

It’s expected to retail for €99/$129.99.

Here’s the game list:

• Alien Girl (Skirmish Edition)
• Ant Attack
• Army Moves
• Auf Wiedersehen Monty
• Avalon
• Bobby Bearing
• Cosmic Payback
• Devwill Too ZX
• Exolon
• Fairlight
• Firelord
• Football Manager 2
• Freddy Hardest
• The Great Escape
• Head Over Heels
• Highway Encounter
• The Hobbit
• Horace Goes Skiing
• Jack the Nipper
• Knot in 3D
• The Lords of Midnight
• Manic Miner
• Match Day II
• Movie
• Nodes of Yesod
• Penetrator
• Phantis (Game Over II)
• Pheenix
• Pyracurse
• Quazatron
• Robin of the Wood
• Saboteur! Remastered
• Shovel Adventure
• Skool Daze
• Snake Escape
• Spellbound
• Starquake
• Starstrike II
• El Stompo
• Stonkers
• Target: Renegade
• TCQ
• Technician Ted – The Megamix
• Tenebra
• Trashman
• The Way of the Exploding Fist
• Wheelie
• Where Time Stood Still

The post Retro Games Ltd to release The Spectrum, fully working ZX Spectrum, and here’s the game list! appeared first on Armchair Arcade.

Kicking off what would eventually be a mass market for personal computers, the infamous trinity of the first truly recognizable try at such devices, the Apple II, TRS-80, and Commodore PET, were all released in 1977. Of course, the personal computing revolution started out slow. It was difficult then – and a number of years after – to know exactly why you’d want a personal computer other than it being a pretty cool box of electronics that may or may not have gone “beep.”

Regardless of how slowly personal computers were adopted by the general public, it was between 1977 and 1984 that the longest-lived personal computing platforms would be released (and, as you’ll see later, depending upon how you define it, no later than 1982). These platforms had the right combination of power, timing, market presence – and in some cases, cost-effectiveness and sheer luck – to dominate over the many dozens of other computing platforms that would spring up over the years.

Of course, the question of longest-lived computing platform does not necessarily have a straightforward answer. For pure longevity, the IBM PC and Compatibles computing platform may never be matched. A big x factor inherent in the question, though, is how long said platform remained the same after release. In other words, could you buy one of these systems at launch and continue to use that same system through the remainder of that platform’s commercial lifespan, particularly in terms of the majority of software released? For all but one of these platforms – the Commodore 64 – the answer is no. As such, the Commodore 64 – the single best-selling personal computer of all-time – stands alone in terms of longevity because it’s the one that ultimately had to evolve the least to last, even though it ranks fourth (or sixth) in terms of active-time-on-market.

1. Apple II: 1977 – 1993 (16 years)
2. TRS-80 Model x: 1977 – 1991 (14 years)
3. Atari 8-bit: 1979 – 1992 (13 years)
4. Commodore 64: 1982 – 1994 (12 years)
5. TRS-80 Color Computer: 1980 – 1991 (11 years)
6. ZX Spectrum: 1982 – 1992 (10 years)

Special mentions, but ones I personally disqualify because of their dramatic architectural and OS changes through the years:

1. IBM PC and Compatibles: 1981 – Present (36 years and counting)
2. Apple Macintosh: 1984 – Present (33 years and counting)

Finally, I would be remiss not to point out what I hope is obvious to all reading this. While most of these platforms are no longer commercially viable on the mass market, these – and even the vast majority of contemporary also-rans – still have thriving modern communities. These communities may be small, but they support their chosen vintage platform with a passion – and with product – that would make even a contemporary owner envious. That to me is the greatest legacy of these technologies.

Did I miss any long-lived personal computing platforms in my quick survey? Let me know in the comments!

NOTE: You can read about these platforms and more in my book, Vintage Game Consoles: An Inside Look at Apple, Atari, Commodore, Nintendo, and the Greatest Gaming Platforms of All Time. You can also read specifically about the history of the TRS-80 Color Computer in my book, CoCo: The Colorful History of Tandy’s Underdog Computer. Thanks for reading!

The post The Longest Lived Personal Computing Platforms appeared first on Armchair Arcade.

Although I already have an excellent selection of ZX Spectrum computers in my collection, I’m definitely onboard with this update. While not only maintaining full backwards compatibility, right down to being able to utilize original expansions, there are also plenty of modern conveniences like HDMI and an SD card slot. This is definitely the kind of recreation we need for our other beloved vintage computers. The only catch? It looks like it won’t start full delivery until January 2018, which is rather a long way off. Still, it seems like it will be well worth the wait to take this 1980s computer platform into the late 2010s and beyond.

The post ZX Spectrum Next: An Updated ZX Spectrum Done Right? appeared first on Armchair Arcade.

Photo of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum Vega from the Retro Computers Facebook page.

Among the ZX Vega’s nice features is the fact that it comes with 1,000 licensed titles, though of course you can add any that are missing via the SD card slot. Even though the £100 + delivery cost is rather high for what is essentially a TV game console, it’s still hard to argue with the kind of value it brings to the table. Although the ZX Spectrum is a decidedly primitive computer, particularly if you’re used to vintage American systems, there are still plenty of gems in its generous library. As always, despite owning plenty of Spectrum-series computers myself and being on the list for the aforementioned Bluetooth keyboard reproduction, I have to admit I’m tempted to eventually get this one as well.

Since I haven’t seen the list of 1,000 games posted anywhere other than on Facebook, I thought I would take the time to reproduce the list here for easy reference (I converted the straight text list to an HTML table of 250 games per column):

Thanks to onmode-ky for the heads-up about the game list forum posting.

The post The Sinclair Spectrum Vega (ZX Vega) games computer comes with 1000 games, and here’s the list! appeared first on Armchair Arcade.