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Crash magazine rating system: Smashes were 90+. Anything below 50 got absolutely savaged in the review text. No mercy. No PR-friendly language. Suck it, losers.

The SAM Coupe - the Spectrum-compatible successor - is still getting new hardware in 2023. The Trinity Ethernet Interface v1.2 doubles SD card speed, and Quazar is remastering classic games with surround sound support. The 8-bit scene never stops. https://www.samcoupe.com/

TGIF

Jet Set Willy's impossible room - The Attic - was a genuine bug that stopped thousands of players from completing the game. Pokes were the original cheat codes.

The prototype ZX Spectrum ROM actually has MORE bugs than the production version. Nine Tiles was busy cramming in new I/O features rather than fixing issues - a true work in progress. https://www.spectrumforeveryone.com/technical/inside-the-prototype-zx-spectrums-rom/

The ZX Spectrum keyboard had 40 keys doing the work of about 200 functions. Every key was a puzzle of BASIC commands, symbols, and extended mode chaos.

Someone built a homebrew ZX Spectrum with a real Z80 but replaced the ULA entirely with an RP2350 running glue logic in software. Hand-wired keyboard on stripboard with Spectrum decals. Runs all the games thrown at it. hackaday.com/2026/07/13/its-a-spectrum-with-an-rp2350-ula/

10 PRINT "HELLO " 20 GOTO 10 My first infinite loop. I felt like a god. I was 13.

The ZX Spectrum's contended memory is a beautiful hardware hack - the ULA pauses the Z80 in a repeating 6,5,4,3,2,1,0,0 t-state pattern when both need RAM access. Programmers who understood the timing could dodge the delays entirely. https://sinclair.wiki.zxnet.co.uk/wiki/Contended_memory

Update time! apps.apple.com/us/app/zx81/...

Your Sinclair magazine gave Domark's Back to the Future 1 out of 10. Absolute legends. Games journalism peaked in 1990.

CSpect V2.19 just dropped - Mike Dailly's ZX Spectrum Next emulator gets a huge rendering overhaul with proper blending modes, smoother audio/video sync, and Timex hires fixes. Gamers should try "-60 -vsync" for buttery smooth gameplay. https://dailly.blogspot.com/

The Timex Sinclair 2068 had a proper cartridge port AND hi-res mode. America got the better Spectrum and nobody there cared. Typical.

What do you do when your favourite CPU is no longer being manufactured? Easy - you start the process of manufacturing it yourself. github.com/rejunity/z80...

GitHub - rejunity/z80-open-silicon: Z80 open-source silicon clone. Goal is to become a silicon proven, pin compatible, open-source replacement for classic Z80.Z80 open-source silicon clone. Goal is to become a silicon proven, pin compatible, open-source replacement for classic Z80. - rejunity/z80-open-silicongithub.com

Storm Force - an unreleased 1990 RNLI rescue sim for CPC and possibly ZX Spectrum. You'd monitor distress calls as a coastguard, then pilot the lifeboat yourself. Amazing game design doc recovered from old disks. https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/2026/07/storm-force/

If you never accidentally knocked your Microdrive cartridge mid-save, you haven't truly lived.

RWAP Software has been keeping Sinclair computers alive since 1986 - selling replacement keyboard membranes, preserving QL software, and even commissioning new hardware. A proper retro institution. rwapsoftware.co.uk

The ZX Spectrum's attribute clash wasn't a bug. It was a character-building exercise for an entire generation of game designers.

CRASH magazine issue 1 dropped in February 1984 - the very first issue of what became THE definitive ZX Spectrum gaming magazine. 3D Deathchase was their first Game of the Month. Full archive online: https://www.crashonline.org.uk/01/index.htm