ORDER YOUR VEGA RIGHT NOW FROM - www.zxvega.co.uk !!
The Vega Project Moves On
Responses
to the Vega Project
Our
Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for the Sinclair
Spectrum Vega games computer has been a great success. We raised £149,521, which is 50% more than
our target.
We
also received a lot of positive media coverage
for the Vega project, as well as
many comments of support. Here is a sample group of recent postings by Spectrum
fans.
Paul Vincent
I have all the spectrum
computers and they still work now and I have a massive collection of the old
tapes and love it just as much now as I did when I first got them
Steven Bohme
Thanks brought back
memories. Hope they have Top Gun as one of the 1000 games, spent many hours on
that one. Cheers Steve.
Thorlak Barfod
Keep the ZX Spectrum alive
– one of the greatest memories from my childhood :-) What a brilliant idea the
ZX Spectrum VEGA is!
Keep up the good work!
Vic Howlett
As an grey surfer this
appeals to me it’s a great idea full of retro games brilliant – what next?
Fee Sturrock
I use an Emulator for the
Nintendo DS, But Cant wait for this , Keep up the good work guys . ZX Spectrum
rules :)
Richard Townley
I remember have the 16k ZX
Spectrum when it was released and then upgrading it to 48k with the chips. I
now use an Emulator now but this would be so much better!!
Ben James
Very nostalgic about this.
I’d love to think I can excite my kids about playing Pssst or Atic Atac
Stewart Byron
Can’t wait until June!
silelf
Excellent idea!
The
Manufacturing Process Begins
Our
manufacturer, SMS Electronics Ltd of Beeston, Nottinghamshire, has now started
the various procedures necessary to put the Vega onto their assembly line. They are ordering the electronic
components, they are working with the plastics factory to ensure that the
tooling drawings are complete and accurate, and once the tools for the plastics
have been made SMS will be checking to ensure that the various parts of the Vega’s case and key arrangements fit
together perfectly. These are just a few of the tasks that need diligent
management and quality control at every stage, in order to deliver thoroughly
tested Vega computers.
![]()
Inside
the SMS Electronics Ltd factory in Nottinghamshire
In the
meantime we have been inundated with many offers from the owners of rights to
Spectrum games. By the end of January we had already been given permissions
from these rights owners for many hundreds of tried and tested games, many of them famous games
from the 1980s. And more games are being offered to us almost every day, please
do still contact us if you would like to see your games added to the Vega.
More
Features Added
During
the two months when our Indiegogo campaign was running we received many
suggestions and questions from Spectrum fans about various features that they
would like to see added to the Vega’s
specification. It is very important to us to satisfy as many as possible of
these Spectrum fans, so we have considered all of their suggestions, and as a
result we have decided to add two of their suggested features to the
specification of the Vega.
1 ZX
Spectrum games often make use of the keyboard to perform additional game
operations. We are therefore adding extra buttons to the Vega, giving the user
direct access to such operations for the majority of games.
2 We
are designing the Vega with the capacity for expansion by providing a hardware
interface on it's circuit board, and by allowing future software upgrades.
These
improvements to our original specification have now been completed in the
circuitry, on the printed circuit board layout, and in the plastics designs and
the tooling drawings.
We will
be making more announcements about the manufacturing process from time to time
in order to keep you up to date with our progress.
FIRST ENQUIRIES FROM RETAIL DISTRIBUTORS
Even before we could think
seriously about our retail distribution plans we began to receive enquiries
from companies in the UK
and abroad, companies interested in the possibility of distributing the Vega
via retail channels. We are having our first meetings with UK-based retail
distributors in the coming weeks but we expect it will be another few months
before we decide on the optimal distribution policy for retail distribution –
whether to work through many retail outlets or whether to make exclusive
distribution deals for a whole country or region. Either way, we expect the
Vega to be in the shops, in the UK at least, around September 2015.
And of course we will
definitely be selling the Vega from our web site and, for the foreseeable
future, from the Indiegogo site.
AND FINALLY
Thank you again for your interest
in the Vega project and for your support. We will be providing regular news
updates on the project as time goes on.
_________________________________________________________________________
Sir Clive Sinclair and Retro
Computers Ltd are pleased to announce the launch of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum
Vega
Every Vega sold will contribute to a
children's charity
![]()
(Render of Sinclair Spectrum Vega)
![]()
(Photo of 3D model prototype not final model)
The Sinclair Spectrum Vega is a new low
cost games computer based on Sir Clive’s hugely
successful Spectrum products of the early 1980s.
The Sinclair Spectrum Vega takes advantage
of major advances in technology to achieve big cost savings by replacing most
of the electronics in the earlier computer products. Instead the Vega uses a low
cost micro-controller and a clever piece of software
that combine to enable the Vega
to run all of the games, 14,000 or more of them, which were developed during
the years when some 5 million of the original Sinclair Spectrum were being sold.
The Sinclair Spectrum Vega is being
marketed by Retro Computers Ltd, a Luton-based start-up in which Sir Clive’s
company, Sinclair Research Ltd, is a shareholder. The development and marketing
of the Sinclair Spectrum Vega is
under licence from Sky In-Home Service Ltd, who inherited the intellectual
property rights to the Spectrum computers from Amstrad. Development of the product is complete, and a
fully-functioning prototype is ready to go into production.
The Sinclair Spectrum Vega is as simple to
use as any of the popular games consoles, but far less expensive. It plugs into
a TV, so no computer monitor is necessary, and comes complete with around 1,000
games built-in. The Vega has
sufficient memory to allow the user to download the many additional games we
will be making available from time to time free of charge.
The Vega has been developed by a former ZX Spectrum games developer who is the world's leading expert on
Sinclair Spectrum technology.
Retro
Computers Ltd is making arrangements with the owners of the software rights to
Spectrum games to donate a combined software royalty to a charity – Great Ormond
Street Hospital
for Children. The company’s Chairman, Dr David Levy, had his life saved by the
hospital when he was diagnosed with meningitis as a 3-year-old.
This
Indiegogo campaign is to raise funds to manufacture the first 1,000
units of the Vega
within the UK and to prepare us for the second
production run.
This is your
opportunity to be one of the first to own a Vega, as well as a range of other exciting perks.
These include: concept art, signed by Sir Clive Sinclair, of our
original concept designs; a copy of a new book about the creation of the Sinclair Spectrum Vega; an invitation
to the Vega launch party next spring; and an invitation to ‘come to dinner’ and
meet some of the Retro Computers Ltd team. In addition those who pledge £50 or
more will have their names added to the ‘Digital Role of Honour’ which will be
embedded into the Vega’s memory, displayed on our web site (unless you choose to be anonymous) and can be displayed on
the TV when using the Vega.
Current Status
The
development of the Sinclair Spectrum
Vega is complete, and we have a fully
working prototype waiting to go into
production within the UK.
We are making contact with thousands of the original
Spectrum game developers in order to secure their permission to use their games
on the Vega, for which a combined
software royalty will be donated to charity ‒
Great Ormond Street
Hospital for children.
Once the first 1,000 Limited Edition Vegas have been manufactured and shipped, and we move on to
the next 3,000 units and thereafter to batches of 10,000 or more, the retail price of
the Vega will reduce. But even at £100 the cost of the limited edition Vega,
with its 1,000 games built-in, represents a huge saving over the cost of the
original product plus the cost of 1,000 of the original Spectrum games. What
cost thousands of pounds back in the 1980s is now available for around 1 per
cent of that amount.
Inspiration for the Sinclair Spectrum
Vega
The Vega is a culmination of many years of
work and perseverance by our team, who have come together to create something
special that resonates with those who grew up with the original Sinclair Spectrum, as well as being
accessible to today’s gamers who are looking for some nostalgic game play while
having the ease of use of modern technology at an
incredibly low price. For enthusiasts
who would like to know more about the project you can pledge to receive, as one of the perks, the book ‘Creating The Sinclair ZX Vega’which has been written
by the team about our journey to create the Vega.
Sir Clive
Sinclair talks to David Levy about the original Spectrum –
Development of the Vega
The
Sinclair Spectrum Vega has been
designed and developed by the world’s leading expert on the
technology behind the Sinclair ZX Spectrum range of computers.
Features of the Sinclair Spectrum
Vega
The Vega is
very simple to operate. Just connect it to your TV with the cables provided and
off you go. Games are accessed through a menu based system and are easy to
access. Games load automatically, taking you directly
into the game play mode. When you wish to play another game, simply
press the centrally placed reset button and this takes you back to the main menu. Nothing could be simpler.
About us –
Sir Clive Sinclair –is one of
the most famous British born inventors of all time. He launched his first mass market consumer product in 1962. An expert at miniaturization, Sir Clive has brought
to mass market more than 100 highly innovative consumer products through
various companies such as Sinclair Radionics and Sinclair Research. Examples of his famous products include the world's
first pocket television in 1966, the world's
first pocket calculator in 1972 and the UKs best-selling personal computer of all time in 1982.
Dr David Levy - is a British International Master
of chess who is noted for his involvement with both computer chess and
artificial intelligence. He is President of the International Computer Games
Association and the founder of the Computer Olympiads as well as the Mind
Sports Olympiads. David has also written more than 50
books on computer games, A.I., and robotics.
Manufacture of the Sinclair Spectrum
Vega
We already
have a fully functioning prototype of the Vega.
You can see a game running on the prototype here -
![]()
We
have a short-list of four UK electronics manufacturing companies, and will soon
be making our choice between them to commence assembly of the Vega in the UK. Following our initial run of 1,000 units we
plan to increase production steadily, with 3,000 units in the second production
run followed by batches of 10,000 or more. All of our initial sales will be via
our web site but subsequently we will be seeking marketing arrangements with
distributors in the UK, USA
and elsewhere.
Delivering the Vega
The first
1,000 backers who pledge £100 or more in support will receive the limited
edition Vega as one of their perks.
Some of the other perks available are: Having your name added to the roll of honour on the Vega, Concept art
signed by Sir Clive Sinclair, copies of the book about the Vega’s creation,
come to the official launch of the Vega, or come and meet some of the team over
dinner!
Risks and Challenges
We have
worked very hard to minimize the risks and challenges to this project. We have
contracted with Sky In-Home Service Ltd to ensure the correct hardware
permissions are in place. We are seeking permissions from the software rights
holders to incorporate their games in the Vega.
Members of our team have many years of experience in creating, developing, and
selling electronic devices, as well as experience in publishing and retail
sales.
In
the very unlikely event that we do not raise sufficient funding to manufacture
the first 1,000 units we will return all pledged money to those who picked a Vega as their perk.
FAQ
Q - Can you explain the TV output/connections please?
A - Composite video, stereo audio, USB for power.
Q - Can I connect a keyboard?
A - We're reviewing our expansion options.
Q - Is a Bluetooth input/output included?
A - No, this is a straight-to-TV game console.
Q - Will it work on my iPad, or just a TV?
A - TV - PAL and NTSC.
Q - Is this an android device?
A - No.
Q - What file format will work on the SD card?
A - The standard FAT filesystem. The Vega will read tap and snapshot files.
Q – Is the ZX Vega compatible with all the Spectrum
games?
A – To the best of our knowledge the Vega should work
with all games created for the original Spectrum machines.
Q – Can I pledge for more than one perk? For example, a
Vega and some signed concept art?
A – Yes you can pledge as many times as you want for
different combinations of perks.
Q – Can I load my own Spectrum games onto the Vega?
A – Yes it is possible to use an SD card to load more
games onto the Vega
Q - What does the Vega offer over the original Spectrum?
A - Simplicity. The Vega is small, portable, plug-and-go,
with instant loading of games. It also includes some newer features such as an increased
colour palette and an SDCard to load new games or software updates.
Q - Does it support the 48k and 128k machines?
A - Yes, all models of the Spectrum are supported.
Q - Will you be able to connect keyboards or controllers via
USB or Bluetooth?
A - The Vega provides an on-screen keyboard, which can be
activated when required. We would very much like to make the Vega as expandable
as possible, both with hardware and software, and are considering
possibilities.
Disclaimers And Legal Notices
All
trademarks are copyright their respective owners.
