Some kind of text prediction would have been useful, not least because most adventures use the same basic parser, with the commands GET, LOOK, USE, and so on.Īs for the hardware, the Vega does not impress. However, the system is quite laborious, and entering strings of words for an adventure is still burdensome. It is a smart solution and very convenient after you get used to it. To switch from one group to another, use the directional pad, and the letters are assigned to the four main input keys. Letters of the alphabet, numbers and symbols are instead collected in groups. It is not a virtual keyboard in the traditional sense of the term, which involves guiding the cursor on each key.
#Sinclair zx spectrum vega console archive
In particular, those who wanted to replay the vast archive of text adventures of the Spectrum considered unplayable on the Vega a long series of the best titles of the platform due to the four-button system. This option was a later addition and proposed by fans disappointed with the use of a console-style joypad for a computer that operated via joystick or keyboard. The first three increase the input options for games with more complex controls, the M key brings up a menu for use in-game and from which to save progress at any time, and gives access to a virtual keyboard. Below these keys there are four other smaller ones marked with the letters A, B, C and M. The four main keys are positioned in a rather odd way, according to a square arrangement in pairs rather than in the classic rhombus used by most joypads. Games can be saved and resumed later – another emulator feature that enhances the experience offered by the original Spectrum. F stands for FIRE, S for SELECT, and everything else is pretty much nonsense in this context, which is a bit confusing. These too recall the famous plastic keys of the original, right down to their markings. Modeled to slightly resemble the Spectrum 48k, it features directional keys on the left and various controls on the right. In case you want a scientific measurement, the dimensions are those of a normal Kit Kat, the one with 4 bars.
The Vega is a normal small and flat controller, not a real keyboard. With two “new” Spectrum products vying for public attention, many users seem confused about their nature or mistake them for the same product.
#Sinclair zx spectrum vega console portable
Importantly, the Vega is a portable device, nothing like Elite Systems’ Recreated ZX Spectrum Bluetooth keyboard, which is expected to launch in a few weeks.
I feel nostalgia rising, but also skepticism: is it a genuine new Sinclair or a cleverly packaged emulator, designed to unscrupulously exploit my old passion? Even the box, black and with the rainbow in the corner, has been designed to imitate that of the original computer with 48kb. I have in my hands a Sinclair ZX Spectrum Vega, the plug-and-play gaming device financed through crowdfunding with the involvement of Sir Clive Sinclair himself. If in 2012, when retrogaming enthusiasts were celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, they had told me that only three years later two new hardware with the same name of the glorious computer would arrive, I would not have believed it.
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