Tuesday, February 16

Handheld ZX Spectrum brings ‘80s gaming to your morning commute

While last year's officially licensed ZX Spectrum Vega—a plug-and-play games-only version of the UK's finest 1980s home computer—didn't quite live up to expectations, creator Retro Computers is hoping that a that new portable version will be more successful. The Sinclair ZX Spectrum Vega+ ditches the boxy design of the Vega in favour of Vita-like curves and a built-in LCD screen that lets you play the 1000 pre-installed licensed games on the go.

The smart design features a segmented D-pad on the left, four face buttons on the right, and a row of smaller rectangular buttons underneath. Up top there are volume buttons, a headphone jack that can also output composite video to your TV, a micro SD card slot for loading extra games, a charging port, and an as yet unused "Ext" port. With a simple button layout and a standard 4:3 aspect ration screen, the Vega+ could prove to be quite the portable retro gaming machine, so long as both are up to snuff.

Unfortunately, Retro Computers hasn't yet revealed exactly what's inside the Vega+, and whether or not it has the processing chops to run anything other than Spectrum games. The original Vega featured a speedy-enough ARM chip, but suffered from poor video quality thanks to the composite output and a flaky power supply. Hopefully the internal display of the Vega+ will fare better.

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