Gaming Culture issue two KickStarter campaign is alive!

Go back it, if you want a magazine that's a bit different

Starting a magazine when physical printed publications are clearly in decline, especially so in the once massive gaming market, is something of a risk, but thankfully, platforms like KickStarter (KS) are there to help to crowd fund such endeavours. Mixing in a diverse group of writers and a block of Lard, as well as advertising from Heard Plus, Pixel Jockey and Cronosoft, and of course the wonderful backers from the first KS campaign, and we got a magazine, although not perfect, something to be proud of. Nearly all of the heavy lifting was done by Chris Thacker, that is, magazine design, concept, layout, editing, news round up, proofing, direction, and some writing. And after all that, Chris is handling the postage and digital deliveries too. So he should be especially proud. Although it was kind of a self punishment to increase the page count at least twice, eh Chris?

Anyway, Gaming Culture issue two has launched with a spanky new KS campaign, and is 100% Lard Approved. No other magazine can say that, surely? For convenience, the link to the campaign is below in an iframe. Lovely!

Finally in the 48 club

After some years, I'm finally in print again

My first foray into writing for magazines (not fanzines) started in January 2002, and was first printed in the now much missed Micro Mart magazine. My first column appeared in a February 2002 issue and I continued to write on an eight week trial basis. By the time I'd written my 10th column, I realised that I'd passed my trial, although I don't remember ever receiving confirmation from the then editor Simon Brew. The subject matter of my weekly column was all about 8-bit home computers launched mostly in the early 1980s, although I did cover some 1970s personal computers, like the Commodore PET/CBM range, and branched out to some occasional next-gen machines like the Atari Jaguar, a 64-bit powerhouse providing you did the right mathematics.

After my retro column was establishing itself as something that people in the fledgling 8-bit communities were embracing, a new magazine called gamesTM (gTM) launched with a fairly substantial Retro section called just that. It was focused on only nostalgia with a lot of the articles seemingly written from memory with some of the writers opinions shining through. I can't say that I did much better when writing about purely nostalgic articles, but I did try to weave in factual truths remembering those simpler times and any technological constraints. For instance, the portable Commodore SX-64 was already a pretty hefty machine, and adding a battery to this wouldn't have made the thing any more portable, something that, as I recall, the gTM Retro section seemed to complain about; no one seemed to consider the limitations of rechargeable battery technologies of the time, nor the technical feat of making a Commodore C64 with a 1541 disk drive portable; in essence, the 1541 disk drive controller board was essentially another 6502-based computer.

And then came the original and best Retro Gamer (RG) magazine, which I think survives today, although it is in many ways a very different magazine from Martyn Carroll's and Mate Mabe's vision (with some significant contributions from Aaron Birch back then, as I recall). Those of you who know or recall those days may remember that I wrote a significant piece about Commodore's 8-bit machines for issue two [of RG], and was named in issue one. By issue four or five, on Tuesday, 4th May 2004 (my 27th birthday) I was RG's first official staff writer, which didn't last long and showed many of my own short comings as a writer. But anyway, regardless I somehow (with some breaks) managed to continue my weekly Micro Mart column for over 10 years.

And 21 years and a day after I became RG's first staff writer (and I say that Aaron did a much better job as a staff writer than I did) a digital copy of Gaming Culture landed in my inbox, a slightly belated 48th birthday present. Gaming Culture is hoping to offer something a bit different from other gaming mags, and hopefully my small contribution remembering the late, great Joffa Smith, and a reprint from this 'ere weblog - specifically this article - is doing just that.

If you are interested in procuring a copy of Gaming Culture to see what it's all about, head over to here, although at the time of writing, only the digital copy is available to purchase. Issue two of this will be launching on Kick Starter soon, so when it does, go back it if you are able to.

Another ZX Spectrum Next Kickstarter on the Horizon

A third instalment in the exciting KickStarter series, known as the ZX Spectrum Next, is planned

One has to wonder how many KickStarter campaigns it takes before you can formulate a business model to actually, you know, sell your product like you're running a for-profit business? The answer to this question is, I guess, at least three, and who knows how many more?

Yes, that's right, as confirmed in an update to the second ZX Speccy Next KS campaign, with the heading "Heading into 2025 -- a bit late, eh?", it reads as follows:

Kickstarter 3 on the making [SIC]

Yes, we left this one for last as we didn’t want to take away the attention from the amazing work the community is brewing on the Spectrum Next every day.

We are, in fact, getting the plans for a third instalment of the ZX Spectrum Next crowdfunding in motion. The main reason for doing this is twofold: the urge to expand the size of the community for the benefit of the developers who are keen to get their games and apps in the hands of more people and; the knowledge some missed out (still!) on the first two, and want a Spectrum Next for themselves – we got constant emails about it and eBay prices keep on telling us there’s more to be done Next-wise.

Thus begins the journey of another Kickstarter which, if history is anything to go by, will be full of surprises, challenges and (likely) delays. But if all goes well, we’ll be welcoming a fresh class of users and fans to bolster our ranks, and keep the Spectrum Next’s momentum at maximum. What’s not to like?

After all, we wouldn’t want to disappoint Bret Bapstarcade Pritchard: 2024 was the best year ‘so far’ indeed – let’s make sure that’s the case!

Stay tuned!

This statement is doing well to manage expectations, by already stating the probability of delays to the next campaign, but it shows that the team behind the ZX Speccy Next are clearly living in something of a bubble here: another KS outing is unlikely to significantly increase the number of people using and procuring ZX Spectrum Next exclusive software, especially as it can be emulated (as mentioned in the above update), and there are other ways to get hold of a ZX Spectrum Next in hardware form, a quick search of the Internet tells me about a system called the Ngo, and also a Raspberry Pi based solution called the Xberry Pi ZX Spectrum Next clone. In fact, the only benefit I can see over emulation, or a Ngo or other clone, is that the Speccy Next has the authentic Rick Dickinson industrial design, so is a nice piece of eye candy.

So, who is going to be backing the next ZX Next KS campaign? Those people who like the design, for sure, some people who will see this as an investment, and others who want a reliable modern days Speccy that uses new television sets without any trouble (although the Next does have issues with HDMI and changing between one display and another). And, of course, collectors who just must own every iteration of a Sinclair product, because why not? The minority of people will be backing it to play or use exclusive Next software because there isn't that much of it, and the really good games tend to have equally excellent actual ZX Spectrum versions as well. Yes, I'm looking at you, Aliens: Neoplasma!

The other point is glaringly obvious: the two KickStarter campaigns has raised £2,570,496, according to the numbers on KickStarter. Now of course, there is the point that no one has made money from the Next, in fact, the first KickStarter was somehow a loss. Okay. So, it really was like Homer Simpson's fabled car then? Full of brilliant ideas (according to Homer) but expensive and poorly executed. But I suspect that this isn't the full story, and anything I say about potential profits or losses here is unfair without knowing all ends. However, the £2.5m in total monies already put into the two KS Campaigns are surely signs that, if you get the price, product and marketing right, there is a product there that doesn't need to rely on another go on KS.

Now, imagine then the beautiful Next casing, but with internals that are costs reduced? Perhaps the internals of the ever popular Ngo and the externals Rick Dickinson's excellent and sleek design? That would mean some compromises, but surely the Ngo does all of the things that a Next does, or at least all of the features that people actually want to use, which I still maintain is largely to play original Speccy software without the hassle of R: Tape Loading Error.

With a more singular vision and at a good price, this could be an actual a real viable product for a bigger market that bursts outside of the Internet bubble that surrounds the Speccy Next. But some may say that the Retro Games Ltd TheSpectrum has already taken that market. And there isn't enough Next-specific software (at least yet) to allow it can compete in a meaningful way, is there? Nor a decent dedicated magazine for it. Maybe the novelty of overclocking the Spectrum is enough of a draw as it certainly gives some games a new lease of life. But that novelty will soon wear thin for most people.

Another idea might be to offer the ZX Speccy Next as a casing by itself (although I still maintain that the keyboard is pretty dreadful to use), with internal mountings for your choice of Next hardware in a modular fashion. Externally, it is a Next, and regardless of whether the expansion bus is missing, or it has no built-in joystick ports, internally it is also a Next too. The internal keyboard connection would be a small technical hurdle, but nothing that could not be overcome. I think this would be a sensible offering, if it can be produced at a reasonable consumer-friendly price point.

My point is that the ZX Speccy Next could have been so much more, especially with it's elegant design; since it's announcement, it has lost ground and/or become mired as a niche product for two main reasons in my view: which are it has a clunky user experience (mostly), and that it tries to please too many people at once, but ends up pleasing too few. And that is perhaps how the people behind the Next want it. Perhaps they think it is somehow more cool that way too? Who doesn't want a niche product that has loads of features that you don't want, nor asked for, nor actually will ever need or use anyway? Eh?!?

But guess which mug will probably be backing the next ZX Spectrum Next KS campaign? Yep... that'd be me.

The ZX Spectrum Next vs The Mega65 Computer

It would seem that, from far fewer sales, the MEGA65 is doing better than the ZX Spectrum Next, at least on one metric.

Whether you grew up with Sinclair's rubber-clad monolith, in the form of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, or you were firmly in the Commodore camp with your C64, you are kind of spoilt now in the next gen machines available, with the Sinclair-branded ZX Spectrum Next and MEGA65 (M65) being two of the most prominent platforms your money can buy.

From what I can garner, about 8,500 real Next machines exist in the form of the KickStarter models, and probably a couple of thousand more N-Go FPGA variants. The M65 computer isn't doing quite as well, with perhaps aronud 1,000 sales, but it is a much more expensive alternative, and I expect that sales of the Ultimate 64 (U64) would be about equivalent to that of the Next, but the U64 is sold as a board and one must provide a casing and keyboard, as well as the Kernal, BASIC and character ROMs in software form.

Anyway, to the point: at the time of writing, and that is 2025-02-27, the Next has 118¹ pieces of entertainment software available for it (discounting, of course, the many thousands of compatible titles), many of which are still listed as "In development", whereas the M65 has 123², albeit that the development status is unclear and some of those 123 games may be early alpha releases for demonstration purposes. This is rather curious to me; how can something with a clearly much smaller market have an equivalent software library - in terms of entertainment software at least - of something presumabely much more popular?

Unless I spent my time doing thorough research into this topic, I don't think I will ever know. But I suspect that my conjecture that the Next is trying to please everyone but ends up pleasing no one, or at least not a significant number of users, is part of the issue. The potential market for the Next is many thousands, but that's no good if most of those people are just using it as a ZX Spectrum and not taking advantage of the platform's full potential. Whereas I'm guessing that people who own the M65 are doing so out of a curiosity of the unfinished Commodore C65 which exists in equivalent numbers (in theory, some units will have been lost to time) to the current number of M65s out in the wild.

And as for the aforementioned U64, I'll get onto that in good time, but I can say that it's a beautiful computer which very faithfully replicates the C64, but does much more.

^{1) ZX Spectrum Next software directory
2) MEGA-65 File Host}

The ZX Spectrum Next: KickStarter Part III

If there was another KickStarter for the Sinclair-branded ZX Spectrum Next, what should be done differently?

It came to my attention recently that we are fast approaching seven years since the launch of the aforementioned ZX Spectrum Next. Although not necessarily since it was a real thing beyond the prototypes and development boards, but since the world first knew about it.

Whilst I was pondering where that time went, someone suggested that they were waiting for another KickStarter (KS) campaign for another batch of Speccy Next computers. As some of you may know, and as I have adumbrated elsewhere, I have some critiques of the Next, some of which I think are fair and all are well meaning.

My previous conjecture was that most people who procured their Speccy Next machines - either through the KS campaign, or through the official website shop - did so because it was [in theory] a reliable modern days ZX Spectrum. It uses new screens and load entertainment software reliably via SD Card. No more aging CRT TVs with fuzzy pictures. And no more R: Tape Loading Error to worry about. The Next offers crystal clear images, especially good for aging eyes.

I'm not a zealous collector who buys stuff as an investment, and I therefore did not consider this as a possibility. But clearly though many people nabbed a ZX Next for investment purposes too; perhaps some will be sitting in display cases, unused and unloved except for a bit of eye candy. Perhaps worse, some have yet to be opened. But whatever the reason for purchasing, both KS campaigns were very successful. Who am I to judge someone else's motives if it means that a highly compatible machine based upon Sinclair's rubber-keyed monolith is an actual thing? It's what I dreamt of back in the late 1990s when I was being left behind with my Commodore C64c and other 8-bit computers including a 48K Speccy.

After that mental meandering, which I'm often guilty of, I'll get back to my main point: if it was up to me and I was in charge of the next Next KS campaign, what would I do differently? As difficult as it might be, and as unpopular with certain people as it would make me, I would try to break out of the Speccy Internet bubble (which clearly guided the scope and features of the original KickStarter). What I would do is something that some people would hate: I would look at reducing costs so to manufacture to scale, and look for a distribution partner to get it into retail. This would ultimately mean cutting the number of features that both revisions of the KS Next machines have (I'm not sure about the N-Go or other versions here). My aim would be simple: to get it to a consumer price point of £125.00, which was the launch price of the original (albeit 16K) machine, and would be competitive against some other modern takes on old computers, such as THEC64 from Retro Games Ltd, for instance. So, what would go?

Let's first look at what I would keep: I would want my KS 3 machine to do three things well:

1. Play all 16K and 48K Speccy games;
2. Play all 128K games; and
3. Be compatible with all native Next software titles except those that require an internal Raspberry Pi or networking capability.

I would keep the reset switch, and the SD Card reader as is, and remove the expansion bus and PS/2 socket. And, if I could achieve it at a sensible price, include some USB ports. I might even remove the joystick ports in favour of USB and just allow the use of USB controllers. I would leave the ULA+ support, but remove the option for VGA output, so there is only one video output, which would be real HDMI. And perhaps, finally, I would look at removing the audio input and output, although on this latter point, if I could get it to cost, I might leave this in.

This sounds a lot like leaving the world of FPGA behind in favour of the much more cost effective System on a Chip (SoC), so of course some of the purists will hate it because, in essence, the Next has always been in the FPGA camp as far as I can tell.

But here's the thing: another KickStarter based upon the last one won't significantly increase the number of ZX Spectrum Next users, as many people who own one or both revisions of the Next (or maybe even the white ultra rare version too) will find a way to back the third, and despite all of my critiques, that'd probably include me too. You might therefore increase the user base by another 10 or 20% and most of those new users will be there just to play original Speccy games, or as essentially investors hoping for a good return one day. In other words, in my view, you've only increased the potential market for actual Next specific software marginally. Making the price point attractive and accepting that people just want to play Speccy games on reliable hardware as their old machines fail is more likely to increase the interest in the Next specific software too. Adding USB connectivity and cutting the nice-to-have features will allow for a better end-user experience, as the current ZX Next feels unfinished, at least to me. Remembering to unplug the HDMI each time is one of those annoyances that I have. Changing displays (and remembering how to do so) is another.

Ultimately, more users will surely mean more interest in the Next as a viable platform and more than just a curiosity.

Saying all of this, I am trying to find some use cases for the nice to have features, such as the classic CP/M; I am finally making progress with the CP/M mode on the Next, and have software running on it, including MicroSoft BASIC, Zork and other text adventures. What I really want is to use WordStar to write my articles for some printed matter publication that I am going to be writing for. And although I don't like the ZX Next keyboard too much, I do have an external PS/2 keyboard that works well for me. If I do manage to author any articles on CP/M WordStar, I'll let you know how I went about it, but some suggestions that I should print out my work to submit it to my editor are probably more ridiculous than this 'ere blog!

And on that note, dear reader, I'll thank you kindly for taking time to read. Let's see if another KS for the Next happens, and we'll also see if a fool (like me) and his money is easily parted, as I'll probably end up backing it again.

What is the real market for a new ZX Spectrum Next magazine?

With the Sinclair-branded ZX Spectrum Next being a highly capable and enhanced 8-bit micro computer, is there really a market for printed matter publications covering it exclusively?

One of my favourite magazines from the 1980s, despite being mostly a Commodore C64 user and fanboy, was Your Sinclair (YS), clearly an highly intellectual and serious magazine aimed at the brainy kids. Of course, I couldn't count myself in the latter category, but the carefully designed and well thought out content still somehow appealed to me. From 2002, the 20th year of the C64 and Sinclair ZX Spectrum, I became a freelance writer, and I think then in 2004 (from Tuesday, May 4th as I recall), I was briefly a staffer at Retro Gamer. To my delight, I was lucky enough to work on the YS tribute issue, the famous issue 94 which, despite some minor grumblings, seemed to hit the spot with its design and obviously verbose and articulate content.

Of course, since 2004 a lot has changed in the Speccy scene, and nothing more notable in my opinion than the Speccy Next computer. Although it feels unfinished to me in many regards, it is clearly a clever piece of kit that does a lot more than just what a Spectrum did (kind of like any computer running a good emulator, but, you know, different). Ironically, I suspect that many of these 'ere new snazzy features are largely unused, and most people are either using their Next machines as a modern days and reliable ZX Spectrum that can use new television sets, or purely as an investment. After all, there aren't more than 10,000 units produced, and I suspect around half as many owners. This excludes other Next solutions and emulation, which although I've not looked into too greatly, I'm sure exist.

And with the launch of The Spectrum, from Retro Games Ltd, I suspect many people have reboxed their expensive Next machines to use The Spectrum instead, which is mass produced and cheaper to replace, and has that lovely rubber feel. Ohh... Rubber... Anyway, where was I? Oh yes. Err... sorry about that.

So, although I'm not a maths surgeon, let's try to work out how successful or not a dedicated Speccy Next magazine might be, should one launch, with some estimates based on what we know about just the Next by itself and not any other clones or emulators. The original KickStarter had 3,113 backers, plus some units were sold through the official site, so let's say that number is 4,000. The second kickstarter had 5,236 backers, but again some units, as far as I can tell, also sold through the official site, so let's say that there are around 5,500 of the V2 units about (some apparently a brilliant white), we're not far off my 10,000 estimate above, but we'll use that figure for the easiness of the calculations.

With anything in life, there is usually between 10 - 20% of people who seem to be somewhat evangelical about this thing or that, and some Next owners I've come across have this unwavering love for the Next, and any modest criticism of it isn't welcome to their ears or eyes. So, if we assume that there are ~10,000 Next owners, which there aren't - as many people backed both Kickstarter campaigns - that would mean a market for any magazine of around 2,000 readers if we assume that 20% of those 10,000 are real fanboys. That's a pretty good number to be selling a printed magazine for such a niché product in 2025 in my opinion. However, the true number will be fewer than half of that.

As I mentioned, many people backed both KickStarter campaigns, so the likely number of Next owners is more likely to be closer to 5,000 (remembering that we are of course excluding here other solutions through FPGA and such). Still, ~1,000 sales can't be bad if we assume 20% of users subscribing or otherwise regularly procuring such printed matter. But I still think this is a little high as an estimate. Whatever my conjecture is, this is a very generous upper end of how many magazines might sell into this market on an issue by issue basis. The true number is likely to be fewer than 500, because most users are likely using the Next as nothing more than a Speccy, and are probably much more interested in actual real ZX Spectrum content over the niceties that the Next offers. Plus, other than making Speccy games look better, the Next isn't opening up a whole world of other possibilities for most users. And there are only so far 62 exclusive pieces of software available for it, according to the official site as of 2025-01-31. How much content one is able to generate out of only 62 pieces of software is therefore somewhat questionable, or at least it is to me. Kind of like when Future Publishing kept publishing Commodore Format (CF), but had nothing new to write about, so many of the issues at that time covered Mayhem in Monsterland again, and again. Sure, it was a fine game, and thankfully the magazine was saved when Psytronik Software and other upstarts like Electric Boys Entertainment Software and Visualize Software released and promised new games. But at least that CF was still selling in the thousands back then. Something that no dedicated Speccy Next magazine could ever do. Not in printed form anyway.

Bring back the personal computer

Or is it back already?

I've now been exposed to video games and computering technologies for almost as long as I've been alive, which is nearly five decades at the time of writing, so won't be any fewer decades by the time you, my dear reader, are scrutinising yet another of my blog posts. As you can guess, I've seen lots of different technologies, from the Binatone Pong styled games, to the Texas TI99/4a (a robots game that I don't remember the name of) to the most modern days whatever it is that my favourite daughter plays on these ere games consoles.

Mentioning games consoles, I was never a fan. Whilst I saw some use of pocket or portable systems, the Atari Lynx, for instance, has allowed me many hours of escapism over the years. But dedicated consoles? Where was the keyboard? And why make such obviously powerful and useful technologies difficult to program? Okay, so I get the point that because home computers like the Sinclair and Commodore offerings could be programmed by anyone meant that whilst there was an abundance of software, that didn't mean you got quality releases. The big N, with its zealous control over releases for it's so-called Entertainment Systems might not boast nearly as many games as the working class ZX Spectrum, or the slightly more upmarket Commodore C64 - and even the "flash in the pan" VIC-20 managed nearly as many releases - at least each release was of a certain quality, right? I also found it rather puzzling that the company that rhymes with Tintendo (or that's how someone from t'north of England might pronounce it, well almost) had to have "official" magazines too, but as a scholar of Professor Marshall McLuhan, I know what he meant with his "The Medium is the Message" theory. Put a seal of quality on your game boxes, and then publish glossy literature to say how quality those quality releases are. Clever.

For me, the computer was always King, until the market stopped producing personal computers and started making the same thing in a different box, allowing monopolisation to take over so that ultimately corporations could benefit from the fact that the office computer was now also essentially the home computer (and also the dangers of that being the case too). But before I blame IBM or whoever for monopolisation, this happened early on in the UK market too, one might argue. Britain produced many computer systems in the early 1980s; offerings from Tangerine with its Oric, Memotech, Dragon Data, Acorn and Sinclair were just some of the companies slugging it out, and one might conclude that Sinclair won the first round, but was then absorbed into Amstrad. At least some plurality survived through the 1980s and into the early 1990s though. And Apple are still a thing today. At least it was there at the start thanks to the technical genius of Steve Wozniak. But Apple has mainly pioneered the high consumer price point, finding a niche that the standard PC could not compete in. The same could have been for the Amiga and Atari ST but for some dubious decisions at Commodore and Atari Corp. The Amiga was way ahead of the market when it came to graphics, and shouldn't have let that one slip, but somehow it did.

Anyway, I started this post thinking I'd write about one thing, and through some mental meandering I end up in a completely different place. I guess this happens sometimes. Like many of you, I miss the days when computers were more joyful and personal, and different machines had different strengths or weaknesses. The Amstrad CPC range for instance had... well I'm unable to think of any strengths for that particular system. But I found an entertaining 10 line BASIC game for the ZX81, which was a simple memory game. Of course, because it was BASIC, I had to do my refactoring to reduce the number of BASIC bytes it was using, then I made it so that the screen cleared between each level without adding a new line number, because that for me is what I love about computers. Or at least the computers from the 1980s. I'd say "bring back the personal computer", but in many cases some people already have; the MEGA 65, Ultimate64 Elite, Sinclair ZX Spectrum Next, Omni 128/128HD and the various offerings from Retro Games Ltd, such as THE400 Mini and THEA500 Mini (although neither have a working keyboard as standard, something I grumbled about above with games consoles, a USB keyboard is easy enough to add).