Latest news with #ZXSpectrum
Stuff.tv
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Stuff.tv
What I think the Apple Games app needs to work – and why it won't
The rumour mill is frothing about a dedicated Apple games app. Which, given Cupertino's dearth of app-naming imagination, will presumably be called Apple Games. After hastily rebuilding an office wall I blew down due to sighing so heavily on hearing this news, I figured I should at least consider how Apple could make this work. And why it won't. Because Apple. Clearly, Apple Games would be intended as a statement, to convince gamers, developers and even Apple itself that the company is a market leader in this space and serious about games. Despite years of evidence to the contrary. It would also be a combination of launcher, games discovery engine, friends hub and leaderboards. Which sounds a lot like Game Centre, a once standalone app Apple forgot about and left broken for six months, before taping it back together and burying it so deep inside its operating systems that it now only appears when you sacrifice a ZX Spectrum on the night of a blood moon. But, hey, Apple rakes in huge sums of cash from App Store games and services like Apple Arcade. So if Apple wants to make Apple Games work, here's the minimum that it needs to do. 1. Nail the basics Achievements. Leaderboards. Social features. These aren't bold innovations in gaming. They're the bare minimum. If Apple execs rock up on stage and even remotely infer Apple invented any of these things, we should riot. 2. Highlight controller support It's 2025. If a fancy new Apple Games app can't say whether Lara Croft: Guardian of Light will work with my Gamesir G8 or Backbone, it's already failed. Just like the App Store, which will, bizarrely, instead denote the game's position on the UK App Store Action chart, as if I or anyone else cares. Great until you stick your iPhone in one and realise the Home Screen is still in portrait orientation. 3. Add landscape support Any iPhone in a controller means landscape orientation. That grinds against Apple's portrait-mode iPhone app obsession, but I don't want to crane my neck 90 degrees to launch a game, like I currently have to when using the iOS Home Screen. 4. Embrace openness (LOL) Someone may have to break it to Apple execs that Apple Arcade isn't all of gaming. Gamers should be able to pin and rapidly access third-party games – and ideally even tap into Steam, Xbox Cloud Gaming and Antstream Arcade. Otherwise Apple Games will be little more than an Apple Arcade app wearing comedy spectacles and a fake moustache. 5. Recommend good games Apple editorial too often highlights IAP nightmares over legitimately good games, for some reason. No, hang on, for this reason: money. But gamers hate all that even more than 20-minute unskippable cutscenes. So: surface genuinely and objectively great games. Get smart game journos to help if need be. Easy. 6. Not get bored after 11 seconds The big one. Apple has a bad track record with its own apps. Many launch in a blaze of glory, only to be caked in cobwebs a year later. If that's Apple Games (as it was for Game Centre) , I'd sooner Apple would permanently leave its gaming ambitions in another castle. Why Apple Games will fail Even if Apple ticks a few boxes, it probably won't tick enough. Because there's no sense of gaming spirit, drive and commitment at Apple's highest levels. Games are seen as cash generators, not culture. They're benchmarking tools, rather than experiences – a way to show off the power of a new iPhone or Mac before quietly forgetting games exist for another year. I'd love to be wrong. But when I yet again hear Apple is getting excited about games, I get a pang of hope that's instantly, mercilessly crushed under a 20-tonne weight of reality and history. So I want Apple Games to thrive and for this to be the year Apple finally cracks gaming. But I think there's more chance that 2025 will be the year of Linux on the desktop.
The Courier
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Courier
The best games from Dundee's ZX Spectrum in 1990 - as beloved Speccy entered 'twilight era'
The end was nigh for Dundee's ZX Spectrum in 1990. The home computer produced by Dundee Timex workers was nearing the end of its commercial life after Sega and Nintendo burst on to the scene. Did it go out with a whimper? The Spectrum of Adventure author Tom Christie says there was still gas in the tank. 'By now, programmers had learned how to squeeze every scintilla of power out of the machine's creaking processor, and it seemed hard to believe that any original games were still to arrive for the famous system at this late stage,' he said. 'And yet, somehow, game designers were still able to come up with the goods. 'While the ZX Spectrum may no longer have been cutting-edge, it could still boast a vibrant, highly creative, and community-driven gaming scene, with a dedicated fan base across the UK and beyond. 'This was something of a twilight era for these early computers, but the gaming scene remained active and imaginative, with some surprisingly inventive games.' Tom has chosen 10 classic games to arrive on the platform in 1990. These include the popular SimCity and the brilliant Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge. How many of these games can you remember? Turrican was one of the most hotly-awaited titles of 1990. The shoot 'em up released by Rainbow Arts won big with magazine awards. It involved blasting through five alien environments. 'The game boasted huge levels which invited players to go exploring rather than encouraging them to complete each stage in a linear way,' said Tom. 'The mutant warrior hero was robust enough to handle anything thrown at him.' The tagline was: 'Never forget: shoot or die'. Crash magazine described Turrican as 'one of the best Speccy games seen this year'. The long-running Sim series all started here with SimCity. Tom said: 'It's easy to forget that this game appeared on the Spectrum in a hugely ambitious port released by French company Infogrames. 'All of the classic options were there. 'As mayor, the player had to balance their communities between different zones, while having to keep citizens happy with reliable services. 'The game was just as addictive on the Speccy as it would be on other platforms.' The city management game cost £9.99 on release. Your Sinclair's magazine review stated that the game was 'beautifully simple in concept and hangs together perfectly.' Tom said Activision produced something quite original with Time Machine. The player takes on the role of an eccentric scientist who must 'manipulate history' through five different time zones. Tom said: 'Professor Potts is cast adrift in time, and his every decision can have vast implications – for instance, failure to safeguard a species of clever little mammals will mean that the human race never comes to evolve. 'The game certainly wowed the reviewers of the time, with Sinclair User noting that Time Machine was an absorbing and innovative game. 'It also highlighted its excellent mono graphics.' The game cost £9.99 on release. Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge was a highly playable racing game. There was even a two-player head-to-head mode to race against a friend. Tom said: 'It was a big hit on later systems so Spectrum owners may well have been surprised by how well the game translated to their computer. 'Gremlin Graphics were long-time veterans of the Speccy. 'The third-person perspective works well with smooth gameplay throughout. 'The racing retains the excitement of the game's more powerful versions.' Crash magazine said it was 'one of the best two-player car simulations around.' This puzzle game was heavily hyped by publisher US Gold. Tom said the game played 'like an inspired cross between Thrust and Asteroids'. He said: 'The player has control of a spaceship which must nudge spheres – each of them containing a shape – into each other with force and momentum. 'If the spheres contain identical shapes, they will disappear on impact, but if the shapes are different then smaller spheres will be produced which must also be dealt with. 'It may sound simple, but in execution it could be maddeningly difficult to master.' Crash magazine described E-Motion as 'frustratingly addictive'. And now for something completely different… Were you a fan of Monty Python's Flying Circus? Tom said: 'One of the most surprising game licenses of 1990 was an adaptation of the surreal 1960s sketch show that immortalised the dead parrot. 'Published by Virgin Software, the game was based on Terry Gilliam's bizarre animations – only now repurposed as a sideways-scrolling shoot 'em up.' Reviewers were as impressed as they were mystified. Sinclair User commented: 'There's enough gameplay to keep you engrossed even if you don't know what the hell's going on.' The Spectrum tape included a free Mr Gumby badge. Gremlin Graphics' famous mascot Monty Mole was back in 1990. This was the sixth title in the series. Monty was given a Hollywood-style makeover in this superhero-inspired platformer. He was faced with five different alien environments to tackle. The hapless mole had been called upon to save an alien planet from disaster. Hidden rooms were craftily positioned on each level. Sinclair User said: 'It offers a stiff challenge, full of colourful graphics.' Super Off-Road went down well with gamers at the time of its release. The game was published by Virgin Games. It was endorsed by professional off-road racer Ivan Stewart. Tom said: 'The arcade original had been a brightly-coloured affair. 'Meanwhile, the Spectrum version was monochromatic, making it occasionally difficult for players to keep track of their car. 'That said, the game was never less than fast-moving or addictive.' Your Sinclair agreed. They said it was 'the best super sprint-type game ever seen on the Speccy'. The Last Ninja series had a huge fan following on the 8-bit systems. Tom said System 3 Software produced something special with this Remix edition which was an updated version of Last Ninja 2 from 1988. He said: 'Using an isometric view, the player can employ ninja fighting skills against enemies, improvising weapons and gathering useful items as they go. 'With brilliant stylised backdrops and an atmospheric playing environment, this was a real treat to explore.' Crash said the game was a clever arcade adventure with appealing graphics. Rainbow Islands was a classic platform game. Players could fire rainbows that had multiple uses: to act as weapons, create makeshift platforms, or collect items to increase their score. Tom said: 'Arguably one of the most perfect arcade conversions ever released, Rainbow Islands first hit the coin-ops in 1987. 'Ocean Software brought it to the Speccy in 1990. 'The Spectrum version retained the large, colourful sprites of the original, along with flawless scrolling and excellent in-game music. 'The expansive multi-level worlds also carried over from the arcade version.' The game won several awards from the trade press at the time. 'Rainbow Islands was the kind of game that saved the best for last,' Tom said. 'It showed that the revered Speccy still had life left in it even at this late stage, which is why – even all these years down the line – retro gamers are still enjoying these titles.'
Economist
22-05-2025
- Business
- Economist
Hong Kong says goodbye to a capitalist crusader
David Webb was quick to get his hands on the ZX Spectrum or 'Speccy', a computer launched in 1982 with up to 48 kilobytes of memory and rubber keys. Before he turned 18, he had written a book, 'Supercharge Your Spectrum', showing how to get the most out of the contraption with his favourite machine-code tricks and techniques. What set him apart from other tinkerers was how he spent the royalties. He would cycle to his bank in Oxford to place an order in London for some shares. ('Which stock, young man, do you want to buy?')
BBC News
25-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
EFL Preview: Points win prizes in survival scrap
Nervous? Sweaty palms? Difficulty sleeping or concentrating? If you have any of these symptoms it's probably nothing serious to worry about, just the 'end-of-the-EFL-season-itis.'We say not to worry but only football fans will understand this is serious stuff and while promotion and success can be cheered for those brief summer months, the rest will be left to stew for those interminable days before we can do it all again in Jurgen Klopp once said, "football is the most important of the least important things" and right now there is a lot at are relegation and promotion issues to be sorted on this penultimate weekend but while same fates may well be sealed, it won't all be totally done and dusted so let's pick out some of the highlights. Tigers and Rams hunting survival A fixture computer can do many things - send you on a 300-mile round-trip on a bank holiday or hand you a big derby on your partner's birthday but what it cannot do is predict the when the EFL's ZX Spectrum chugged out Hull City v Derby County on the penultimate weekend of the season little did we know the importance of Leeds and Burnley pick over the bones of the exact order in which they will be promoted, the Tigers and the Rams are trying to avoid the gaze of the vultures circling the trapdoor to League teams have changed their managers - Ruben Selles has pulled Hull out of the relegation zone, John Eustace has Derby in the same position as when he started, namely out of the bottom three on goal difference. Both bosses waited three games for their first for Hull will assure them of Championship football next season while a win for Derby could move them within sight of another campaign of second-tier football."You play for the big games and this is a big game - it's what we're in the business for and the game is as big as it can be for a team fighting relegation," Selles told BBC Radio Humberside. Hatters have hope as Pilgrims and Bluebirds enter last chance saloon Without getting out slide-rules and taking-off shoes and socks to do the maths, the fact is Plymouth and Cardiff need to win this weekend or relegation could either be confirmed or be all-but mathematically decision by Plymouth to sack Wayne Rooney in December may have come too late. Such has been the improvement under Miron Muslic that had he been in charge five games earlier they would be virtually safe now based on could still survive but need to win at a Preston North End side whose own six-game winless streak means they are not yet thinking about their summer Cardiff pulled themselves six points clear of trouble at the end of February with a win over Hull City their trajectory seemed an upward one. But one win from their subsequent 10 games and a second managerial change means victory over managerless West Bromwich Albion is more a necessity than a the bottom three that leaves Luton Town who, with five wins from their past 10 games and only two defeats have found something but must hope it's not too late."We've been written off many times, which is fine," boss Matt Bloomfield told the BBC's EFL podcast 72+."Football is all about opinions, but to lead a life in football, resilience is a crucial characteristic, and every time you get knocked down, you have to pick yourselves up and keep fighting."They will need to come out fighting against Coventry who could book their play-off spot with a win at Kenilworth know if they better one of Luton or Derby's results in their game against a Sunderland team in the midst of play-off preparations then they can breathe easy. Title tensions and play-off pretenders Leeds and Burnley may have shared a glass or two of bubbles last weekend but the open-top bus parade is only pencilled-in as we await to see who gets to lift the Clarets can sneak ahead with at least a point against QPR on Saturday with Leeds hosting Bristol City on Monday (20:00 BST).The Robins may have the chance to secure their play-off place at Elland Road depending on results over the weekend but they are being chased hard by Millwall and a resurgent Blackburn Rovers in Lions and Rovers have both won three of their past four games to storm into the picture while Middlesbrough, who are still seventh, have lost three in the same period and, after Saturday's home game with Norwich have to visit sixth-placed Coventry on the final day (which could be a winner-takes-all game).Blackburn have to beat Watford to stay in the frame while Millwall are up against the division's in-form side, Swansea, who have won their past five games under Alan Sheehan."I'm aware of the league table but the simple fact is nothing changes, we need to win our next game," Lions boss Alex Neil told BBC Radio United's week to forget ends at Stoke City on Friday night. Promotion door ajar for Jones' juggernaut For many weeks Wrexham and Wycombe have been jostling for League One's second place behind champions Birmingham, but while they have stumbled Charlton Athletic have quietly been gathering points to secure what we all thought would be a play-off spot at wins from 10 games later, coupled with Monday's 4-0 humbling of Wycombe and suddenly Nathan Jones' side are eyeing automatic for us, but maybe not for Wrexham, the Addicks are in North Wales on Saturday (17:30 BST) where a win would move them within a point of their opponents but could also hand second place back to Wycombe if they can win at Leyton Orient earlier - you're keeping up with this right?"All we do is take a game as it comes," said Jones. "We are not looking at the play-offs, we are not looking at Burton at home on the final game."It's a bumper game, we have to go to the circus and see what we can get."Meanwhile, if Orient beat Wycombe they could all but safeguard a top-six finish if Reading foul-up at relegation-threatened Bristol Rovers who have managed one point from their past eight United will fall into League Two if they fail to win at Burton Albion as will Crawley Town if they lose to Northampton and the Brewers take three points. Champions crowned and Carlisle doomed? After Walsall surrendered a 12-point lead, League Two had looked like the promotion race no-one wanted to win with the leadership changing hands on a weekly on Saturday we could have all three automatic promotion places filled, the champions crowned or, well, none of the Rovers will go up if they beat Bradford City in the battle of first against third and they would also win the title if Port Vale lose at fifth-placed AFC Wimbledon."We all know what's at stake for both teams, you know what it means but then you need to refocus your mind and do your job," Bradford manager Graham Alexander told BBC Radio Leeds. A Bradford win and at least a draw for Vale would leave Walsall needing a point as the bare minimum against Accrington to keep alive their fading hopes of a top-three Notts County at Harrogate and Grimsby visiting MK Dons the meeting between Salford and Colchester could knock one or both of the latter out of the play-off reckoning while Chesterfield need to beat relegated Morecambe to stay in the could be joining Morecambe in exiting the EFL if they fail to win at Cheltenham and even then a Tranmere victory over Crewe would consign the Cumbrians to non-league football."We can't have any regrets, if we're not good enough to stay up we'll know in a short time but I believe there's a lot of quality here and we've still got a chance in the next two games," Carlisle boss Mark Hughes told BBC Radio of joy and tears of sadness could be flowing around the country come five o'clock on Saturday.
Scotsman
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Every James Bond Video Game 2025: Here are all 24 games in the official 007 gaming universe
It has been over three years since the release of Daniel Craig's final outing as James Bond in 'No Time To Die' - with the actor confirming that he was hanging up his tux. There have been no shortage of video games released based on the adventures of James Bond | Contributed He's the seventh actor to have played the spy in the official films, following Sean Connery , George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan. There have also been no shortage of rumours as to the plot, the rest of the cast and who will be behind the camera for 'Bond 26', but there are also plenty of speculation about a new James Bond video game which was announced in 2020, currently simply entitled 'Project 007'. It will be the first time that the spy has been brought to games consoles since 2012's disappointing '007 Legends', the last in a rich history of Bond video games. Here are all 24 released to date - from the ZX Spectrum to the Xbox 360. 1 . James Bond 007 (1984) The first official game based on the adventures of Britain's most famous spy was 1984's 'James Bond 007', released for the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit computers, Commodore 64, and ColecoVision. It's based on missions from a variety of Bond films - namely 'Diamonds are Forever', 'The Spy Who Loved Me', 'Moonraker' and 'For Your Eyes Only'. It's a horizontally-scrolling shooter which sees the player pilot a multi-purpose vehicle being attacked by the likes of boats, frogmen, helicopters, and submarines. | Contributed Photo Sales 2 . A View to a Kill: The Computer Game (1985) The next 8-bit outing for Bond was 1985's 'A View to a Kill: The Computer Game', available on the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MSX, and Oric. Split into three levels based on the plot of the film, players has to speed through Paris in a commandeered taxi, escape from a blaze in San Francisco City Hall and collect code numbers to stop a bomb from exploding. Another lesser-known text-based game based on the same film was released for MS-DOS, Macintosh, and Apple II was released in the same year. | Contributed Photo Sales 3 . Goldfinger (1986) Another text-based Bond Game for MS-DOS, Apple II, and Macintosh was released in 1986 - 'Goldfinger'. Very loosely-based on the film of the same name, it sees players challenged to make the right decisions to make their way to the end - doing nothing other than typing in commands. | Contributed Photo Sales 4 . The Living Daylights: The Computer Game (1987) Released on the Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Atari 8-bit, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, MSX, and ZX Spectrum, The Living Daylights was a a side-scrolling action game. It starts with a training mission in Gibraltar, before then assists General Koskov's defection to the West, rescues a girl, fights off a selection of evil henchmen, and takes on an evil weapons dealer. A later version made use of the ZX Spectrum's newly-released light gun. | Contributed Photo Sales
