One nibble of such a byte then controlled the foreground color, and the other nibble controlled the background color, a system very similar to the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, in fact in the 256x192 mode the display mode was virtually identical to the video of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum.

It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and the German-speaking parts of Europe.

The Jupiter ACE was new to the market and the designers couldn't afford to use an uncommitted logic array ( ULA ), a design approach then gaining popularity in other computers ( such as the ZX 81 ) to reduce component count, because these weren't economical in small quantities.

The Sinclair ZX Spectrum version of R-Type was awarded 9 / 10 in the January 1989 issue of Your Sinclair

The Sinclair QL ( for Quantum Leap ), was a personal computer launched by Sinclair Research in 1984, as the successor to the Sinclair ZX Spectrum.

Physically, the QL was the same black colour as the preceding ZX81 and Sinclair ZX Spectrum models, but introduced a new angular styling theme and keyboard design which would later be seen in the ZX Spectrum +.

Apart from its reliability issues, the target business market was becoming wedded to the IBM PC platform, whilst the majority of ZX Spectrum owners were uninterested in upgrading to a machine which had a minimal library of games.

The same slot bus was continued on the ZX81, and later the ZX Spectrum, which encouraged a small cottage industry of expansion devices, including memory ( Sinclair produced RAM expansion packs for the ZX80: the original ZX80 RAM Pack held either 1, 2 or 3 KB of static RAM ; a later model held 16 KB, using dynamic RAM chips ( DRAM )), printers, and even floppy drives.

Referred to during development as the ZX81 Colour and ZX82, the machine was launched as the ZX Spectrum by Sinclair to highlight the machine's colour display, compared with the black-and-white of its predecessor, the ZX81.

The Spectrum was ultimately released as eight different models, ranging from the entry level model with 16 kB RAM released in 1982 to the ZX Spectrum + 3 with 128 kB RAM and built in floppy disk drive in 1987 ; together they sold in excess of 5 million units worldwide ( not counting numerous clones ).

The ZX Spectrum character set was expanded from that of the ZX81, which did not feature lower-case letters.

A last minute bug in the ULA as designed meant that the keyboard did not always scan correctly, which was rectified by a " dead cockroach " ( a small circuit board mounted upside down next to the CPU ) for " Issue 1 " ZX Spectrums.

Planning of the ZX Spectrum + started in June 1984, and the machine was released in October the same year.

The appearance of the ZX Spectrum 128 was similar to the ZX Spectrum +, with the exception of a large external heatsink for the internal 7805 voltage regulator added to the right hand end of the case, replacing the internal heatsink in previous versions.

The ZX Spectrum + 2 was Amstrad's first Spectrum, coming shortly after their purchase of the Spectrum range and " Sinclair " brand in 1986.

The machine featured an all-new grey case featuring a spring-loaded keyboard, dual joystick ports, and a built-in cassette recorder dubbed the " Datacorder " ( like the Amstrad CPC 464 ), but was in most respects identical to the ZX Spectrum 128.

This was not a major issue however, as the + 2 boasted a menu system, almost identical to the ZX Spectrum 128, where one could switch between 48k BASIC programming with the keywords, and 128k BASIC programming in which all words ( keywords and otherwise ) must be typed out in full ( although the keywords are still stored internally as one character each ).

The ZX Spectrum + 2 power supply was a grey version of the ZX Spectrum + and 128 power supply.

The ZX Spectrum + 2A was a variant of the Spectrum + 3 housed a black version of the Spectrum + 2 case mouldings.

The ZX Spectrum + 3 looked similar to the + 2 but featured a built-in 3-inch floppy disk drive ( like the Amstrad CPC 6128 ) instead of the tape drive, and was in a black case.

The ZX Interface 1 was incompatible due to differences in ROM and expansion connector ; therefore it was not possible to connect and use the Microdrive units.

The introduction of the ZX Spectrum led to a boom in companies producing software and hardware for the machine, the effects of which are still seen ; some credit it as the machine which launched the UK IT industry.

During the mid-1980s, Telemap Group Ltd launched a fee-based service allowing users to connect their ZX Spectrums via a Prism Micro Products VTX5000 modem to a viewdata service known as Micronet 800, hosted by Prestel.

Amstrad launched two new variants of the Spectrum: the ZX Spectrum + 2, based on the ZX Spectrum 128, with a built-in tape drive ( like the CPC 464 ) and, the following year, the ZX Spectrum + 3, with a built-in floppy disk drive ( similar to the CPC 664 and 6128 ), taking the 3 " disks that many Amstrad machines used.

In April the ZX Spectrum was launched at £ 125 for the 16 KB RAM version and £ 175 for the 48 kB version.

By, computers such as the BBC Micro, Atari XL, Commodore 64 and Sinclair ZX Spectrum had launched in Europe and were selling extremely well there, dominating the European games market and growing throughout and.

MGT, Miles Gordon Technology, plc., which originally produced add-ons for the ZX Spectrum, launched the SAM Coupé ( very ) late in 1989, missing the Christmas sales.

In spite of this, it was not a commercial success because it was launched too late when the ZX 81 / TS1000's successors, the ZX Spectrum / TS2068, were already available and the home computer market in general was dominated by Commodore, Atari and Apple.

A peripheral from Sinclair Research for its ZX Spectrum home computer, the ZX Interface 1 was launched in 1983.

The UK home computer market was launched with the 1982 introduction of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum.

The ZX Microdrive was a magnetic tape data storage system launched in July 1983 by Sinclair Research for its ZX Spectrum home computer.

Later, in March 1985, the ZX Spectrum Expansion System was launched for £ 99. 95.

With hindsight, the machine lacked the RAM ( a typical program would need to fit in only around 20 kB once display memory is subtracted ) and processing power to take on the prevailing Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64.

Garfield: Big Fat Hairy Deal is a 1987 video game for the Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and the Amiga based on the comic strip.

Both had been on the design team for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum.

* Lojix on the ZX Spectrum is clearly derived from pentomino, though it uses a non-standard set of 20 blocks and a 10 * 10 box.

Two built-in ZX Microdrive tape-loop cartridge drives provided mass storage, in place of the more expensive floppy disk drives found on similar systems of the era.

Investrónica had helped adapt the ZX Spectrum + to the Spanish market after the Spanish government introduced a special tax on all computers with 64 kB RAM or less, and a law which obliged all computers sold in Spain to support the Spanish alphabet and show messages in Spanish.

Several peripherals for the Spectrum were marketed by Sinclair: the ZX Printer was already on the market, as the ZX Spectrum expansion bus was backwards-compatible with that of the ZX81.

The ZX Spectrum + 3 enjoyed much more success when it came to commercial software releases on floppy disk.

The ZX Spectrum enjoyed a very strong community early on.

A number of notable games developers and development companies began their careers on the ZX Spectrum, including David Perry of Shiny Entertainment, and Tim and Chris Stamper ( founders of Ultimate Play The Game, now known as Rare, maker of many titles for Nintendo and Microsoft game consoles ).

* Page on site VRCP Soft for ZX Spectrum

2000AD video games for 8-bit computers include games based on Strontium Dog by Quicksilva for the ZX Spectrum in 1984, Nemesis the Warlock and Sláine bu Martech in 1987, Rogue Trooper written by Design Design / published by Piranha in 1986 and Judge Dredd by Virgin Games in 1990, all released for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum platforms.

Melbourne House also released a Judge Dredd game on the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum in 1987.

Brennan initially worked for Sinclair Research where he designed the digital electronics and software in ZX Interface 1 before going on to found Flare with ex-Sinclair colleagues John Mathieson and Ben Cheese.

It was related to the Loki project they had worked on previously at Sinclair Research, which in turn was derived from the ZX Spectrum home computer.

In the United Kingdom, the genre's beginning can be traced to Stonkers by John Gibson, published in 1983 by Imagine Software for the ZX Spectrum, and Nether Earth published on ZX Spectrum in 1987.

* Attribute clash, a color graphics artifact predominately on the ZX Spectrum

These first appeared on ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC games that were distributed around the world via Bulletin Board Systems ( BBSes ) and floppy disk copying.