The ZX Spectrum Next - Kickstarter Now Live! : Now Funded!

[Lorfarius]

On 29/01/2022 at 12:59, AceGrace said:

I've still got my Next. I upgraded it to add the RTC, RAM etc.. but it has been sitting in its box for about a year.  Just don't get the time at the moment but I am glad I have it.

 

Do you have any of the newer games? Was wasting some time at work today and starting browsing Twitter for a few:

 

 

Then I start browsing eBay and thinking they can't be much past £500 by now.. one knocking around for over £800  There is the N-Go Next clone if anyone wants a cheaper equivalent for around £250. I'm cheating and using a Pi400 image I foound on the web, not perfect but lets you have a poke around the library and see it in action.

[AceGrace]

I haven't bought any of the Next specfic games yet but I did buy the music maker one. I forget what it is called.

[Camel]

NextDAW. I still need to get that. Have you used it much?

[BongoInferno]

The communication around delivery of the Next 2 on Kickstarter sucks. 

 

The last update was on Jan 17th. It's pretty standard for the project team to maintain radio silence for months on end. Their approach seems to be to info dump when they have finally managed to collate updates on as many aspects of their project as they can.

 

I don't understand why they don't commit to monthly updates, even if there is not much to say. Maybe its lack of experience.

 

The comments section is full of people fawning over the project team along the lines of 'oh it must be so hard for you all and we just have to be patient'. I mean yeah, of course its hard but that doesn't mean the Next team should skip keeping their backers regularly updated and informed.

 

I am not very confident that they are going to get this over the line.

 

 

[Lorfarius]

2 hours ago, BongoInferno said:

The communication around delivery of the Next 2 on Kickstarter sucks. 

 

The last update was on Jan 17th. It's pretty standard for the project team to maintain radio silence for months on end. Their approach seems to be to info dump when they have finally managed to collate updates on as many aspects of their project as they can.

 

I don't understand why they don't commit to monthly updates, even if there is not much to say. Maybe its lack of experience.

 

The comments section is full of people fawning over the project team along the lines of 'oh it must be so hard for you all and we just have to be patient'. I mean yeah, of course its hard but that doesn't mean the Next team should skip keeping their backers regularly updated and informed.

 

I am not very confident that they are going to get this over the line.

 

 

Its not lack of experience, it was a mess with the last KS and that went on for aaggeesss before anything turned up. They did deliver before so it will turn up, just have to cope with how crap they are at it sadly. It will be late again and miss more dates.

[AceGrace]

11 hours ago, Camel said:

NextDAW. I still need to get that. Have you used it much?

 

Not really no 😞

[Camel]

I’ve just ordered it so I can also not really use it.

[uglifruit]

On 11/03/2022 at 21:06, Camel said:

I’ve just ordered it so I can also not really use it.

I have hardly used my Next Daw either.

Welcome to the club.

[Swainy]

I’ve not got my head around Next Daw either.

 

Thought this sounded really good:

 

 

[Lorfarius]

A text adventure with fancy Next graphics has been released. Looks quite good and is only £8.95:

 

[gunrock]

Looks both lush and retro at the same time. Almost like what the artwork on tape inlays and disks in the 1980s led us to believe were contained within.

 

Edit: I would totally buy this if I had a Next. I foolishly passed up on one at a reasonable price recently. 

[Protocol Penguin]

 

Vega Mk II, anyone?

[redballoon]

Nah.

[DeciderVT]

Hardly, they already delivered the first Next. The supply chain issues are very real.

[Lorfarius]

They have promised June 2023 so 3 years isn't too bad. I backed an electric mechanised chess set (plays against you and moves the pieces!) a few years back around the same time as this and that has had similar issues but they've been shipping them this year to backers. Shortages for chips etc. were the reason and fair play to them, Covid is still causing massive issues across the world. 

[cubik]

There's a mad conspiracy theory that they're leaving it in the bank to rake in $$$$ interest when in reality it's just shrinking in value as inflation goes crazy.

 

Sadly, supply chain issues are a genuine issue and have been for a couple of years now, especially with semiconductors. Something like this will be stuck in a queue with massive companies like Ford, GM and Tesla in it so they'll be very low priority for the chip makers.

[Rex Grossman]

Suffering because of what happened with the Vega.

[Swainy]

In the meantime, have a listen to this rather nice version of the Midnight Resistance tune on the Next.

 

 

[Camel]

On 25/06/2022 at 13:30, Protocol Penguin said:

 

Vega Mk II, anyone?

The lol Vega scoffing went so well last time round.

[Protocol Penguin]

6 minutes ago, Camel said:

The lol Vega scoffing went so well last time round.

Lots of people were left without a sheet of grease proof paper (sorry, “ethical packaging”) to cry into with the Vega.

[Camel]

I’m talking about comparisons between the first Next release and the Vega.

[AceGrace]

I just ordered the Spectrum N-Go.

I already have a Spectrum Next issue 1 (in a cupboard somewhere) but I can't really get on with the keyboard.

The N-GO by Manuel Fernandez has a really nice Gateron black keyboard so will be much nicer to code on.

[roberthazelby]

It makes me sad reading posts where people say their Nexts are sat in their boxes. Mine has been permanently set up since it arrived.

 

I love the ease of accessing the Spectrum back catalogue, tinkering with Next utils such as Next Launcher and playing Next games such as Delta’s Shadow and Treasure Hunters.

 

 I’m still puzzled as to why the same hardware designs weren’t used for the second Kickstarter though. 

[Swainy]

7 hours ago, roberthazelby said:

 I’m still puzzled as to why the same hardware designs weren’t used for the second Kickstarter though. 

 I think that it’s this video that explains the things that the team were not happy with first Kickstarters version:

 

 

[AceGrace]

18 hours ago, roberthazelby said:

It makes me sad reading posts where people say their Nexts are sat in their boxes. Mine has been permanently set up since it arrived.

 

I love the ease of accessing the Spectrum back catalogue, tinkering with Next utils such as Next Launcher and playing Next games such as Delta’s Shadow and Treasure Hunters.

 

 I’m still puzzled as to why the same hardware designs weren’t used for the second Kickstarter though. 

 

For me, it is a question of space. I only have a small desk so can only set up things temporarily.

[DeciderVT]

The N-Go in a new 48K case looks lovely, much better than the actual Next. Seems odd that a clone could be so readily available while the Next itself is in short supply. What's the catch? Smaller audience? The Next needing a bespoke case?

[Swainy]

21 minutes ago, DeciderVT said:

The N-Go in a new 48K case looks lovely, much better than the actual Next. Seems odd that a clone could be so readily available while the Next itself is in short supply. What's the catch? Smaller audience? The Next needing a bespoke case?

The N-Go is based on the original Spectrum Next as far as I know where the second version uses a different FPGA which has a much longer lead time. See that video that I posted above.

[ulala]

55 minutes ago, Swainy said:

The N-Go is based on the original Spectrum Next as far as I know where the second version uses a different FPGA which has a much longer lead time. See that video that I posted above.

 

didnt they say that the old fpga couldnt be sourced, thats why they had to change?

 

how does this new thing use it then?

[Swainy]

9 minutes ago, ulala said:

 

didnt they say that the old fpga couldnt be sourced, thats why they had to change?

 

how does this new thing use it then?

I’m guessing that whoever is behind the N-Go managed to get their hands on a number of FPGA boards before covid and the chip shortage. I doubt if they have as many orders as the second Next Kickstarter and it could well be that once they run out of the FPGA board that they are using, they won’t be able to make any more. Again, this is only guess work on my part.

[AceGrace]

Mine has been shipped (N-GO) and is on its way.