World of Spectrum
Encyclopedia
World of Spectrum is a website devoted to cataloging and archiving material for the ZX Spectrum
home computer popular in the 1980s, and has been officially endorsed by Amstrad
which holds the rights to the ZX Spectrum brand. It was started by Martijn van der Heide in 1995 as a website dedicated to hosting Spectrum games, but grew into hosting anything and everything that was remotely connected to the ZX Spectrum.
The site contains an extensive database of information about games, utilities, books, hardware, magazines, adverts and relevant companies. In December 2005 Retro Gamer
wrote "World of Spectrum is not just the best Speccy site on the Web, but arguably the best retro resource full stop." From the FAQ: "'The WoS is the world's biggest and most popular archive of Spectrum related material." As of March 2010, that catalogue includes 22,000 software titles, 940 hardware items, 1,360 books and more than 350,000 references, which can be accessed using a custom built search engine Sinclair Infoseek. The collection of Spectrum related magazines includes CRASH
, Sinclair User
, and Your Sinclair
, scanned page-by-page.
One of the website's goals is to obtain distribution permission from copyright holders of the software kept in its archives, and has received hundreds of permissions to date. In 2003 the Interactive Digital Software Association filed a complaint against the site for copyright infringement, but this was later retracted.
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
home computer popular in the 1980s, and has been officially endorsed by Amstrad
Amstrad
Amstrad is a British electronics company, now wholly owned by BSkyB. As of 2006, Amstrad's main business is manufacturing Sky Digital interactive boxes....
which holds the rights to the ZX Spectrum brand. It was started by Martijn van der Heide in 1995 as a website dedicated to hosting Spectrum games, but grew into hosting anything and everything that was remotely connected to the ZX Spectrum.
The site contains an extensive database of information about games, utilities, books, hardware, magazines, adverts and relevant companies. In December 2005 Retro Gamer
Retro Gamer
Retro Gamer is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Although launched as a quarterly publication, Retro Gamers soon became a monthly...
wrote "World of Spectrum is not just the best Speccy site on the Web, but arguably the best retro resource full stop." From the FAQ: "'The WoS is the world's biggest and most popular archive of Spectrum related material." As of March 2010, that catalogue includes 22,000 software titles, 940 hardware items, 1,360 books and more than 350,000 references, which can be accessed using a custom built search engine Sinclair Infoseek. The collection of Spectrum related magazines includes CRASH
CRASH (magazine)
Crash was a magazine dedicated to the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was published from 1984 to 1991 by Newsfield Publications Ltd until their liquidation, and then until 1992 by Europress.-Development:...
, Sinclair User
Sinclair User
Sinclair User, often abbreviated SU, was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of home computers, most specifically the ZX Spectrum...
, and Your Sinclair
Your Sinclair
Your Sinclair or YS as it was commonly abbreviated, was a British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum.-History:...
, scanned page-by-page.
One of the website's goals is to obtain distribution permission from copyright holders of the software kept in its archives, and has received hundreds of permissions to date. In 2003 the Interactive Digital Software Association filed a complaint against the site for copyright infringement, but this was later retracted.