JJAANNUUAARRYY 2202200 |COMPUTERSHOPPER|IISSSUUEE 38833
E
ven now,30years after it was launched,
enthusiasts bristle when arelatively
little-known 8-bit machine is
compared to that former giant of British
computing, the ZX Spectrum.
Thanks to its ability to playgames made for
Sinclair’s finest work, the SAM Coupé is often
dubbed asuper clone or,justasoffensively,a
Super Spectrum. Those who love the machine
insist such names are agreat disservice.
“It’s unfortunatethat the moniker of ‘Super
Spectrum’still lives on to this day,”laments
Colin Piggot, editor ofSAM Revivalfanzine,
and akeen developer of softwareand
hardware forthe machine.
Yetits maker,Miles Gordon Technology
(MGT), did little to discourage such talk ahead
of its launch, with adverts targeting Speccy
users that promoted alevel of compatibility
aimedatgettingthem to upgrade.
In many ways, it was inevitable that MGT
would end up treading this path. The two men
behind the company –Alan Miles and Bruce
Gordon –were former employees of Sinclair
Research, having leftin1986 when Amstrad
bought the rights to the Spectrum.
They’d also initially used MGT to produce
Spectrum peripherals such as joystick
interfaces, monitor leads and the DISCiPLE
floppydisk drive, before turning their attention
to developing acomputer of their own.
COUPÉ COPY
In order to ensure an immediate
supply of software,theydecided
one of the SAM Coupé’s four video
modes should mimic the ZX
Spectrum’s display, allowing for
the use of two colours in any of
the 32x24 character cells and
the ability to select 16 colours
from apaletteof128.
Theidea was that thousands of Spectrum
games and applications could be used on the
new computer,but while it was hoped that
this would make foranirresistible upgrade
path foranyone who had amassed asolid
catalogue of Speccy titles, the decision hung
heavy around SAM’s neck.
“Despitethe farsuperior specifications,
magazines and the press focusedon
backwards compatibility with the ZX
Spectrum in the run-up to the launch,
relegating the true capabilities of the SAM
Coupé as mere side notes,”Piggot adds.
Indeed theydid.Crashmagazine in
arch 1988 –apublication dedicated
othe Speccy –had an article about
hemachine headlined ‘Beyond the
pectrum –asuperclone takes
shape’.Sinclair Usercalled it a
111111112222
Playitagain,SAM
TheSAMCoupéwasan8-bitcomputerwith16-bitambitionsbut,despitebeing
able toemulatethe ZXSpectrum,userssteeredclear,asDavidCrookesexplains
⬆According to Alan Miles, SAM means Some
Amazing Micro and Coupé refers to the sports-car
look of themachine,but with feet instead of wheels
Ind
Ma
to
th
S
⬅Shopper’s very own Mel Croucher
devised the computer’s mascot, SAM,
and it was drawn by our cartoonist
RobinEvans
