RETRO
111111116666 JJAANNUUAARRYY^2202200 |COMPUTERSHOPPER|IISSSUUEE^38833
despiteapassionateuserbasedesperate to
keep the computer alive.Overall, more than
350 games, apps and hardware products
would be developed.
THE SAMREVIVAL
To allowSugar to concentrateonthe
marketing and software side,and give Gordon
the space to look after manufacturing and
technical issues, SAM Computers was split
intotwo.SAM Computers –orSAMCo as it
was known –dealt with the former,and SAM
Technology the latter.
On 28th July 1992, however,SAMCo was
wound up,and once again the SAM Coupé’s
future was up in the air.Its stock ended up
being bought by West Coast
Computers four months
later,and the name of the
computer was altered to
SAM Élite.
It now came with 512K of
memory as standard, as well
as afloppydrive,aparallel
printer interface,amodified
ROM, achange from blue to
black feet and an external
power supply unit. They
were made available fora
fewmore years.
As with many retro
machines, enthusiasts then
largely took over.Infact,
Piggot only bought his first
SAM Coupé in 1993 using his
student grant. He recalls
most of the support forthe
computer being small
businesses started
specifically to cater forthe SAM and lone
individuals who were the backbone of the
scene as ‘bedroom coders’.
“Within three weeks of having my SAM,
Ihad my first game published via adisk
magazine,with several utilities appearing in the
following months and one utility published via
adedicated SAM publishing house,” he says.
Gomezsaysitusesascrolling
techniquethattakesadvantage
ofarchitecturecapabilitiesthat
werenotofficiallydocumented.
“Webelievethatnot
documentingthemachinewell
wasoneofAmstrad’sbiggest
mistakes,butithasleftamuch
richerandmoresurprising
storythanthatofother
platforms,”hecontinues.
“It’struethatanyonecould
lookinside,seeitscomponents
and,hopefully,findthe
datasheets,butitlackedthe
overallimageofhowchipscould
beusedwitheachotherto
achieveincredibletechniques.
It’spossiblethat[Alan]Sugar’s
ownteamwasunawareofthe
possibilitiesofthehard
theyhaddesignedinits
truedimension.”
Thegamewouldhav
beenreleasedsometim
ago,butthegrouphad
beentryingtosecurean
officiallicencefrom
rights-holdersRebellion.Dueto
abreakdownincommunication,
itproveddifficult,sothegame
hasbeenreleasedunofficiallyfor
free.Itcanbedownloadedfrom
t.co/nAQuShB8A1andit’sbest
enjoyedonanoriginalmachine.
ATARIVCSTEAMSUP
WITHANTSTREAM
Althoughthecurrentattempt
to bringAtaribackintothe
consolemarketisnotquite
settingtheworldalight,the
forthcomingAtariVCSwillat
leastgrantgamersaccesstoa
hugerosterofretrotitles.
Thecompanyhasstrucka
dealwiththegame-streaming
serviceAntstream,allowing
CLASSICAMIGA
PINBALLGAME PINGS
ONTO CPC
OriginallycreatedbyDigital
IllusionsfortheCommodore
Amigain1992,thesimulation
gamePinballDreamshas
finallymadeitswaytothe
AmstradCPC.Indoingso,it
hasnudgedawaynaysayers
whoclaimedthecomputer
wasn’tcapableofsmooth-
scrollinggames,withafaithful
versionthatincludesfour
tables–Ignition,SteelWheel,
BeatBoxandNightmare–and
amazing8-bitsound.
Thegamehasbeenalabour
oflovebytheacclaimedBatman
Group,whichrosetoprominence
withajaw-droppingdemocalled
BatmanForeverthattestedand
pushedtheAmstrad’sabilities.
“Peopleweresayingthe
techniquesappliedinBatman
Forevercouldn’tbeappliedin
games,”groupmemberAlejandro
delCampoGomeztellsus.Pinball
Dreamsprovesotherwise.
“It’saverydemandinggame,
graphically,musicallyand
technicallyduetophysicsand
thesmooth-scroll.Sincethe
gamehadtorunat50frames
persecond,wethoughtitwas
agoodwaytoshowthatthe
Amstradcanrungamesthat
other8-bitcomputers
cannot,”headds.
dware
s
ve
me
, g
playerstoenjoyhundredsof
titlesmadeforothersystems
⬅TheartpackageFlash!came
withtheSAMCoupéandcould
beusedwithamouse
