Revived ZX Spectrum gaming console dropped from crowdfunding site, but makers promise to deliver

The Spectrum ZX Vega+ has been ditched from crowdfunding site Indiegogo despite raising more than £500,000.

The retro handheld games console is an updated version of the classic ZX Spectrum and was built to enable gems to play retro 80s games while on the go.

Backed by Sir Clive Sinclair, the brains behind the original ZX Spectrum, the new device was originally due to ship in September 2016 and was later pushed back to October.

This date was later delayed again to February 2017, before the device was dropped from Indiegogo following delays and an apparent lack of communication with customers.

Retro Computers, the maker of the new console asked the BBC from holding off from reporting on the development, citing a “credible threat of violence against personnel”, though it eventually published its story this week.

In the meantime, disgruntled backers have expressed their anger over the delays.

A statement posted today reveals the extent of the company’s legal battles, outlining a dispute with its former sales agent, Cornerstone Media.

Despite the dispute, the company hopes to complete the project and deliver the Vega+ to its backers.

“We hope that our Indiegogo backers and others, who have been frustrated by the delays in this project, will now understand some of the problems under which our company has been labouring since last April, said David Levy, Chairman of Retro Computers.

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“But despite these slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, we are as determined as ever to complete the Vega+ and deliver to all our backers and to retail customers a truly great product”.

In 2015, the company successfully delivered a similar crowd-funded product – the Sinclair ZX Spectrum Vega.