Spectrum Computing

Pixel Jockey (Paul McLarnon) has launched The Horace Collection on Kickstarter.



I don’t really need or want the tapes but those pin badges are extremely cute!

I think this is expecting a lot. And what, no official multi-game ROM cartridge version?

At least it's not ridiculously over-priced, but I don't really get the appeal. I know there was one of those pathetic spoil-someone's-day-out-of-sheer-spite hoo-hahs within recent memory, but a bit of poking something into the public eye for a bit is still never going to actually make some pretty terrible games play any better.

Yeah, despite the cool on-tape printing and box art, personally for collection purposes I'd personally prefer owning the original tapes (they're not exactly hard to get).

The pin badges look cool, and you can never have enough Speccy-themed mugs . Mind you, I'd probably expect to find this sort of stuff on an online shopping site like Etsy or Redbubble (where there's hoards of fan stuff like this) rather than being a Kickstarter, but good luck to the campaign anyway.

I'm not sure I like the look the actual cassettes at all.

Though another thumbs up for the pin badges.

Given you can pick up all 3 original tapes on one of the FB sites & get change for a fiver, I really don't see the appeal at all.

The "copyright holder" would've been better getting one of the many homebrew boffins to come up with an original game & based the Kickstarter around that, rather than putting out the same auld stuff in a new box & a tacky mug.

Hi Everyone, it's Paul here from Pixel Jockey

It's good to see people showing interest in our campaign, please feel free to ask me any question you might have regarding the project and i'll answer them as best I can!

Horace And The 10 Foot Bargepole

Acting as Horace, you have to cross a busy road probably once used by a giant frog, to pick up a 10-foot bargepole. Once you are armed with it, navigate your way through a maze where cassettes from an ethically dubious 'IP rights holder' are floating about. You mustn't let the cassettes come near you and even though you're armed with a 10 foot bargepole, you mustn't even touch them with it. Yes, the maze concept does seem a bit familiar to anyone who has controlled a hungry yellow sphere. Once you're out of the maze, pop into Gargamel's Castle, I mean, just a generic spooky castle and confront a Luton-based Voldemort clone with questions about his assertions to certain intellectual property rights that seem very off-colour.

It's not a mullet, allright?

Nice collection, and clearly a work of love. Though perhaps the project might have felt a little more justified if there were some new game content on offer, even just something tokenistic?

An idea that comes to mind is you could make a single 48k cassette release featuring all three small games, accessible via a main menu. Someone could make a pretty new title screen for it. If there's room you could even add an optional AY music to give it a fresh new twist. For example, a quick little tune I made for the first game.

The campaign has ended (congratulations on your successful funding @Pixel Jockey).

I see the items can be separately pre-ordered from the Pixel Jockey shop, so if you fancy a wee set of pinbadges that's now a standalone option (£11.99)