The ZX Interface 2 is a
peripheral
A peripheral or peripheral device is an auxiliary device used to put information into and get information out of a computer. The term ''peripheral device'' refers to all hardware components that are attached to a computer and are controlled by th ...
from
Sinclair Research
Sinclair Research Ltd is a British consumer electronics company founded by Clive Sinclair in Cambridge. It was originally incorporated in 1973 as Westminster Mail Order Ltd, renamed Sinclair Instrument Ltd, then Science of Cambridge Ltd, the ...
for its
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer.
Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...
home computer released in September 1983. It has two
joystick
A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. A joystick, also known as the control column, is the principal cont ...
ports and a
ROM cartridge
A ROM cartridge, usually referred to in context simply as a cartridge, cart, or card, is a replaceable part designed to be connected to a consumer electronics device such as a home computer, video game console or, to a lesser extent, electron ...
slot, which offers instant loading times. The joystick ports are not compatible with the popular
Kempston interface, and thus do not work with most Spectrum games released prior to the launch of the ZX Interface 2. In addition, the pass-through expansion bus provided was stripped, only allowing a
ZX Printer to be attached.
Released titles
Availability of cartridge software is very limited: The cost was almost twice as much as the same game on
cassette tape, and each cartridge can only hold 16
KiB, making it almost immediately obsolete as the majority of Spectrums sold were 48K-models, which the software publishers targeted.
Only ten games were commercially released:
# ''
Jetpac
''Jetpac'' is a shooter video game developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game and released for the ZX Spectrum and VIC-20 in 1983 and the BBC Micro in 1984. It is the first game to be released by Ultimate Play the Game, the company which ...
''
# ''
PSSST''
# ''
Cookie
A cookie is a baked or cooked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, ...
''
# ''
Tranz Am''
# ''Chess''
# ''Backgammon''
# ''
Hungry Horace''
# ''
Horace and the Spiders''
# ''Planetoids''
# ''Space Raiders''
Paul Farrow has demonstrated that it is possible to produce custom ROM cartridges, including the ability to exceed the 16
KiB design limitation of the ROM cartridges.
Joystick ports
The interface two comes with two joystick ports that (unlike the
Kempston
Kempston is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. It had a population of 19,330 in the 2011 census. Kempston is part of Bedford's built-up area and is situated directly south-west of Bedford proper. The River ...
which used the IN31 command) are mapped to actual key presses. Player 1 is mapped to – and player 2 is mapped to –. This initially seemed at odds with Sinclair's own keyboard layout, given that the keyboard itself has the cursor keys mapped to – with typically being used by games as a fire button. Joystick interfaces that mapped to the cursor keys are available, but like the popular Kempston interface they are limited to supporting a single joystick only. It is the twin joystick feature of the ZX Interface 2 that turned out to be its major selling point.
"Sinclair talks...", CRASH magazine, Issue 3, April 1984
/ref>
See also
*ZX Interface 1 ZX may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Kamen Rider ZX (pronounced "Zed-Cross"), the tenth fictional superhero in the "Kamen Rider" franchise
* ''Mega Man ZX'', a video game for the Nintendo DS
* '' ZX Tunes'', remastered soundtracks of the "M ...
— a peripheral with ports for ZX Microdrive
ZX Microdrive unit
The ZX Microdrive is a magnetic-tape data storage system launched in July 1983 by Sinclair Research for its ZX Spectrum home computer. It was proposed as a faster-loading alternative to the cassette and cheaper than a flo ...
s, RS-232
In telecommunications, RS-232 or Recommended Standard 232 is a standard originally introduced in 1960 for serial communication transmission of data. It formally defines signals connecting between a ''DTE'' ('' data terminal equipment'') suc ...
serial units, and ZX Net cables (for connection to a ZX Net local area network)
External links
Detailed information on Interface 2
List of ROM cartridges available for Interface 2
Notes
{{Sinclair computers and clones
Home computer peripherals
ZX Spectrum
Computer-related introductions in 1983
de:Sinclair ZX Spectrum#ZX Interface 2