Spectrum ZX Vega+ delayed once more after alleged new technical setback

The saga of the Spectrum ZX Vega+ continues this week with news of a fresh delay to the hardware and another personal attack from the company behind it.

Last week it was reported that Retro Computers threatened the BBC with legal action if it reported on its ongoing failure to ship its retro handheld. It alleged that the BBC was part of a systemic smear campaign, and that reporting on the issue would endanger its staff. When no proof was produced to back up their claims, the BBC went public.

Now Retro has said that the console has been further delayed, although this time it has pegged the blame on a new hardware problems and personally accused two of the company’s former directors or orchestrating the issues.

"During what we had expected would be final testing of the product prior to the first shipment, we discovered that the software for three of the user features, which had been announced for the product, had not yet been implemented," Retro boss Suzanne Martin told Eurogamer.

"We are taking immediate action to rectify this situation but realistically we now expect it to take a few weeks before we will be ready to ship the first units. All of us at Retro Computers Ltd very much regret these delays. We are at least a thousand times more frustrated than you are.”

Martin added that the problem stems from Retro’s break with former directors Chris Smith and Paul Andrews, who had previously told Eurogamer they had been forced out of the company "by a campaign of hatred".

Martin alleges that the pair took with them the software for the handheld. She also confessed that some of the 1,000 games that were to be included on the device had to be removed after rights holders withdrew their permission. Again, others are apparently at fault for this, with Martin claiming that Andrews has been contacting rights owners and encouraging them to withdraw their permissions".

There were assorted other accusations, too.

Andrews and Smith, for their part, refute Martin’s claims.

Sadly other than the obvious facts that we once were directors of RCL, the rest of the statement from RCL about ourselves is either totally not true, or highly inaccurate,” a statement said.

A similar type of accusation from the current RCL directors last year was removed by the BBC when once again that was found to be untrue. As was their recent one about the injunction we obtained against both the company and the directors themselves. As we have stated many times before we request RCL to just get on and deliver the ZX Vega Plus to backers.”