Jet Set Willy 360 release date flushed out
Spectrum classic also coming to Windows Phone.
It is, perhaps, a sign of the times when a press release for a relaunched ZX Spectrum game has to explain what a ZX Spectrum actually is.
Apparently it's an 8-bit personal home computer released in the UK in 1982, which sold in excess of five million units worldwide. Who knew? (Ed: Tom Phillips was minus five years old in 1982).
Happily, it is also a sign of the times that classic games from said system are getting a new lease of life.
One of the best, Jet Set Willy, is being reborn as Jet Set Willy 360, an Xbox Live Indie Games game. It's set to launch on 24th August - if you can delve into the folds of the Xbox 360 dashboard and actually find the Indie Games channel.
A Windows Phone release will also arrive on the same date.
Steve Wilcox, boss of developer Elite, teased that more classic re-releases are on the way.
"The release of Jet Set Willy 360 as an Xbox Live Indie Game and as a Windows Phone game is the next exciting step in bringing classic ZX Spectrum games to a new audience via new devices and platforms and in the process restoring some order to the market.
"We began doing this some 22 months ago with our ZX Spectrum: Elite Collection Apps for iOS devices and in the intervening period there have been more than 100,000 paid instances. The release of Jet Set Willy 360 follows the positive reception and a successful launch of Manic Miner 360. It's expected to be followed by more classic ZX Spectrum Games."