LOKI: THE LOST SPECTRUM
Sinclair Research was a secretive place. According to former employees there were always multiple projects on the go or in suspended animation, and it was difficult to keep track of what was being planned or prototyped at any given time. In 1985 three employees –Martin Brennan, John Mathieson and Ben Cheese – started developing a clandestine new computer project that, according to Sinclair designer Rick Dickinson, even Sir Clive himself wasn’t aware of at first.
The project was named Loki, after the trickster Norse god, because it was supposed to ‘borrow’ all the best bits from the competition. The competition was, of course, the Commodore Amiga and the Atari ST, the two new 16-bitters on the block. Loki was designed from Sinclair tradition of offering the capabilities of rival computers at a fraction of the cost. The bold plans were laid out in a five-page internal document that was date-stamped 16 January 1986 and titled, rather grandly, ‘Specification of the Super Spectrum Entertainment Engine’.
Fast forward six months and the June issue of Sinclair User leads with the splash ‘Super Spectrum – a £200 Amiga?’. The internal document had found its way to the press and the key details were spilled. Loki would feature a Z80H processor running at 7MHz (twice the speed of the Spectrum), 128KB of main RAM (expandable to 1MB), 64KB of video RAM, blitter-style functionality, 512x212 pixel display, 256 colours, synthesised sound, genlock input, ROM card support, a keyboard and full
