YOU’LL NEED THIS
A COPY OF ORICUTRON
available at www.petergordon.org.uk/oricutron.
FOR FANS OF NICHE COMPUTING, this month we look at one of history’s more overlooked systems. Beautifully styled and quintessentially European, the Oric line started life in the United Kingdom’s highly competitive microcomputer market, before finding a new home in France.
With the Oric line, retro gaming fans can find new variants of classic European titles, as well as titles exclusive to the system. So join us as we take a brief history tour, then show you how to emulate these computers on a modern PC.
1 DEVELOPMENT AND LAUNCH – ORIC-1
The Oric line was developed by a UK company, Tangerine Computer Systems. Tangerine had already carved out a niche for itself with 1979’s Microtan 65—a chunky, PC-sized ‘microcomputer’ aimed mostly at laboratories.
With the release of 1982’s Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Tangerine focused on the home market, intent on beating Sinclair with a better computer at a lower price.
