ZX Spectrum LOADs again in Video Game History Museum

On Wednesday, the Video Game History Museum hosted LOAD "", an event dedicated to the ZX Spectrum and a time when even loading a game was an adventure. Visitors learned why cassette tapes were such a popular and affordable way to store games, how the loading process worked, and why loading errors were so common.

Alongside a demonstration of the ZX Spectrum's distinctive loading sound, the event explored the differences between the data encoding formats used by the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64. Visitors also learned how radio shows broadcast games as audio data that listeners could record onto cassette tapes, and how computer programs could also be found on vinyl records.

Towards the end of the 30-minute event, visitors learned that loading a game from cassette tape on the ZX Spectrum took an average of 4 minutes and 30 seconds, and that this wait had to be repeated for every game. The revelation that the same process could take up to 16 (!) minutes on the Commodore 64 prompted some disapproving reactions from the C64 fans in the audience, including the inevitable question: “But what about the Turbo?”

At the end of the event, visitors had the chance to try loading a game from cassette tape on original ZX Spectrum computers, either for the first time ever or for the first time in years.