Tech
The cassettes are alive and you can buy them in Portugal! You knew?
Last week we talked at Leak about the reason why some old computers use cassettes. They were a crucial storage alternative to floppy disks in the early days of computing. Using a cassette, normally associated with music, to store computer data may seem bizarre, but the principle was extremely simple. Now, with the appearance of CDs and other digital technologies, these systems have moved into the background. However, the truth is that this is a market that is more alive than ever. In most cases thanks to the Spectrum which was and continues to be one of the best computers in the world for me. But equally interesting is that the cassettes are alive and you can buy them in Portugal.
The cassettes are alive and you can buy them in Portugal! You knew?
Portugal and Brazil are undoubtedly great examples that tapes are alive and well, especially when it comes to games. Proof of this is that there is even a company that takes the lead when it comes to producing new games for the Spectrum and not just adapting some old ones.
Does it still make sense to sell and produce cassettes?
No doubt. As I mentioned above, there are companies that continue to produce good games. In fact, computers like the Spectrum are not dead. They’re better than ever, and I’m not just talking about new editions like the ZX Spectrum Next. There are excellent games that have almost just come out on the market and that give new life to these machines.
A company that still produces games and is an example in the market
A good example of a company that produces these games has two names. Teknamic Software for Portugal and Bitnamic Software to Brazil.
Teknamic is an independent publisher located in Portugal and was born in 2020. It is mainly dedicated to launching new games for microcomputers such as the ZX81, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Apple II and others.
One of the objectives, as mentioned on the official page, is to encourage the creativity of programmers and promote the production of games in Brazil and Portugal and their publication in Europe. The most interesting thing about this is that they distribute the games on original media used at the time, such as cassettes, floppy disks, cartridges and CD-ROMs.
An interesting aspect is that even making games for old platforms manage to win prizes at game fairs. That’s what happened with Alien Holocaust II: Invasion Earth. Won the award for Best Indie Game at the Brazilian fair BGS 2023.
Another interesting detail is the care they take in designing the games and covers, even using innovative ways of presenting the cartridges and cassettes. Now this brings us to the Portuguese company that continues to produce cassettes and other media.
Edisco
Edisco is a company that has been on the market since 1979. This makes it the oldest publishing house in the country still in operation. They are specialists in CD/DVD duplication and in the production of personalized CDs also for the medical field and audio cassettes.
More information can be found on the official page of Edisco.
Meanwhile, this company has opened an online store that you can use to buy cassettes of the most varied styles. It’s called Blanktape and is available here.
This is undoubtedly proof that the tapes are alive and well. As time passes, it is certain that this retro fever will increase, especially because it is something that is also being received by new generations.