About

Please Note (March 2009) : Because of the recent attack on the server much of this page has been temporarily cut.

As you probably guessed by now this website is dedicated to the memory of one of the most forgotten, ignored and massively overlooked machines of the 1980s. Sitting along side the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 the Amstrad CPC was the machine that sat slap-bang in the middle. Often delivering better quality graphics than both machines and with the added business capabilities you really do have to wonder why the machine has been forgotten by many, so easily.

This website is my attempt to put this excellent piece of classic gaming and computing hardware firmly back where it belongs, up there with the memories of the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64, instead of sitting in the dustbin with other less successful machines such as the Dragon 32 from Tandy.

The website was started way back in 2000 and was fairly small though it did offer some original content which wasn't made widely available elsewhere (covers etc) it changed design numerous times and the content began to steadily grow. Once hosted on a free network built for emulation and retrogaming, things changed in 2005 when the numerous server failures and lost data became too much for us to handle and the site was moved entirely to a brand new and paid for hosting solution. In the end this worked out quite well because Gamebase CPC was growing all the time and if you want a quality host you have to pay for it.

This site is optimised for Mozilla Firefox which we strongly recommend to all of our readers as a DIRECT replacement to the god awful Internet Explorer. CPC Zone works fine in all browsers and is perfectly readable but IE is the most quirky of them all, Microsoft have lost the plot and I personally (Malc) think that its time to stop supporting the non-standard compliant slow-loading spyware heavy crap they call a browser.

JavaScript needs to be enabled to get the most out of this website and you should be using a resolution of 1024x768 or higher for maximum viewing pleasure.

If you would like to help with the running cost of CPC Zone you may use the donation box on the right hand side of this screen, we will never ask you to pay for browsing the information on this website, if it came to that we would simply shut the whole thing down. We appreciate donations of absolutely any value so don't feel like you have to pull out your last £10 and wack it on our desk.

Note : CPC Zone is not affiliated with Amstrad Plc and is a non-profit website in that we do not sell any merchandise, emulator CDs or classic games (that would be illegal for a start). For more information read our disclaimer.

In The Press

A selection of press and/or media clippings featuring CPC Zone in one form or another.

Micro Mart - March 30th 2006

CPC Zone is listed as Retro Site of the week

"This week's website is the home of CPC gaming on the net, and, without coincidence, also home to the CPC Gamebase which hopes to collect all available information on every single Amstrad CPC game ever, also allowing users to enter their own memories of their favourite and not so favourite CPC games from yesteryear. It also encourages former CPC developers, musicians and artists to get in touch to leave their own memories and provide that essential information that no one else can.

Like all good sites too, CPCZone has a great forum which is occupied by new and old CPC enthusiasts, so if you're ever in the need to share memories or enjoy those moments of nostalgia then this site is definitely recommended."

BBC Ceefax - Feb 11th 2005

A very brief mention on the UK BBC "Teletext" service known as CeeFax in February 2005, pointed readers at CPC Zone and Richard Wilsons great emulator WinAPE.

One reader asks "I was wondering if you knew if there are any PS2 or PC games based on old Amstrad titles? David Gibbon then suggested CPC Zone as a resource for games, though David Wykes TACGR is a much more appropriate website for grabbing your games.

Retro Gamer Magazine (2005)

Retro Gamer (issue 15) otherwise known as Volume 2 issue number 3. Malc Jennings was interviewed by Dave Crookes and a full 2 page spread was dedicated to CPC Zone. Talking about upcoming features for the website, the highlights, lowlights and why he got involved in the retrogaming/emulation scene in the first place.

It was great fun answering questions for the best magazine dedicated to old hardware and video games and we look forward to working with the editors of Retro Gamer in the future.

At some point I may put the interview (edited for the web) online but considering a rather inconsiderate [idiotic] member made a stupid comment when the issue was in print I may change my mind entirely.

Retro Gamer Magazine (2005)

Retro Gamer (issue 11) asked the editor (Malc Jennings) a few questions related to the Amstrad GX 4000 console which was an amazing piece of hardware released at entirely the wrong time. The complete article talks about how the machine was marketed, its troubles, the arguments between developers and Amstrad along with technical specifications, game releases and more. It certainly is in-depth to say the least.

Here is the transcript: "Malc Jennings, editor of website CPC Zone, said : "Even when the GX4000 was released, it was hard for anyone that ever bought the machine to find games. I remember at school when we all swapped games for the CPC, Spectrum and C64 that anyone with the GX4000 looked severely annoyed and frustrated that those games just weren't in shops. I think the GX4000 struggled because it was released at the same time as Sega's Megadrive, which of course was a 16-bit console and had amazing games like Sonic the Hedgehog to help promote it, not to mention far more money on marketing campaings and a bigger share of developers."

Retro Gamer Magazine (2004)

Retro Gamer (issue 4) at the end of the "Amstrad Action" article which covered the hardware and software which made the machine the historical piece of kit that it is.

Here is the transcript: "Former Amstrad users should make this their first stop. It's an amazing site that's bang-up-to-date (a rarity nowadays, sadly) and packed with the latest news. It has reviews, mobile phone logos, cheats, emulators and interstingly, CD Inlay covers. Basicaly, a group of people are spending time reproducing old CPC game covers into PC CD-ROM ones, all strictly for fun but well worth looking it. Webmaster Malc Jennings deserves respect."