[ScorpiusWireless]

I grew up with Scalextric. My dad and I built an elongated figure of 8 track as a kid on a board. The board was on the ground in our converted greenhouse. I put in a pit lane, albeit painted not an actual track section. I built garages and landscaped it. Not bad for a 12 year old. Even by todays standards it was very cool. All my mates used to come straight from school and we would race till dinner time. Lots of good memories and a lifetime fondness of Scalextric begun.

Fast forward to 2006 when I bought our kids a set, analogue. Scalextric, of course. I soon converted it to digital and I learned to modify it so it was more reliable, a more powerful power base, 3rd party controllers and a nice race management system. 
From there some of you would know Scorpius was born…..mainly out of frustration of the standard system.

Fast forward again to 2024. And the MPD is born. It stands for Multi Purpose Decoder. It could easily stand for Multi Protocol Decoder, ie a chip that can run on multiple brands, ie Scorpius, Scalextric Sport Digital, Carrera primarily.

Back to 2017. Hornby dump their Advanced Powerbase and brings out their Arc Pro offering. Hobby shops started to reduce stock due to reduced profit margins and an online store was started, which upset hobby shops. Lots of leftover stick dumped at too cheap a price also upset retailers who in retaliation simply stopped selling it. Marketing outside the UK ceased. Distribution networks reduced. Third party developers locked out except the app. Were all these factors combined  the beginning of the end? I think so.
Forum activity for SSD is not even 10% of what it was a decade ago.
Stock here in Oz becomes hard to get. Currently the biggest and most famous slot shop in Oz only has old stock on its site. They don’t even have a box set. They sell individual cars, the Arc Pro powerbase and track pieces, although not all. Other hobby shops have stopped stocking it. Sales are a fraction of a decade ago. Not one upgrade has been offered for 6 years now. Nothing. Not a penny spent. 

Carrera, based in Austria, start to dominate the market with a strong worldwide distribution network and good quantities of stock. New products are added regularly. Lots of digital track pieces have been added, along with wireless controller upgrades, Bluetooth connection, driver stations etc. The product looks professional and SmartRace have an excellent app for it.

So, my dilemma. Should I can Scalextric compatibility on the MPD?
I’d there enough SSD users out there to justify the effort and cost to implement SSD protocols? As of today my feeling sadly is no. 

Is it basically dead? Outside of the UK I fear yes. Inside the UK I see Carrera slowly getting a foothold also. I could be wrong.

So should I or shouldn’t I? That is the question. As a business decision, not an emotional one I fear it could be a dead loss of time (valuable) and money. Not a good thing.

There is no mention either of Hornby 
upgrading anytime soon, if ever. And if they do will they leave a couple of doors open for 3rd party developers? I fear not.

So it looks like Scalextric will be removed from the MPD project. Even though we just redesigned the bridge rectifier to suit SSD and still be friendly with Carrera. 

So that’s my dilemma.
Thanks for reading.

Rick
Scorpius Wireless

[_marconi212003_]

Well I haven't actually used any other digital system but i'm faily "invested" in SSD & there are about 10 or so in our casual racing group in Rockhampton so I'd definatly say yes please make the effort. 
I'm still looking for cheaper decoders for my TOY cars. :)

[ScorpiusWireless]

Sorry Scorpius is not priced focused, rather feature based. We don’t do cheap sorry. Your best bet is the standard Scalextric. It’s actually relatively very cheap. Id stick with them.

[Zippideedooda]

Sorry for this late reply, but I would hope Scalextric Digital isn't dead. 
 Having bought an Arc Pro Platinum set a few years ago, I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Recently I have been running races with four and five car/drivers and find it more enjoyable than running analog.
I would hope your instincts are off on the future of Scalextric Digital, but must admit I don't see much traffic on the forums about it. 
 After purchasing a Ninco N-Digital set back in it's heyday and then watching Ninco ditch slot cars all together, I dropped out of the hobby for several years. Is this another deja vue scenario?
I would hope more Scalextric owners would give their opinions on the future of Scalextric Digital as well?

[JasonB]

Scalextric and Scorpius are aimed at very different customers.

Both will hopefully be very successful in their own markets, but that success will be based on what they offer, and it won't be changed by someone having a go at either of them.

As far as I can see Scalextric Digital is quite popular, but at the same time I can totally understand Scorpius's commercial decision to drop support for it. If it doesn't make financial sense to provide that upgrade path, we have to respect that.

Scalextric will be judged on its products as will Scorpius, but they are very different markets.

Just enjoy your racing, however you do it.

[Kevan]

Well I haven't actually used any other digital system but i'm faily "invested" in SSD & there are about 10 or so in our casual racing group in Rockhampton so I'd definatly say yes please make the effort. 
I'm still looking for cheaper decoders for my TOY cars. :)

Why the emphasis on TOY?

[MrFlippant]

Well I haven't actually used any other digital system but i'm faily "invested" in SSD & there are about 10 or so in our casual racing group in Rockhampton so I'd definatly say yes please make the effort. 
I'm still looking for cheaper decoders for my TOY cars. :)

Why the emphasis on TOY?

I think it's his way of reminding people not to take things too seriously.
At least, that's how I choose to interpret it. :)