We’re bringing you a whole new game design experience, with our Arcade Gamer course featuring the Microsoft Kitronix ARCADE Gamepad - a fully featured programmable gamepad for use with the MakeCode Arcade block editor.
Arcade gaming gave birth to the whole gaming industry. The first recognisable arcade games emerged in the 1930s with early pinball machines, which developed into the increasingly advanced electronic games of the 1960s. During the 70’s came some of the most famous arcade games, like Pacman and Space Invader. Games continued to advance, until the computer was invented and became commercially available, when arcades lost popularity and the modern gaming industry as we know it was born.
We are providing Tech Camp campers with a taste of this exciting early gaming world with our Arcade Gamer course. We will send you a Microsoft Kitronix ARCADE Gamepad,on which you can create retro arcade games to run in the browser. It consists of drag and drop blocks that snap together to form programs. You can also write code for ARCADE in Javascript (there is even a Python editor coming soon!). You’ll learn techniques of Sprite (graphics) and sound generation, level design, physics systems and more as you build multiple games over the week.
The Kitronix gamepad features:
We’ll send you your own Kitronix Gamepad, so you can create your own Pacman game, mazes, platformers and more. That way, you can make your perfect game, and build it even more as you desire!
Read more about our Arcade Game course here, and book now - places are limited!
Does your child play too many computer games?
We often have conversations with parents who are worried their child plays too many computer games. Is it as bad as it seems? Believe it or not, playing computer games (within limits!) has some well-researched benefits.
Out of all the courses we run, no tech is so fast changing at the moment as drone racing (OK, maybe 3D Printing is pretty close …) Every year when we review our drones, there are major steps up in what capabilities you can shove into a tiny drone. Now a drone that is able to fit into the palm of your hand can capture cinematic-quality footage.
Have you ever wanted to have a small model of your own head? With the amazing advancements in both 3D printing and 3D scanning technology, it is now easier than ever to achieve great quality 3D scans of small objects and print them yourself on any 3D printer.
In October and November we enjoyed running a couple of different workshops on light. The first one was “Light, Lasers & Illusions”. During the presentation the children discovered how our eyes can be tricked, how we can burst balloons with different coloured lasers, and how a drop of water can be turned into a simple but impressive microscope.
If you were asked to describe a robot 10 years ago, you might have come up with something along the lines of a large silver box covered in lights and dials, with 2 arms, 2 legs and a human-like head – the reality of modern robots is of course quite different! Robotics and electronics in our daily lives are becoming more prevalent by the day, not just in labs and factories, but at home and in the office as well.
Learning to code is a valuable skills for anyone to master
The number of careers in tech are growing by the day, here are just a few examples of how you can turn your passion into a career!
Drones have come a long way since they were used purely for military use and are now one of the most popular ways to capture unique and often breath-taking pictures. Bizarrely, they’ve also been used to deliver pizzas and by farmers, for aerial views of their crops.
It's no wonder that coding is more fashionable today than ever before. The ability to program is undoubtedly one of the most important skills for the current generation of children to have leading into their adult lives. In 2015, 7 million job openings required the ability to code in the US (Burning Glass) and it is known that the best way to learn is to start early. A coding camp is a great way to introduce the next generation to the most important skill of the future. While popular culture can often make coding seem a daunting and tricky skill, that is far from the truth. Programming is a skill which everyone can learn.
Last day of the Tech Train today! We've had a great week, seeing all sorts of science demonstrations, and participating in a variety of workshops from Lego Mindstorms to biotechnology. Today was mainly sightseeing, with trips to the Camera Obscura and Edinburgh Castle. Tonight we will be having a tour of the underground medieval streets before heading back to London on the sleeper train.