Students Build Retro Arcade Game Console This Summer
by July 28, 2015 5:11 pm 280 views
The Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub has hosted several Summer Camps this year and one of those camps, The Crucible, built a retro arcade game console.
The Crucible is a Summer Camp for ages 14-16 that has been meeting on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. for a total of six weeks throughout the summer.
According to Owen Kyong-McClain, the students have had the opportunity to choose their project. The students all had an interest in coding and gaming, so, they decided to build their own video game.
“The class was, basically, a self-led class with adults facilitating. So, whatever we wanted to do, we could actually do and go about doing and learning. Immediately from the beginning, everyone enjoyed video games and coding. So, it just ended up that we all liked the same thing.”
The result was the group decided to build and design their own video game.
“Joel (Gordon) decided that we need to incorporate five aspects of building and manufacturing into it (the project),” Kyong-McClain explained.
“So, we decided to code a game, build a game, build a retro style game cabinet to house the game, we would add an arduino board . . . we wire up a joystick and a roller ball… put that all together and build our game.”
Kyong-McClain explained that the students are still building the video game, but the console has been completed. The console currently includes a video monitor and computer with around 20 games.
“As of now, we have the cabinet done, we are in the middle of making the game and eventually we’ll have that done.”
The console is sitting in The Launch Pad and is on display at events at the Hub. The students should finish the game sometime in the next few weeks. The Crucible Summer Camp ends the first week of August.
According to Errin Dean, Director of Membership at The Hub, “Joel wanted the Crucible to be a ‘lab’ so the students could come in and work on their project and have the tools and mentors available for every step.”
She added, “Guess what? It worked!”
(Photo: Console gamers at The Crucible camp)
