ARCADE for MakeCode Arcade

by Kitronik

Develop your coding skills with the Kitronik ARCADE, a fully featured programmable gamepad for use with the MakeCode Arcade block editor. Learn to create your own games from the ground up or modify existing games found via the MakeCode website!

The MakeCode Arcade editor has been designed to allow everyone, from beginners to experienced game enthusiasts, to create retro arcade games to run in the browser or on handheld consoles. It consists of drag and drop blocks that snap together to form programs. You can also write code for ARCADE in JavaScript and there is also a Python editor coming soon!

Education: The emphasis for MakeCode Arcade is Education and there are a wealth of resources available on the MakeCode Arcade website to facilitate this. There are; guided tutorials that walk you through creating simple games, more complex games that you can open and learn from, games written by community members that you can learn from, game concepts tutorials, tutorials that explore graphics and Maths, lesson plans, CS courses, printable coding cards for the classroom, video tutorials, and much more!

The Kitronik ARCADE has been specifically designed to offer the perfect platform for running these games. It's packed full of features and has been ergonomically designed for comfort and ease of use. It features a full colour LCD wide viewing angle screen, a piezo sounder for audio feedback, a vibration motor for haptic feedback, 6 gamer input buttons, a menu button, a reset button and an on/off switch. Everything you need for the perfect gaming experience. It also features a software volume control, a USB programming port, and 2 expansion ports for the expert level users.

The ARCADE can be powered by either 3xAA batteries or via the micro USB connector, with the battery holders located on the rear of the PCB. The three battery holders have been positioned to also act as hand grips for maximum comfort and control when gaming.

Here be dragons: And for the advanced user, there are 2 expansions ports and a debugging port. The expansion ports give you direct access to the microprocessor pins and the debug port allows you to customise the bootloader code. For more information, please see the last page of the datasheet and the GitHub repository. Permanent damage can happen here, so don't venture in unless you've trained your dragon.

Features:

  • The Kitronik ARCADE is a feature packed handheld gamepad for use with the Microsoft Arcade editor.
  • Use the wealth of educational material available to create a game from the ground up or tweak existing code and learn the open source way.
  • It features a full colour LCD wide viewing angle screen.
  • It has a piezo sounder for audio feedback.
  • Make use of the vibration motor for haptic feedback.
  • It also features; 6 gamer input buttons, a menu button, a reset button and an on/off switch.
  • There is also a software volume control, a USB programming port, and 2 expansion ports for the expert level users.
  • The ARCADE can be powered by either 3xAA batteries or via the micro USB connector.

Contents:

  • 1 x ARCADE for MakeCode Arcade gamepad.
  • Laser cut protective case parts and fixings.

Dimensions:

  • Length: 155mm.
  • Width (Max): 60mm.
  • Height (Max): 28.3mm.

Requires:

Resources:

Electrical characteristics:

  • Processor: Atmel SAMD51J19A.
  • Operating Voltage (Vcc): 3xAA – Alkaline or NiMH/NiCad (3.6-4.5V) or USB (typically 5V).
  • LCD screen resolution: 160 x 128.
  • LCD screen size: 1.77 inch (diagonal).
  • Typical Current Draw: Approx. 80mA (depending on use).
  • Typical Battery life (based on 3xAA 1500mAh batteries): Approx. 20 hours (depending on use).