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ThinkGeek is now carrying the Hydra console game development kit, $199 -

Remember the simpler computer days of yore when it was actually possible to hook your Commodore 64 to an old TV set and immerse yourself in coding? Now you can relive those memories by creating your own classic 8-Bit style games with the Hydra Console Game Development Kit. For beginner to intermediate coders, you need only a minimum of programming experience in any BASIC or C-like language. You get all of the hardware and software you need including the Hydra console, comprehensive programming guide, keyboard, mouse, gamepad and your own cartridge to store your games on.

Written by best-selling game development author Andre' LaMothe, the included book is your complete guide to developing games, graphics, and media applications for the Propeller Powered Hydra Game console. The book assumes you have only basic programming experience. It covers all aspects of the Propeller chip from its architecture to using the Propeller Tool IDE for programming in both Spin and assembly language, with numerous demo programs to use as starting points for your own games.

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XGameStation is designed to educate a new generation of hardware and software hackers in the nitty-gritty, low-level world of hardcore game development. Combining modern technology with the bedrock-solid design philosophies of the past, the XGameStation Pico Edition 2.0 is a build-it-yourself game development kit. Solder your unit together and you'll have a completely portable and reprogrammable embedded game system. Complete instructions covering assembly, architecture, and programming of the Pico Edition comes with the kit on CD. Includes a 80MHz Ubicom SX28 microcontroller, a solderless breadboard, a 7-Segment readout, 15-pin interface, A/V jacks, and a built in directional game pad for a completely portable mini-game console - Link.