The EXCALIBUR is designed with ECONOMY in mind – both in PRICE and SPACE SAVINGS. The EXCALIBUR – like King Arthur’s favorite sword – is SLEEK, POWERFUL, SHARP and MAGICAL!

This arcade cabinet packs all the “PUNCH” of our other cabinets in a smaller, sleek form factor.
The Excalibur ALSO COMES WITH a standard 2 coin door.
Excalibur integrates all the software and hardware platforms required for you to experience the ULTIMATE collection of classic arcade games in a universal, cool arcade product with their ORIGINAL Graphics, ORIGINAL Sound and ORIGINAL Picture aspect ratio!
The Excalibur includes a CUSTOM computer platform, a huge 27″ AUTHENTIC ARCADE monitor, a ONE TOUCH ON/OFF POWER SWITCH, an arcade authentic audio system with subwoofer, and revolutionary control panel with spinner, illuminated trackball and AUTHENTIC arcade joysticks and buttons.
Our systems have been extensively tested and designed to be fully compatible with all PC-based games and software emulators.

You can also play your favorite XBOX games by hooking up your XBOX to the Excalibur monitor.

All DreamAuthentics products also come with:

• CUSTOM DESIGNED & ALPHABETIZED GAME MENU
• ONE TOUCH POWER ON/OFF BUTTON
• “HANDS OFF” KEYBOARD AND MOUSE SYSTEM
• (even though you CAN use them you will NEVER BE FORCED TO)
• Software to play all your favorite DVD movies
• Software to play all your favorite Music Audio Files
• Unlimited Expansion Architecture

ALL our arcade platforms can play thousands of video games including games like pac man, missile command, centipede and others like video poker (games like these) which are all designed for use with Microsoft Windows Operating System and are 100% compatible with the MAME(tm) emulator.
Don’t delay – get an EXCALIBUR today!

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Ages 6 to 14

During Create and Play After School programs, it’s all about bringing out the best in your child. Whether he or she chooses to nurture their inner scientist, artist, teacher, doctor, CEO, or all of the above, we give our guests the freedom to follow her curiosity and passion!

In our new curriculum, your child’s interests will shape what we explore, and at the same time they will be developing skills that will help create a solid foundation for learning and growth.


Activities That Help Your Child Grow

Fun activities play a big role in how your child will develop critical skills while at Create and Play Camps. It may just feel like playing to your child because our activities are video game based, but what’s really happening is learning that will last a lifetime! The activities in our curriculum focus on key developmental domains in STEAM.

STEAM activities (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) give your child the freedom to discover, create, and tinker. Your child will be given problems to solve as well as questions and real-life scenarios to think about so she can learn more about the world around her!

Example Activity: In Minecraft, our “Building Houses” program reinforces STEAM skills by encouraging children to create, take apart, and explore.

Our after school programs mirror our week-long summer programs meaning a portion of their daily time will be “Creating” or learning and only after learning, homework and some basic physical activity they will also be able to “Play”
And There’s More!

Homework Help: Whether it’s a science project, spelling test, or book report, if your child needs to utilize their after school time to work on homework, our counselors will monitor your child in completing homework—which frees up time in the evenings for you to be together as a family.

Daily Fitness: Because of our location inside the 80,000 sq.ft. Indiana Pacers Athletic Facility, we help children develop healthy bodies and encourage proper nutrition through daily physical activity

Afraid your child has too much Screen (computer/game) time?

Pediatricians and teachers caution against too much screen time because when kids sit themselves in front of the TV, it’s a passive activity. Many children are content to give screens their attention for hours at a time. This contributes to childhood obesity and fails to engage their minds in a meaningful way, leading them to stagnate and be less sociable. We either need to find a way around the screen time kids enjoy so much, or find a way to make it work for kids rather than against them.

We created the Create and Play program to tackle this problem. We saw that our own children were screen-obsessed as soon as they came home from school and started playing video games before doing homework. We knew that if we couldn’t find a way to bridge education with their passion for technology, then there would be little hope that they’d grow up to take advantage of our digital age.

The current generation of kids are native-technology users. They are comfortable with it in a way that we might never be. Why not meet them where they are to combine the technology they love with important skills-learning and education?

Thankfully, we realized that quality screen time makes all the difference.

The difference between passively enjoying screen time, like watching TV, and playing puzzle-solving games on a tablet, building in an interactive multi player game, or meeting new friends with a console game is wonderful. From these games your child can learn engineering, coding, design, architectural, and math skills that they’ll carry with them into adulthood.

At Video Game Palooza, we know that quality screen time not only teaches your children valuable skills and can keep them moving, but they’ll also enjoy it! When quality screen time is paired with regular exercise breaks, you can be assured your child doesn’t become a zoned out, moody brat.

When your child participates in the Create and Play after school program, they get the opportunity to play with and learn with other kids using the newest technology including the latest in STEM education and of course, computer games that will stimulate their mind!

Is Your Child Getting Enough physical exercise?

According to the CDC child obesity rates have more than doubled over the last thirty years. For adolescents those numbers have quadrupled! It’s so easy for kids to come home from school and either plop themselves in front of the TV or sit down to do homework for hours. They fall into a sedentary rut with this routine and are setting themselves up to become a statistic.

We saw the same trends in our children, which is why when we started developing the theories that would eventually become Video Game Palooza and Create and Play, we knew that exercise would have to be a key part of the equation.

At Create and Play, we promote physical exercise as much as we do healthy screen time. There’s no denying that staring at a screen for hours at a time can put a strain on the eyes and cramp up a body. Our solution to this problem is exercise breaks!

Exercise breaks are exactly what they sound like—exercise breaks. They break up the screen time that’s sedentary with physical activity, whether that be a simple series of stretches, a dance party, interactive console games, or vigorous sessions on one of our basketball courts in the Indiana Pacers Athletic Center.

We also have an optional Fitbit incentive program in which children can enroll. Record the number of steps your child takes every day and they can earn special game time, rewards, and special privileges.

We ensure that your child’s afterschool experience is balanced and fuels their innate curiosity.

Is your Child a Gamer?

Great! We love gamers at Create and Play! They already know how great video games are. But if we ask you to picture a gamer in your mind, the image that might come to mind is based on a lot of unflattering stereotypes, right? Society has a twisted idea of what gamers are—lazy, lives at home, plays violence-saturated games…the list goes on. But like most stereotypes, exaggeration and caricature have created an image that is false. When gamers balance healthy screen time with physical activity and games that mentally stimulate them, their potential is endless.

When we started Video Game Palooza  we sought to create an environment that would take advantage of our children’s passion for games and nurture it. The first step was finding games that were entertaining, but that also gave players skills that transfer into real life.

Not all games are created equal. There’s a huge difference between a first-person shooter game and a first-person puzzle game like Portal. One is violent and one presents the player increasingly complex puzzles to solve that promotes creativity and out-of-the-box thinking.

Another example: Minecraft. It’s called a sandbox game because, like a sandbox, the possibilities are limited only by the limits of your imagination. It reinforces many valuable skills without children even realizing it—math, architecture, design, economics, engineering. We’ve seen our students work together to build entire cities from the ground up. The teamwork and creativity Minecraft encourages is boundless, which is why we use it as a core teaching tool to reach kids where their interests are and give them the skills they will need as adults.

Create and Play provides an environment that encourages productive gaming passions, healthy screen time, and physical activity to foster a new generation of gamers. It’s these gamers that will become the next Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg.

From Minecraft to Portal and beyond, the educational opportunities games offer children is limitless. Whether our students are playing Minecraft on our private server or solving complex puzzles with another interesting game, we will make sure they do so in a way that will make sure they grow into good digital citizens.

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For every dollar you give, one child will learn to code, make a game or make their dreams a reality.

Create and Play Camps is a property of Video Game Palooza which is a non-profit 501c3 foundation dedicated to motivating interest in STEM research and learning among America’s youth by tapping into students’ natural passion for playing and making video games. We accomplish this by developing STEM-based video games, creating video game products that raise money and awareness for worthwhile charitable organizations, and elevating awareness of the need for diversity in the video game industry.

To learn more about how your donation helps students gain access to STEM technology and coding, visit our about page.

To make a donation by check, wire-transfer, or stock-transfer, contact us.

Are you an Amazon.com customer? Learn how to make Video Game Palooza your charity of choice below!

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Frequently Asked Questions:

Is my donation secure?
Absolutely. The security and confidentiality of your information is our highest priority. We use industry-standard SSL (secure socket layer) technology to protect your information and provide a safe and secure environment for online donations. We will not sell, trade or share your personal information with anyone else, nor send donor mailings on behalf of other organizations, and we will only share personal information if you have given us specific permission to do so.

Is this donation tax deductible?
Yes. We are a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization and your donation is tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law. To claim a donation as a deduction on your U.S. taxes, please keep your email donation receipt as your official record. We’ll send it to you upon successful completion of your donation.

What do you do with my information?
We will not sell, share or trade our donors’ names or personal information with any other entity, nor send mailings to our donors on behalf of other organizations. You can find our full privacy policy here: http://createandplaycamps.com/privacy-policy.

Do I get a receipt?
A donation receipt will be sent to you at the email address you provide on this form. Please be sure to keep a copy of your receipt for tax purposes. If you select a recurring donation, you will be sent an individual receipt each month when your donation is processed.

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Location(s): Westfield

Amenities: Snacks & Drinks Included

Ages 12 – 16. NEW CAMP FOR 2018! Unity is one of the most popular game engines out there. Many of today’s most popular games utilize Unity as their engine to create today’s blockbuster games.

This will be an advanced camp for ages 12 – 16. We will create aspects of two different games utilizing the Unity game engine.

Some things you will learn how to do:

– Learn the Unity software
– Build game user interfaces
– Work with 3D objects in Unity
– Learn aspects of Blender 3D modeling
– Create aspects of popular games

Space will be limited for these camps. Spots will be available per weekly session at $299 ($269 before May 1st) for each session. The camp will meet daily Monday – Friday from 9am – 4pm.

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Location(s): Westfield

Amenities: Snacks & Drinks Included

Ages 12 – 16. In this camp you will use Construct 2 software to create a game that can be utilized on a mobile device. This software also utilizes drag and drop programming but with more in depth abilities. You will create your own worlds, learn to create own characters, learn to animate those characters, create objectives in your games & deliver your games on a phone.

Construct 2 is an HTML 5 game making tool that is a great starting point for anyone interested in making mobile games with no prior programming knowledge.  Construct 2 is a “drag and drop” game engine that allows you to import custom sprites and give them behaviors to make them do what you want them to do! The mobile game genre has blown up in the last couple of years with successful games like Angry Birds and Flappy Bird. Construct 2 is the perfect start towards  building experience required to create the next big game.

With Construct 2’s drag and drop engine, making either a platform jumper, or top down shooter is a breeze. This game engine has everything you need already built into it, while being very user friendly that users with no experience can pick up on very easily. Campers will be learning how to import sprites or create their own for the game they will be making. Using the animation editor to take the sprites they want and add animations like walking, jumping, and shooting to their creations! Campers will also be adding custom behaviors, or events, to their game. This allows them to control how the game plays and how it interacts with their sprites. Adding hitboxes to their sprites is another one of the many things they’ll be doing with Construct 2. They’ll be creating backgrounds, textures, and importing sound files that will bring their creation to life.

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Location(s): Westfield

Amenities: Snacks & Drinks Included

Ages 10 – 14. This camp allows kids to learn to make your own creations in graphic design software through learning design basics. You will learn how to create your own characters, backgrounds, enemies, obstacles, stages, etc. that can be used as assets in a video game.

We will be utilizing Pixlr for this camp along with some other tools for the customization of video games with your own graphics. We want to teach campers how to use the basic tools that they have available to them to create unique graphics.

We will also cover how to create characters in Pixlr, how to create them for animation within their games, the proper way to create a gaming background and much more.

We will also utilize techniques that allow them to feel more confident when creating graphics by guiding them through hands on lessons that will allow them to continute learning about graphics once the camp has concluded.

Space will be limited for this camp. Each camp session costs $299 ($269 before May 1st). The camp will meet daily Monday – Friday from 9am – 4pm.

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Location(s): Westfield

Amenities: Snacks & Drinks Included

Ages 8 – 12. SAME GREAT CAMP, NOW FOR YOUNGER AGES! This year we’ve adjusted the main Kodu camp program to open it up for younger ages. You asked and we listened, so now we have opened it up for as young as 8 to attend Create & Play Camps. In this camp you will create your own 3D worlds, add in pre-made characters and functionality through a click and drag programming interface. We utilize Microsoft Kodu software. It is best for younger individuals without a lot of experience with game creation.

Kodu Game Lab is an amazing program that allows users the ability to design, create, build, and play games brought to life by their ideas. The types of games you can create inside kodu are limited by your imagination! Recreate your favorite side scrolling platformers like Mario, or come up with something completely new!

Kodu uses a visual programming language suitable for all ages with no experience requirements. All coding is done inside of Kodu and is completed using visual commands that are easy to understand and configure.  A visual language is a great way to introduce new users the concept of programming without being overwhelmed with a bunch of code.

During camp, the kids will start with the basics. They’ll learn how to create their own worlds of grass, mountains, water, and trees! If they’re not into the Earthy look, they can make their world look like another planet! There are thousands of ways to build your world with Kodu.  Building their world is just the tip of the iceberg! What’s a world full of wonderful scenery without players or monsters inhabiting it? Boring! Programming their character, enemies, and allies is what gives the game depth.  They’ll learn how to program their characters and give them full movement controls, power ups, the ability to shoot, jump, or interact with other entities within their world. Recreating a working Frogger clone gets  them thinking about all of the possibilities they have. They’ll even be making their games with multiple levels and a story line!

After learning everything there is to know about Kodu, the campers must come up with a game they want to make. Bringing everything they’ve learned throughout their week of camp into one big game of their dreams! Working alongside fellow students allows the kids to share ideas and build off of each other. They’ll get the chance to play the creations of everyone else in the camp and provide constructive feedback on each others games.

For anyone interested in game design or programming. Kodu Game Lab is a great place to start. The fundamentals they learn from this will carry over into other aspects of game development in the future. Everyone starts somewhere, why not start with the fun, easy, and colorful 3D environment Kodu Game Lab has to offer!

Space will be limited for this camp. This camp costs $299 ($269 before May 1st) for each session. The camp will meet daily Monday – Friday from 9am – 4pm.

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Location(s): Westfield

Amenities: Snacks & Drinks Included

Ages 12 – 16. LEARN TO CODE WITH MINECRAFT! In modding with Minecraft you will learn the programming fundamentals of Javascript through Blockly & utilizing actual Javascript. This is the most advanced camp that we will offer. The best thing about this camp is that everyone will utilize their own Minecraft server. The Javascript fundamentals they learn will then allow them to customize the second best selling game ever, Minecraft!

Test your mods on a private server. Invite friends to play too. You control everything about your server: The weather, the time of day, who’s banned and who’s not. You can install texture packs. And, of course, you can mod it with mods you’ve written. Unlock cool badges and start leveling-up as a coder. Soon you’ll be designing and coding multiplayer mini-games of your own.

Some things you will learn how to do:

– Create lightning strikes
– Adjusting your inventory
– How to summon creepers
– Understanding programming loops
– Controlling the weather
– An introduction into object oriented programming

Space will be limited for these camps. Camp cost will be $299 ($269 before May 1st) for each session. The camp will meet daily Monday – Friday from 9am – 4pm.

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