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If, like me, you desperately, desperately wanted a Big Trak during your younger years, but never got one, then you may be pleased to hear that this brilliant toy is going to be making a comeback!
Big Trak was a sort of futuristic looking tank which could be programmed with simple commands such as go forward, turn or the ever popular “fire phasers“. If you ever used the languages Logo or Delta on a BBC Micro at school then you’ll be familiar with the kind of movements you could make Big Trak perform.
The revamped Big Trak appears to be almost identical to the original, the only major change being that the keypad appears to have been made a bit larger and less colourful. The only other enhancement is being able to store up to 32 programs in its memory (I believe the original only allowed a single program).
You’ll need to be patient for a little while yet though, as the new Big Trak is not due to be released until Summer 2010, priced at around £40, which is probably less than it used to cost when it first came out. There are also plans for digital camera and rocket launcher add ons to follow, so now you can’t just flash little blue lights at the dog, but take a picture of it jumping into the air as you shoot it with a plastic missile. No word on the rather pointless trailer that the original had though, but that’s no great loss!
Many thanks to my mate Al for bringing this to my attention! Its quite possible my daughter will be getting one of these for Christmas… Ahem!
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