[TOS] Playpower.org: Open Source Games for Radically Affordable Computers

[Derek Lomas]

Hi Seay, TOS list, (and Sebastian!)...

Mel Chua has been encouraging me to post to the list, and now seems like a
good time.

I am one of the co-founders of Playpower.org, which is building open-source
8-bit games for a $10 home-computer platform, which is currently being sold
at large scale in developing regions around the world (China, India,
Pakistan, nKorea, Brazil, Nicaragua, Boliva, Ukraine, etc).  As improbable
as it seems, chinese manufactures are producing and distributing a
6502-based home computer that connects to a TV for a screen, and comes with
a full keyboard, mouse, game controllers, and several cartridges.  It
typically sells for less than $20, and often as low as $10.  It is
essentially a clone of the Nintendo Famicom, for which the hardware patents
have expired.  So this machine, which is produced by the millions every year
and distributed to street markets the world over, is actually in the public
domain (the software, of course, is not).

Currently, the "Educational TV Computer" comes with a GUI OS, with a variety
of games, most of which are pretty bad (some are just funny... 8-bit
karaoke, anyone?).  There are some typing games (typing can be a very
economically transformative skill in many areas... the chinese version
enables people to type in Mandarin Chinese!!) and most interestingly, the
computer comes with a version of BASIC programming...

Playpower is currently made up of several dozen volunteers around the world
who are working to make new open-source learning games for use on this
platform.  As we have some relationships with the manufacturers, we are
hoping to produce a high-quality new cartridge of learning games that could
be packaged with the 8-bit computer instead of the current cartridge.  That
way, we could freely distribute our software around the world, by leveraging
the existing manufacturing and distribution network of the grey-market.

I have used this platform with several engineering students, for their
senior project.  They learned SO much from this experience, which combines
an understanding of the computer hardware with the software development.
They produced an 8-bit quiz game (a la Slumdog Millionaire) and a
"Choose-Your-Own-Adventure" game (both are functional, neither is complete).

We are very interested in TOS, because we'd love to have student groups
working to develop open-source games.  Depending on the teacher or student,
there are many levels of technical engagement possible--including ones that
involve no programming, just game design.

If possible, we'd love to find persons interested in teaching with this
platform, helping us develop curriculum materials, or simply to contribute
to our open-source learning game development.

Thank you, and nice to meet you!

Derek Lomas

Human Computer Interaction Institute
Carnegie Mellon University
m: 917 544 4171
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://teachingopensource.org/pipermail/tos/attachments/20090730/bd4e19c8/attachment-0002.html>