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

[Derek Lomas]

Thanks for the interest!  I really appreciate it.

So sorry about the transitional status of the developer wiki.  We are just
now re-aggregating the information-s at http://playpower.pbworks.com/
Actually, we need help organizing our documentation so that it is accessible
to developers and classes of students (which is really why I'm reaching out
for help...)

The emulator is....  an NES emulator.

which runs on everything, as it turns out!  The NES homebrew community has
done a lot of work, so most of our effort is just to organize their
developer documentation, and orient it to our needs.  Also, we still haven't
figured out how to write code to accept input from the keyboard.

The basic specifications for making NES games are very difficult... low ram,
low mem.  We like to think of these as "Design Constraints," which are best
seen as "fascinating" instead of "frustrating."  :D

Nevertheless, the target cartridges have significantly more capacity than
the cartridges from the 80s.  We're also interested in contributing an SD
card based cartridge  (which might address some of your interests, Frank).

I'll send you the code tomorrow, Greg.

Derek


On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 11:28 AM, Greg DeKoenigsberg <gdk at redhat.com> wrote:

>
> SO AWESOME.  OMG OMG OMG.
>
> Wait...
>
> ...I go to your "developer wiki" and there's nothing there.
>
> I NEED INFORMATIONS!!!
>
> Here are my questions.
>
> 1. Have you successfully developed any open games yet?  Where is the code?
>
> 2. What's your platform?  Is it portable?  Is there an emulator, and if so,
> is that emulator packaged for use on Windows/Linux/MacOS?
>
> --g
>
>
> On Thu, 30 Jul 2009, Derek Lomas wrote:
>
>  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!
>>
>
> I am so coming to CMU to meet you.
>
> --
> Computer Science professors should be teaching open source.
> Help make it happen.   Visit http://teachingopensource.org.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://teachingopensource.org/pipermail/tos/attachments/20090731/1a914623/attachment-0002.html>