The Raspberry Pi, a small credit card-sized computer, will soon be able to run Mojang’s minimalist masterpiece.
The Raspberry Pi is a very small computer. Really small. Like, smaller than a sandwich small. Its creators want to jumpstart the Computer Age by making these mini-computers available for a mere $35, storage, keyboard, monitor and power supply sold separately. Processing power for the Pi is respectable for such a small package, about the same as a first generation Xbox. The Pi is a feat of engineering efficiency keeping the price so low, but there’s one question on everyone’s mind. Will it play Minecraft? Well, the answer is yes.
The founders of the Raspberry Pi sent a few boards to Mojang earlier this year, and the codemonkeys there were enticed by the small form factor. This week, Daniel Frisk from Mojang announced the team was successful in getting Minecraft to run on the Linux distribution that ships on the Pi’s SD card.
“The possibilities are massive,” Frisk said about how the Raspberry Pi will change the computing world. “You could organize the cheapest LAN party of all time, or use the Pi to learn the fundamentals of programming on a minuscule budget. It’s like hacking your way into Minecraft and modifying the game world with code, a bit like being Notch, Jeb, or Nathan, but arguably more fun and less stressful.”
The goal of the Raspberry Pi is to allow children to experiment with computers like they did back in the 80s. You see, computer enthusiasts back then would tinker with their machines to make it work, and code all kinds of tiny programs as a hobby. Nowadays, with PCs so expensive and working generally as intended, there is much less experimentation in schools or computer clubs. The Raspberry Pi was designed as an educational tool to get kids back into coding again.
Of course, if you can play a little Minecraft to unwind, that’s cool too.
Source: Raspberry Pi
