Mojang have released a mini-Minecraft for the pocket-sized Raspberry Pi computer. Minecraft: Pi Edition is a modified version of the game's Pocket version for mobiles, adding new features to keep it in line with the educational philosophy at the heart of David Braben's £30 computer. Available as a free download, the game hopes to help people pick up programming - supporting a variety of languages to let users hack and modify the game's code.
Sweden's The Local are reporting that a school in Stockholm has introduced compulsory Minecraft lessons for their 13-year old students. I can now imagine school kids saying, "Maths? Lucky you! I've got double Minecraft." Not really, of course. I'm just jealous: my IT lessons were mostly about spreadsheets.
The Raspberry Pi is being drafted for some important work. The tiny circuit board computer is, for instance, being combined with Minecraft as a way to encourage youngsters to play with programming. But, in the grand scheme of things, can there be any more important use for the device than as the centrepiece to a Fallout inspired Halloween cosplay? I think you'll agree that there can't.
Minecraft will soon be coming to David Braben's clever £30 computer, the Raspberry Pi. The game will be a port of the Pocket Edition, but will come with a few new features which dovetail with the Pi's educational remit, allowing you to crack open the game code and manipulate Minecraft itself.
Announced today in the midst of a wonderfully chaotic Minecon 2012, the project aims to add further encouragement to people looking to pick up some programming skills.
In case you haven't heard of the Raspberry Pi, it's a tiny, tiny card with a bit of on board memory and a couple of slots for memory and USB devices. At just $25, it's become a great device for anyone who wants to dabble in the basics of coding and writing programs. It's become a great educational tool for young IT students and tinkerers looking to gain some practical, useful knowledge about the way computers work.
To that end, the BBC note that the Pi's creators have launched The Summer Programming Contest for young coders. The foundation is offering a grand prize of $1000 and five $200 runners-up cheques to the judges' favourite programs.
