120217_opensourcekonsole_pix.srt

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[real information and subs start at 17 seconds]

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Michael Mrozek and a group of enthusiasts

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ignore the dictatorship of leading commercial console producers

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and build their own console:

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The Pandora.

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Most people are completely satisfied

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with their iPhones and iPhone games.

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They are OK with being restricted.

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But there is a group of hobbyists

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who like to tinker with the device

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and there is no device for them.

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There is no profit for the big companies in this

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because the quantities are too low,

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but this niche is perfect for us

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and it has not been touched yet.

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That means that there is no competition.

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The Pandora has the same power as an iPhone 3GS,

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a small computer based on linux.

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The open source community

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has developed it over years

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and made it ready for the market.

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It's the Ikea principle in the gaming world:

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"I love it even more

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if I build it myself."

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I find this very fascinating

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because you could see how its developed,

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since the developers are no professionals

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like the big companies.

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It was foreseeable that there were going to be problems

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which could have been prevented by professionals,

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but everyone learned during this process,

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not only the developers

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but also the people who watched the process.

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The games are available as a free download

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at the community sites.

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Some of them are homebrew games

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with open source code

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which can be extended by every user.

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An important reason for the popularity

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of the open handheld are classic games.

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With an emulator you are able

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to play games from

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abandoned systems like the C64 or the Amiga.

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In Germany it is allowed to make backups of software

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and that means that it is legal to play, read, and copy

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old cartridges with a device like the Retrode.

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Emulators are culturally important

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because they keep games alive.

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A lot of old games are not available anymore,

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and that means that there is a cultural value

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to emulators.

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This value counts for little

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from a copyright perspective

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but this did not play a role

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for the producers of the first open handheld.

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They came from South Korea,

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a country with a rapid development

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in the electronics department.

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Since 2002 four open consoles have been released.

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The evolution of the early devices

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is a funny part of

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recent game history.

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The reason for these

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coming from Korea

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was a coincidence.

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The Koreans, a company called GamePark, were trying

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to build a competitor to the Gameboy Advance,

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which was the GP32,

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and this device was opened

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by the community

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so now everybody could write games for it.

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Because of this the sale figures went up.

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The users demanded

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more powerful devices

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but GamePark was not interested.

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Because of that

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the Pandora was realized

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by the community itself

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and every step of development

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was documented online.

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You could say

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that the pandora is a very

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democratic product,

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because it offers

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transparency and

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openness for everybody

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In that matter

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it appeals to the same target groups

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as the Piratenparty [German political party].

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The commitment is astonishing,

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over one million Euros

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have been collected

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through pre-orders

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or investments and

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the games were programmed or ported

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by hobbyist programmers

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out of pure joy for games.

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Here there is so much potential

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and it is very important

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that there exists

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an open source movement

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in the gaming industry.

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It is also a source of ideas;

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if one of the Pixelmacher [this show] viewers

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had an idea for a game

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than it would be very hard for them

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to implement that on

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on a commercial system.

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You would need a developing license,

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you would need the know-how,

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and the manufacturer would need to validate it,

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and small ideas are often

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a good places for innovation,

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The internet proves this again and again:

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A place where people have small ideas

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and this idea is then a worldwide success.

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the patience of the community

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is also astonishing.

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Problems during the production

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have made some people wait over 3 years

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for their device,

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but now mass production

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is starting in Germany

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and up to 1000 units

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can be produced each month.

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It is a great feeling

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when you can say

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that you not only own

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the device for playing -

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well I play with it every day -

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but you can also say that you helped

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to develop the device.

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That is .... well something.

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450 Euro is the price for "pandora's box",

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but what you get for that

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is priceless for open source fans:

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The freedom of developing

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non-commercial games together

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and the feeling of

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being part of a self-sufficient movement.