EA Donates SimCity to 'One Laptop Per Child' Project

Vikingod

Source: Shacknews
___________
What kid would want a free laptop if it doesn't come with any games? The One Laptop per Child foundation now has a solution to this basic problem.

Electronic Arts today announced it is gifting Maxis' original SimCity to the project. The One Laptop per Child initiative is a non-profit organization with the goal of providing cheap, functional laptops to poor children in developing countries.

The hardware itself, the famous "$100 laptop," actually increased to a price of $200 recently. The foundation has received funding for laptop distribution in countries such as Uruguay, Peru, Mexico, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Haiti, Cambodia, and Libya.

"SimCity is entertainment that's unintentionally educational," said EA global branding VP Steve Seabolt. "Players learn to use limited resources to build and customize their cities. There are choices and consequences, but in the end, it's a creativity tool that’s only limited by the player's imagination."

Vikingod

I think this is a good thing, especially for those who the laptop is trying to reach.

I have a good friend who became a civil engineer/city planner, in part do to his interest in the SimCity games. He's even told me that the games are what got him thinking of the career path.

BlueMak

The original simcity? The two decades old simcity?

temeteus82

I would think that some "new" version of SimCity 4. One that works on Linux

I do have SimCity 4 Deluxe and when I play it I play it few hours straight

Vikingod

You forget that most of the countries that will truely be benefiting from the laptops are far more than two decades in the past, technologically.