With all due respect, it seems that it’s Dr. Laughlin who has misinterpreted what’s being said in this headline, and repeated widely in the game community.

Dr. Laughlin’s quote: “NASA says you have to build a game and give away for free.”

That’s not what people are saying, either semantically or contextually. What people are saying is “NASA wants you to build a game for them, but they don’t want to pay you anything to do it. They want to control the process and supervise the content. They want first and final approval. But, sorry, you’re on your own to figure out how to make money with it. They’re not putting up any seed funding.”

After reading the interview top to bottom, that seems to be exactly what Dr. Laughlin is saying. He acknowledges that other fed groups (esp. the Army) have paid to have games developed. And acknowledges “similarities” between the Army project and NASA’s.

But at the end of the day, he doesn’t really say anything that refutes the content or the spirit of the headline on this post.
Premise1: NASA wants a game.
Premise2: NASA doesn’t want to have to pay for it.
Conclusion: NASA wants a game without having to pay for it (aka for free).

I don’t know how we could reach any other conclusion (about the NASA part of the deal) than exactly what our esteemed headline writer has provided.

The fact that NASA is leaving some wiggle room for a very well-funded developer to put up their own $20 million (or whatever the number may be) and create innovative business models that result in cash flow doesn’t change the basic truth. NASA wants somebody else to carry the development part of the load.

btw, While we’re on the subject, does anybody else know why NASA doesn’t just boost its SL presence to accomplish the same thing this MMO will supposedly do?

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6190224.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=newstop&tag=newstop;title;11

I have also invented a number of software products for NASA’s Constellation program. My teams latest effort is called SIMConstellation and promises to improve NASA’s ability to visualize and convey extremely complex trades data for the Orion and Ares vehicles.

I was at the meeting yesterday and have been in contact with the Learning Technologies group for many years. I know that if they could have done so, they would have funded the development. I also doubt that there will be many takers for this offer. However, I will make myself and my team available as consultants, since we know where the bodies are buried and how to get at them.

Best Regards,

Bill