Games as motivation in computer design courses: I/O is the key

The design of computer games can be a powerful motivator as students learn about computer architecture and design. Students in classes where computer designs are developed and implemented (usually on Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs)) seem much more highly motivated if their computer design can be used for something visual and interactive when the project is complete. However, ensuring that the student teams can have a working game by the end of a semester requires careful planning of how their computer designs will interact with the world. Keyboard inputs and VGA outputs are a relatively simple set of I/O interfaces that open up significant new potential for development of game applications on the student's own computer designs. In this paper we describe the curriculum of a computer design course that uses game design as a "carrot" to encourage active student exploration and deeper understanding of computer architecture, I/O subsystems, and computer implementation.