“Brain Quest is EA Casual Entertainment’s first educational game and we are thrilled to bring this beloved brand into the videogame space,” said Robert Nashak, VP of Casual Studios, EA Casual Entertainment. “By adapting the series to the DS, we are able to reach today’s tech savvy children and provide them with an educational experience that is interactive, engaging, and fun.”

EA's creation of educational DS titles could be a very good sign, indicating that U.S. publishers are beginning to get a grasp of the true potential of the handheld, much like Japan already has. That, or they just want some more of that delicious parent money. Mmmm.

EA Announces Nintendo DS Games Based on America’s #1 Educational Bestseller Brain Quest®

Top Curriculum-Based Quiz Series Offers New Way for Kids to Learn and Play on the Go

LOS ANGELES—(BUSINESS WIRE)—The Casual Entertainment label of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced plans to bring America’s #1 educational bestseller1, Brain Quest®, to the Nintendo DS™ handheld system, just in time for back-to-school this September. In partnership with the New York based Workman Publishing Company, Inc., EA will release two Brain Quest games centered on the curriculum-based series that has sold more than 28 million copies2: one for third and fourth graders, and another for fifth and sixth graders.

“Brain Quest is EA Casual Entertainment’s first educational game and we are thrilled to bring this beloved brand into the videogame space,” said Robert Nashak, VP of Casual Studios, EA Casual Entertainment. “By adapting the series to the DS, we are able to reach today’s tech savvy children and provide them with an educational experience that is interactive, engaging, and fun.”

Staying true to the curriculum-based card deck series, the Brain Quest video games are loaded with over 6,000 unique questions in each game, developed specifically for the third/fourth and fifth/sixth grade levels and can keep kids entertained whether in the car, at home, or while waiting for the school bus. The game’s Brain Mode provides quick to the fun action that enables kids to jump right in, immersing themselves in fast-paced quiz games, as they answer questions on their favorite subjects: English, history, math, science, and geography. Brain Quest adds another element to the fun — a Quest Mode where players follow a light story that pits them against successively more difficult challenges in each category. The game’s Multiplayer Mode allows players to challenge their friends and siblings or play cooperatively, so kids of all ages can get in on the action and enjoy the brain-twisting fun!

Throughout the game, players who answer questions correctly score points to redeem collectibles that can be unlocked by winning achievements. These collectibles can then be used to customize up to six scenes in the game.

The popular Brain Quest card decks, on which the games are based, are a phenomenon. “Brain Quest is a brand recognized by teachers, trusted by parents, and adored by kids,” said Janet Harris, Brain Quest® Publisher, Workman Publishing Company, Inc. “We are very pleased that Brain Quest will now be able to educate and entertain children through another medium, as a video game.”

Both Brain Quest games will be available September 2008 in North America and have a U.S. MSRP of $29.99. The games have not yet been rated by the ESRB. For more information or assets, visit http://www.info.ea.com.

The first title, based on SAT prep curriculum, is indeed coming to DS as we heard at the first announcement, but as you can expect from Aspyr, the companies also confirmed PC and Mac versions too, all for the Fall of this year.

It's been just about ten years since I was a high school senior, and I know I took the SATs, but I have no recollection. I still remember the nooks and crannies of the video games I played in 1999, though, so maybe if my SAT prep had been a game, I'd still remember how to multiply fractions or whatever.

Actually, I'm a little surprised that it took this long for a notable game developer to hook up with a test prep company. Seems kind of like a no-brainer, right?

Full announcement follows the jump.

SAT* Prep Enters the Videogaming World

Kaplan and Aspyr Team Up to Create

Dynamic Interactive Entertainment

AUSTIN, TX – April XX, 2008 – High school teens may soon be able to play their way to a higher SAT* score, thanks to a new collaboration between Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions and videogame developer and publisher Aspyr Media.

Kaplan and Aspyr have entered into a multi-year agreement in which Aspyr will bring Kaplan-branded interactive entertainment products to market. The first game under the deal will be an engaging, visually dynamic and unconventional title that is rooted solidly in Kaplan’s SAT prep curriculum. The game marks the first ever widely-released SAT prep video game in the market.

“Students learn best when they’re engaged with the study content. While a videogame shouldn’t be seen as a substitute for a full prep course, it’s an innovative and effective way to reinforce preparatory learning,” said Anthony Manley, General Manager of Pre-College Programs for Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions. “At Kaplan, we seek to adapt our offerings to students’ lifestyle needs. In Aspyr, we found a partner with a proven track record of creating engaging, dynamic titles that appeal to today’s teens.”

“Aspyr has proven over the years that it excels in caring for huge brands and successfully extending those brands to new audiences,” said Ted Staloch, Executive Vice President for publishing at Aspyr. “We couldn’t have asked for a better partner than Kaplan, a trusted, high profile brand and a company that is the undisputed leader in its field. Aspyr will create games under this brand that will truly surprise and excite people with their originality.”

Scheduled for release in 2008, the SAT prep game is currently in development at Aspyr Studios and will be published by Aspyr Media for Nintendo DS™, PC and Mac. Additional information on Kaplan branded games from Aspyr will be announced later this year.

Last year, Kaplan introduced interactive SAT* prep programs that can be purchased and downloaded from iTunes®, as well as a unique SAT/ACT Vocabulary-Building Manga (Japanese word for comics and print cartoon) series.

###

*SAT is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board, which neither sponsors nor endorses this product.

**iTunes® is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions

Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions (www.kaptest.com), a division of Kaplan, Inc., is a premier provider of educational and career services for individuals, schools and businesses. Established in 1938, Kaplan is the world leader in the test prep industry. With a comprehensive menu of online offerings and a complete array of books and software, Kaplan offers preparation for more than 90 standardized tests, including entrance exams for secondary school, college and graduate school, as well as English language and professional licensing exams. Kaplan also provides private tutoring and college and graduate admissions consulting services.

About Aspyr Media

Aspyr Media, Inc. is a leading video game publisher that creates, packages and delivers fun to millions around the world. Hailing from Austin, Texas USA, Aspyr strives relentlessly to ensure a quality experience for consumers and industry partners.

To fall more deeply in love with Aspyr and its amazing line of products, visit www.aspyr.com and see just how much fun you can legally have.

In light of "serious games" and "edutainment" discussions, I'm always interested to see what regular retail games are listed as good "educational" titles. College@Home has a pretty thorough list covering a variety of topics; some of the titles are expected (Civilization, Carmen Sandiego) to some slightly more interesting titles (Spore, Age of Mythology, a lot of regular retail sims). Makes me glad I just get to take the fun out of learning for undergraduates — I'm not sure I'd want to herd kids through Roller Coaster Tycoon.

Virtual Learning: 25 Best Sims and Games For the Classroom

[College@Home via Water Cooler Games]

Yes, within the first few minutes of the game you'll find yourself tasked with taking a photo of a giant pile of elephant dung. Does it get better from there? Read on, brave adventurer.

Loved
Concept and Execution: Wander around the Serengeti taking pictures of the flora and fauna while learning an Animal Planet special's worth of interesting facts. At the end of each level your pictures are incorporated into an article covering the area you just visited. Simple, relaxing, and educational, with a great deal to see and a lot of interesting animal factoids to absorb.

The Sounds of the Serengeti: Sound seems to have been a focus in making the game, with the animals and environmental sounds aiding greatly to the illusion of exploring Africa. The music, all courtesy of world music label Talking Drum Records, is a lovely mix of traditional African sounds that set the atmosphere for the game nicely.

Hated
The Visuals: Wild Earth: African Safari is basically a port of a budget PC title from 2006, and thus it looks like a budget PC title from 2006. Muddy textures, simplistic terrain, polygons popping in and out of view. The animals do look lovely, but the rest of the world could use some serious work.

The Multiplayer: The multiplayer elements added to the Wii version of the title feel completely tacked on and aren't actually all that much fun, especially in the foot-based missions, which have one player walking and the other taking pictures. Imagine only being able to take pictures of what someone else is looking at. An exercise in frustration.

The Mini-Games: Another addition to the Wii version, the mini-games just aren't fun, with some of them feeling downright broken. The Flamingo dancing game, for instance, is supposed to play like DDR, with the Wiimote movements replacing dance steps, but the game can't seem to register movement correctly, making the mini-game useless.

Riding The Rails: While several assignments leave you free to roam the countryside as you please, a few find you riding on rails via a preset path, trying to snap your shots as the world passes by. It's a bit like Pokemon Snap for the Nintendo 64, only without the fast pace and charming characters that made that particular game work so well.

Wild Earth: African Safari is, at its core, a guided wildlife tour of the Serengeti National Park. Your well-spoken tour guides tell you what to shoot, when to shoot it, and the significance of what you are taking pictures of. You just look where they tell you and snap a quick picture of it. The original title was (and is) a fine example of what PC edutainment can be. The main problem with the Wii version is basically everything they've added to make Wild Earth appeal to the Wii audience.

If you're willing to ignore the extras and focus on the core gameplay, Wild Earth: African Safari is a relatively solid little learning title that should appeal to the type of folks who leave the cable box on Discovery or Animal Planet all day long, though they might be better served by picking up the cheaper PC version without the extra added crap.

Wild Earth: African Safari was developed by Super X Studios and published by Majesco, and was released on April 22nd. Retails for $29.99. Available on Nintendo Wii. Played singleplayer game to completion. Tested all mini-games. Dabbled in multiplayer.

With millions of CD ROMs sold in over 40 markets, we are confident that we will have good sales results with the new Pink Panther line of products. The games will allow kids in many countries to play our user friendly, high quality games and enjoy the fun of learning with the Pink Panther

MGM And Compedia Partner To Develop Pink Panther Interactive Games

New PC Games Hit Shelves this Fall/Preview at Leipzig GC 2007

Los Angeles, California (August 16, 2007) - This fall, Compedia, an industry leader in the international edutainment games market, will bring in some fun with the launch of a new line of the Pink Panther interactive games. Through the deal with MGM, Compedia will develop educational games for the CD-Rom format starring "the Pink Panther" touching subjects like the environment, preservation, and astronomy.

The Pink Panther interactive line will feature high quality graphics and animation, engaging activities and charming songs to make the learning experience more fun.

"With millions of CD ROMs sold in over 40 markets, we are confident that we will have good sales results with the new Pink Panther line of products. The games will allow kids in many countries to play our user friendly, high quality games and enjoy the fun of learning with the Pink Panther," said Mr. Shai Newman, CEO of Compedia. "Compedia is delighted to cooperate with MGM to bring quality family-friendly games to the market"

I love video games and I love the games industry, so I used to worry about this a lot. I wanted my games to find a home in the traditional commercial sector. I wanted to delight or impress my big league colleagues. I even thought that maybe one day my style of game would justify a place on the shelf next to their games. And maybe some day it will.

I still have nothing but respect for my more traditional industry colleagues, but I've stopped worrying about impressing the games industry and its pundits. Or at least, I've stopped worrying about impressing them first.

I gotta give a lot of these guys credit - defending a position gets old - so hopefully this issue will be put to bed for a while. Not every 'edutainment' game needs to aspire to Civilization, and a little more diversity in opinions and creativity rarely hurts.

Persuasive Games: How I Stopped Worrying About Gamers And Started Loving People Who Play Games [Gamasutra]

The project is called Teaching With Games and has the support of Take Two, EA, Microsoft, and the ISFE.

"I can definitely see the potential of using games in the classroom. It proved to be a great tool for motivating students and engaging their interest. I would like to use games for teaching in the future if the technical problems could be addressed," commented Claire Gemmell, a teacher at St John's School & Community College in Marlborough. The technical problems she's referring to involved licensing and copy protection issues that prevented some teachers from easily installing the software or running the games on school networks.

Games in the study included RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, Sims 2, and Knights of Honor.

I personally have been a proponent of regular old gaming (as opposed to educational games, which usually suck) as learning tool since I realized how savagely I fought to acquire the reading skills necessary to play adventure games when I was wee.

Games are set up to reward learning just as a basic tenet of play, so they're already ideal forms of teaching. What did you learn from gaming, my wee apelings, and how did it help you? Eliza Gauger

Study: Games Can Aid Learning at School [Gamedaily BIZ]

MMO intellectual blog the Daedalus Project reports that New York-based documentary makers, Pure West Docs, are making a film about MMOs called Second Skin, and they need YOU.

What they're looking for now are players who have had particular kinds of experiences in MMOs and wouldn't mind being interviewed for a documentary. Here's the kinds of players they are interested in interviewing:

- a couple that met in an MMO and are currently together in RL.
- a virtual world refugee: someone who was in an MMO that was shut down who can talk about how they and the community reacted.
- someone in a long-standing guild that has branches in different games, or has migrated through several games.
- a physically-handicapped person who plays MMOs and finds it to have a positive influence on their life.
- someone who feels that the virtual world offers a better life for them (financially or otherwise).
- an activist: someone who has organized or led a protest in a virtual world.
- someone who lives in the New York City area and has an interesting MMO story or experience

Now that your friends are utterly sick of your continual EQ2 blathering and have blocked both your IM names and your cell number, you can find new hope in people who actually give a damn. Eliza Gauger

Wanna Be Part of an MMO Documentary? [Daedalus Project]

Reuters reports that edutainment has more going for it these days than Reader Rabbit and Beavis, er, Mavis Beacon.

The idea appears to be gaining popularity. "Darfur is Dying," which allows players to avoid being killed in violence-plagued Sudan, was downloaded more than 750,000 times in the past two months. "Food Force," created by the World Food Program at the United Nations, has been downloaded off the Internet more than 2 million times.

I went to the Darfur is Dying website and was unable to download it, nor have I heard of it, or Food Force (what a hideous name) or any of the other listed games, so I wonder where these numbers are coming from.

I also wonder if a better tack would be to make an actual full-scale game, a good one at that, and donate part of the proceeds to the appropriate charity? I can see this working even for a small mod for an already popular title, such as Battlefield, for which the content is keyed to the crisis it represents.

More musing after the jump.

Imagine a survival horror game that takes place in Darfur, developed with the same art and quality as given to Resident Evil, Silent Hill or any realistic combat shooter. You play as a Good Guy who must assist refugees of various kinds to escape militia-occupied villages, cities and wilderness regions. Or you are one of these refugees, as in Dying in Darfur, perhaps with a child in tow, and the stakes are that much higher.

Being hunted by evil men through a benighted village, surrounded by your dead countrymen, would be every bit as terrifying as fleeing Shinto ghosts, armed only with a camera. Moreso, if executed correctly. Good games target emotional response, and they do it successfully. Being immersed in the situation in such a way would be the educational first step, and knowing that the purchase price (or part of it) went to the good cause in question would be the second. Actually doing something else to help would be a logical third.

Thanks for the tip, Dr. Menlo. Eliza Gauger

Game Designers Try to Help Save the World [CNET]