National Geographic enters video game market

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National Geographic announced today, the creation of National Geographic Games, a new division dedicated to the development of video games for major consoles and computers, as well as mobile and hand held devices.

The division will be headed by Paul Levine, senior vice president of the extended platforms group at National Geographic Ventures, alongside former Take2 Interactive and Bethesda Software executive, Chris Mate, who has joined as the vice president and general manager of National Geographic Games.

According to Paul Levine, the new division aims to develop "fun games that allow gamers of all ages to experience and explore their world through play". Levine said, "our global audiences love to play games, and we plan on creating games in-house as well as working with leading global publishers to develop entertaining games that engage those audiences in a relevant way".

The first game, "Herod's Lost Tomb", has already been released for free, and will be available via the National Geographic website as a flash game, with a downloadable version available for the PC, Mac and iPhone, that will include more features and content.

The first games for the consoles are expected to come out this month, with "National Geographic: Africa" for the Playstation 3, and "National Geographic: Panda" for the Nintendo DS. According to Levine, "National Geographic: Panda" is somewhere between "Nintendogs"and "Zoo Tycoon".

Future games will include "Sudoku Traveller: China", which is due out this December, as well as three more games to be released in 2009.

#1 NateB on 18 Nov 2008 - 14:06

Nothing for the 360!?!?! shocked, I am SHOCKED.

(2 replies) #2 Trauma on 18 Nov 2008 - 14:17

the xbox360 demographic is not their target group as it seems.

#2.1 bdsams on 18 Nov 2008 - 14:32

and the x360 demo is different from the PS3 demo how?

#2.2 IceBreakerG on 18 Nov 2008 - 14:42

Well, for one, the Xbox 360 demographic likes to play games more than movies

#3 ripgut on 18 Nov 2008 - 14:20

They don't want to spread themselves too thin, if these games don't sell well, well then at least they'd be ok. If they do sell alot, then we might see the 360 and possibly the PSP involved too.

#4 spacer on 18 Nov 2008 - 14:58

They're too late. The new Tomb Raider and Far Cry 2 are already out.

#5 Marshalus on 18 Nov 2008 - 15:01

Must have paid that Chris Mate guy some big bucks to get him to leave Take 2 or Bethesda Software (which ever he was at last) to head up games from NatGeo.

(1 reply) #6 Dave on 18 Nov 2008 - 15:11

I was wondering when someone would end up putting out an updated version of "Oregon Trail" and "Where in the World is Carmen Sandeigo?". At long last the wait is over.

To be serious you'll forgive my being a little skeptical

#6.1 generic mike on 21 Nov 2008 - 20:47

The African Experiance
-experiance the unstable life of an average African citizen. Now with more AIDS and guns.

COMING SOON!

#7 Jdawg683 on 18 Nov 2008 - 18:04

wow this is going to be fun... "African Safari Picture Taking" on PS3 and 360

#8 RPDL on 19 Nov 2008 - 02:36

For all ages? Screw that! I want a first-person open-world game where you hunt down poachers and observe wild animals in a dynamic environment complete with food chain and the human influence! EXTREME animal violence, like we see on television!

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