National Geographic has partnered with Microsoft to create Kinect Nat Geo TV, combining National Geographic’s Wild TV with Kinect sensors. Viewers will get to experience the action of an episode by exploring and learning more about the plants, creatures, and places featured.
I believe the closest I got to this kind of gaming experience when I was younger was Amazon Trail and The Oregon Trail. In one, I hit sandbars and bought poison darts, while in the other I tried my darnedest to keep my party alive. Kinect Nat Geo TV appears to keep the fun parts of those games (the exploring, the cool animals, the learning bits) without all of the unnecessary tension of dying from dysentery. Although I wish they could put some poison darts in there somewhere, just to keep things lively. You’ll be looking around the wilderness with your guide, and then when their back is turned, you blow dart them in the neck!
Kinect Nat Geo TV will feature Brady Barr, the host of Dangerous Encounters and Casey Anderson, the host of America the Wild. I’m guessing the second show mostly features squirrels. Not a lot of strange creatures in the US, except for the occasional grumpy raccoon. Each 30 minute episode includes interactive activities, access to archived episodes, and a role-playing family game that “turns living rooms into forests and transforms kids into animals or reptiles,” I’m assuming they get to turn back into humans once the game is over. If not, I’m sensing a sequel. Or a new show on National Geographic, Living with the Lizard Family. They’re just like you! Except they’re cold-blooded, covered in scales, and eat rodents.
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