Carmen Sandiego Word Detective

Last updated
Carmen Sandiego Word Detective
Word Detective cover.jpg
Cover art
Developer(s) Brøderbund
Publisher(s) Brøderbund
Series Carmen Sandiego
Platform(s) Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
Release1997
Genre(s) Educational
Mode(s) Single-player

Carmen Sandiego Word Detective is a game in the Carmen Sandiego franchise which was released in 1997. The plot of the game sees Carmen Sandiego inventing a machine called the Babble-On Machine, and the player, in the role of Agent 13, thwarting her plans by freeing the other ACME agents, all of whom have been captured by Carmen. The title is very similar in format to Carmen Sandiego Math Detective , which was released a year later.

Contents

Gameplay and plot

The intro to this "spy adventure" [1] starts off with Agent 12 (Ann Tickwitee) discovering Carmen's hideout, a large tower called the Tower of Babble, which emerges from underneath her. Under the orders of ACME secret agent Chase Devineaux, she creeps inside only to find herself trapped in a machine and starts to babble. Carmen enters and explains that she has invented a "Babble-On" machine that turns speech into gibberish, having already captured the previous eleven agents. She reveals her grand plan to achieve world illiteracy. She then sends the keys to the Babble-One machine to her henchmen. The player takes the role of Agent 13, who has just been called onto the case by Chase. Agent 13 must free all twelve captured agents in order to stop Carmen's plan. To free each agent, the player uses the CyberCom 2000 to travel between a number of henchmen hideouts via teleportation to find passwords, narrowly avoiding being caught by the villains. The player uncovers these passwords by completing language problems (Spellanyzer, Fusion Chamber, MicroPix, Code Breaker, and Power Pack) testing the player's vocabulary, grammar, and spelling. [2]

After finding enough passwords, the player can unlock a container in one of the hideouts to get a key needed to free the agents. After obtaining a key, a villain tries to attack the player, but they manage to escape in time. Throughout the game, each agent gives the player a fragment of Babble-On's password before leaving. The player also receive emails, some of them come with videos, from Chase and Carmen at some points. After freeing all the agents, the player is able to trigger a self-destruct sequence by entering the password fragments in a cohesive sentence. As Carmen activates the machine, she finds that it is no longer operational. Vowing revenge, Carmen and the player escape the building as it collapses and Chase finds her hat amongst the rubble, commenting "until we meet again Carmen" before flying away on a hi-tech jetpack. [1]

The game comes with many bonus features, including three levels of difficulty, an electronic dictionary, 10,000 spelling words, customizable spelling lists, 50 spelling rules, and an on-screen progress reports. [3] The School Edition of the game came with a three-ring binder to hold the software, a User's Guide, a custom-developed Teacher's Guide, and a resource book Spelling Puzzles from the Usborne English Skills series. [4]

Production

Background

By 1996, the consumer software market had become hugely competitive. Broderbund was forced to cut their prices, and were also affected by the delay of the sequel to Myst which they were to publish. Their stock dropped as low as $17.75 a share in 1997. In an effort to restructure, packaged goods veteran Joseph P. Durrett was named as Broderbund CEO who put in control measures and a management structure focused on the bottom line. In his words: "The days of flexible budgets and free spending were quickly replaced by a cost consciousness that put every creative decision under scrutiny". For the first time in Broderbund history, employees were pressured to complete projects using tighter deadlines and smaller budgets. In addition to squeezed margins, Broderbund was frustrated that their own success had attracted many competitors into the market. Despite flashy marketing, these were often inferior products demanding a high price. There was a fear that parents, upset by the wasted purchase, would become more sceptical about purchasing computer games in the future. [5]

Word Workshop and conception

According to Laurie Strand, Vice president of Broderbund, Carmen Sandiego Word Detective "began as an educational game called "Word Workshop", a language-learning companion to the company's popular " Math Workshop [released in 1994]"". [5] The game had undergone an intense six months of design and development and was near completion, when management approached the team and ordered that the game be redesigned as a line extension of the Carmen Sandiego franchise to improve its chance in the stores where shelf space was being fought over. Mrs Strand called the team into the room and explained they had to redo all the game's assets in the context of Carmen Sandiego, which they proceeded to do without objection. The production manager rallied the creative team for the first meeting after the design change. [5] Eight staffers and outside contractors, consisting of artists, writers, software designers and programmers met to brainstorm a narrative that would allow the game to fit into the franchise. Someone suggested that Carmen steal the unstealable - language - who would scramble words that the player would have to solve to foil her plan. A freelance writer who was brought in for the meeting suggested introducing a new secret agent character who had a checkered past but ultimately helped the player, which was incorporated. [5]

Development and release

Once the storyline was in place, the production manager drew up a mission statement and gave assignments to the team, including writing the script and creating the audiovisual assets. Someone suggested sponsoring a contest on America Online to name the new character, an approach that eventually led to him being called 'Chase Devineaux'. The artists began drawing the characters and 20 contract animators from around the United States were hired to assist with the time-consuming task. A design document was drawn up to ensure a cohesiveness aesthetic across the various locations the player can visit. [5] The game's structure broke away from the template established in previous entries within the franchise, and therefore new software code had to be written. To accommodate the game's 8 through 14 age range, levels of difficulty were offered for players to advance through. During production, educational content was reviewed by a panel of teachers who served as advisers. Prototypes were built at each step along the development process, and two-hour meetings were held each week to chart the game's progress. The title went into full production within six months, which was about a third the usual time. While the employees were not paid royalties, they were given competitive salaries and bonuses and made the game from their passion in the art and science of gaming to produce high-quality software. The game was released late 1997. [5]

Aftermath

Broderbund at the time prided itself on having a "very vocal and opinionated culture" which encouraged team-based collaboration, with individuals having "spirited and heated discussions" about aspects of development. Strand appreciated that her team had a shared vision and an ability to respect each other's disciplines, with the team feeling creatively fulfilled by bringing characters from their childhood to life in a computer game. Harry Wilker, senior vice president for product development at Broderbund, commented that the goal was only able to reached through everyone following a singular design vision, for the person with that vision to be in control, and by hiring talent over self-aggrandizing types. [5]

Critical reception

Learning Village felt that the five minigames "cover...an excellent range of basic and important skills in language arts [and are] visually engaging", with the game offering both a sleuthing and chase experience. [1] MultiMedia Schools noted the title's instructional allowed it to produce "significant growth" in students and improve their attitude toward language arts. [9] PC Mag noted the game favors education over detailed graphics, animation, and action, though added it was able to frame tedious drills within an engaging setting. [10] Literacy for Children in an Information Age noted the title's ability to teach parts of speech, sentence structure, punctuation, using words in context, spelling rules, word definitions, and dictionary skills. [11] Ann Orr of Working Mother recommended the software as one of the best computer game "homework helpers" of 1998, noting the playful way it expands vocabularies. [12] Technological Horizons In Education described he game's interface as "intuitive and highly imaginative". [13] THE Journal wrote that "the interface, like all Carmen Sandiego titles, is intuitive and highly imaginative, setting just the right atmosphere for a would-be detective". [14] Technology & Learning awarded Word Detective in the language arts category, noting it "makes usually dry grammatical information intriguing, and that it is a great accompaniment to a language arts program". [15]

The game won the 1998 Codie award for Best Home Education for Pre-Teens. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broderbund</span> American software company

Broderbund Software, Inc. was an American maker of video games, educational software, and productivity tools. Broderbund is best known for the 8-bit video game hits Choplifter, Lode Runner, Karateka, and Prince of Persia, as well as The Print Shop—originally for printing signs and banners on dot matrix printers—and the Myst and Carmen Sandiego games. The company was founded in Eugene, Oregon, and moved to San Rafael, California, then later to Novato, California. Broderbund was purchased by SoftKey in 1998.

<i>Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?</i> American animated television series (1994–1996)

Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? is an American live action/animated television series based on the series of computer games. The show was produced by DIC Productions L.P. and originally aired from February 5, 1994 to November 1, 1996 on Saturday mornings during FOX's Fox Kids Network block. Reruns aired on Fox Family Channel from 1998 to 1999, and the Qubo television network from June 9, 2012 to May 26, 2018.

<i>Carmen Sandiego</i> (video game series) American educational mystery video game series

Carmen Sandiego is a series of American educational mystery video games that spawned an edutainment franchise of the same name. The game released in 1985, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, started off both the video game series and the franchise as a whole, which has continued up to the present day. Each game of the series has a particular theme and subject, where the player must use their knowledge to find Carmen Sandiego or any of her innumerable henchmen. This series was originally owned by Broderbund, but is now owned by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Since its initial release the series has won over 125 awards and accolades.

<i>Carmen Sandiego</i> Media franchise

Carmen Sandiego is a media franchise based on a series of computer video games created by the American software company Broderbund. While the original 1985 Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? video game was classified as a "mystery exploration" series by creators and the media, the series would later be deemed edutainment when the games became unexpectedly popular in classrooms. The franchise centers around the fictional thieving villain of the same name, who is the ringleader of the criminal organization V.I.L.E.; the protagonists are agents of the ACME Detective Agency who try to thwart the crooks' plans to steal treasures from around the world, while the later ultimate goal is to capture Carmen Sandiego herself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carmen Sandiego (character)</span> Fictional thief

Carmen Isabella Sandiego is a fictional character featured in a long-running edutainment video games series of the same name created by the American software company Broderbund. As an international lady thief, a criminal mastermind, and the elusive nemesis of the ACME Detective Agency, Carmen Sandiego is the principal character of the video game series and the head of ACME's rival organization, V.I.L.E. She is depicted as an extremely intelligent, stylish, fashionable woman whose signature look features a red, matching fedora and trenchcoat. Many of her crimes depicted in the games involve spectacular and often impossible cases of monument theft, which are used as a pretext to teach children geography via the simulated process of tracking down the character, the stolen monuments, and her accomplices all over the world with her sidekicks Zack and Ivy.

<i>Carmen Sandiegos ThinkQuick Challenge</i> 1999 video game

Carmen Sandiego's ThinkQuick Challenge is a "game show-themed" edutainment computer game for kids ages 8–12. The title, which is a part of the Carmen Sandiego franchise, was released by The Learning Company on June 1, 1999. It can be played by up to 4 players, and runs on the Mohawk engine.

<i>Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?</i> (video game) 1989 computer and video game

Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? is a multiplatform video game where players have to travel through time to collect clues and the warrants necessary to capture Carmen Sandiego or her henchmen. The goal of this game is to track Carmen's villains through history and arrest them and ultimately arrest Carmen herself.

<i>Carmen Sandiegos Great Chase Through Time</i> 1997 edutainment video game

Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time is a 1997 edutainment point-and-click adventure game developed by Broderbund for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh devices. The game is a remake of the 1989 time-travel title Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?, making it the second Time video game in the Carmen Sandiego franchise. The game was strongly influenced by the short-lived PBS game show, Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?. The game was previewed at the 1997 Toy Fair in New York City. A demo version was included on the CD for Carmen Sandiego Word Detective and was available on the Carmen Sandiego website. After Broderbund was sold to The Learning Company, the game was re-released with the new title - Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time - but with minimal redesign.

<i>Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?</i> (1996 video game) 1996 video game

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? is a 1996 video game part of the Carmen Sandiego franchise. It was the third version of the game, after the 1985 original title of the same name and a 1992 Deluxe version of said game. The game's release coincided on the heels of the end of the PBS game show, and features QuickTime videos of Lynne Thigpen reprising her role as "The Chief". This was the last version of the game to follow the "classic" formula of the series, but much of the game, especially the "warrant" portion, was heavily redesigned. The Deluxe Edition released in 1998 added speech welcoming the player to each country and an "ACME Global Language Link-Up" satellite which quizzed the user on the local language. Players also received a spy watch and "an introduction to 12 foreign languages".

<i>Carmen Sandiego: Junior Detective</i> 1995 Windows/MacOS video game

Carmen Sandiego: Junior Detective is a 1995 education game in the Carmen Sandiego franchise developed by Broderbund. Although not a version of Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? by name, it is essentially a simplified version of it for pre-readers. Allgame says the game "is geared for younger users, with only 14 cases to solve". The lead characters of the FOX animated series Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?, Zack and Ivy, were included in the game, along with Stretch - "ACME's crime-tracking dog".

<i>Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?</i> (1985 video game) 1985 video game

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? is an educational video game released by Broderbund on April 23, 1985. It is the first product in the Carmen Sandiego franchise. The game was distributed with The World Almanac and Book of Facts, published by Pharos Books. An enhanced version of the game was released in 1989, which did not have the almanac-based copy protection and instead used disk-based copy protection. A deluxe version was released in 1990, and featured additional animation and a reworked interface from the original version. Some of the bonus features included digitized photos from National Geographic, over 3200 clues, music from the Smithsonian/Folkways Recordings, 20 villains, 60 countries, and 16 maps. CD-ROM versions for MS-DOS and Mac were released in 1992. A Windows version was released in 1994.

<i>Where in the U.S.A. Is Carmen Sandiego?</i> (1986 video game) 1986 video game

Where in the U.S.A. Is Carmen Sandiego? is an educational video game released by Broderbund in 1986 and is part of the Carmen Sandiego series. The game is a sequel to 1985's Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?. A deluxe version with updated graphics and interface was released in 1992 and a remade version was released in 1996. The goal of the game is to track Carmen Sandiego's henchmen across the United States, arrest them, and ultimately arrest Carmen herself. The game received generally positive reviews but some critics compared it unfavorably with its predecessor game, which had a global perspective.

<i>Carmen Sandiego Math Detective</i> 1998 video game

Carmen Sandiego Math Detective is a 1998 Carmen Sandiego video game. It is similar in structure to Carmen Sandiego Word Detective, which was released a year before.

<i>Where in Americas Past Is Carmen Sandiego?</i> 1991 video game

Where in America's Past Is Carmen Sandiego? is the 5th educational video game in the Carmen Sandiego series. It was produced by Broderbund and released in 1991.

<i>Where in Space Is Carmen Sandiego?</i> 1993 video game

Where in Space Is Carmen Sandiego? is an educational video game by Broderbund and Electronic Arts.

<i>Where in Europe Is Carmen Sandiego?</i> 1988 educational video game

Where in Europe Is Carmen Sandiego? is a 1988 European geography-based educational computer game in the Carmen Sandiego detective mystery franchise. It was originally published by Broderbund in 1988 for Apple II, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS, and ported to the Amiga and Mac in 1989. It is the third Carmen Sandiego title, after Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (1985) and Where in the USA Is Carmen Sandiego? (1986). Under the guidance of The Acme Agency's chief, the player completes cases to catch Carmen's henchmen; they accomplish this by traveling to European cities to find clues relating to the crook's last known whereabouts, and by gaining enough character data to issue a warrant of arrest. Once the player has captured all 15 thieves, they can pursue Carmen herself.

<i>Where in North Dakota Is Carmen Sandiego?</i> 1989 video game

Where in North Dakota Is Carmen Sandiego? is a 1989 educational video game. It is the fourth game in the Carmen Sandiego video game series after World (1985), U.S.A. (1986), and Europe (1988). Having observed the popularity of the Carmen Sandiego franchise in the education of school children, educators were inspired to develop a North Dakota version to teach North Dakotans about their state's history and geography.

Carmen Sandiego Days have been popular across United States schools since they were first held in 1988. Inspired by the Carmen Sandiego franchise, these days see schools hold week-long Carmen Sandiego-themed events, aided by packs and prizes originally provided by Broderbund, and later by the franchises' subsequent owners after The Learning Company's acquisition of Broderbund in 1998. The 30th Carmen Sandiego Day took place on January 8, 2018.

<i>Carmen Sandiego</i> (TV series) 2019 animated television series

Carmen Sandiego is an animated action-adventure television series with educational elements, based on the media franchise of the same name created by Broderbund. The series is produced by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt with WildBrain serving as the production company, and contains a "serialized look at Carmen's backstory that is told from her perspective". Serving as an origin story for the fictional thieving villain of the same name, it is the fourth Carmen Sandiego television show after the PBS game shows Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? and Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?, and the Fox Kids animated series Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?; it is also the first Carmen Sandiego related show since the end of Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego in 1999.

<i>Carmen Sandiego in Japan</i> 1989 video game

Carmen Sandiego in Japan – Hannin Sagashite Nihon Zenkoku is a 1989 spin-off entry in the Carmen Sandiego franchise. It was developed and published by Broderbund Japan on two floppy disks for the NEC PC-9801 Series 525in. The title functions as both an adventure game where players chase and capture Carmen, and an educational game where players learn about geography and history of Japan. The title was released on November 21, 1989, one of the few titles released under the Broderbund Japan brand that year alongside tabletop Shufflepuck Café and shooter Wings of Fury (September).

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Carmen Sandiego Word Detective". Learning Village. Archived from the original on December 26, 2011. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
  2. ↑ ""Carmen Sandiego Word Detective" by Finley, Sally - MultiMedia Schools, Vol. 5, Issue 4, September/October 1998".[ dead link ]
  3. ↑ "Carmen San Diego Word Detective". Kidsclick. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Carmen Sandiego Word Detective". Archived from the original on 1998-04-24. Retrieved 2017-03-05.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rifkin, Glenn. "Competing Through Innovation: The Case of Broderbund". strategy+business. Retrieved 2018-12-29.
  6. 1 2 "SIIA Codie Awards Past Winners". www.siia.net. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  7. ↑ "The Learning Company - Carmen Sandiego Word Detective" . Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Carmen Sandiego Word Detective".
  9. ↑ ""Carmen Sandiego Word Detective" by Finley, Sally - MultiMedia Schools, Vol. 5, Issue 4, September/October 1998".[ dead link ]
  10. ↑ Strasberg, Julie (1998-09-01). "PC Magazine at Home: School Tools". PC Magazine. Vol. 17, no. 15. Ziff Davis, Inc. p. 331-332. Retrieved 2024-11-03– via Google Books.
  11. ↑ Cohen, Vicki; Cowen, John (2007-01-26). Literacy for Children in an Information Age: Teaching Reading, Writing, and Thinking. Cengage Learning. ISBN   9780534611194.
  12. ↑ Working Mother. Working Mother Media. September 1998.
  13. ↑ Schneider, Jim; Willis, William (1998-04-01). "Focus on Language Arts". THE Journal. 25 (9): 22. ISSN   0192-592X. Archived from the original on 2018-12-29. Retrieved 2018-12-29.
  14. ↑ Willis, William; Schneider, Jim (April 1998). "Software: Focus on language arts". THE Journal. 25 (9): 22 – via EBSCOhost.
  15. ↑ "Additional Award Winners 1998-99 Software Awards". Technology & Learning. Vol. 19, no. 4. EBSCOhost. 1998-11-01. p. 28. ISSN   1053-6728.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.