Knowledge Adventure, Inc. is an American maker of educational software including the Adiboo and JumpStart series of grade-based and subject-based titles, such as My First Encyclopedia.
Educational software is a term used for any computer software which is made for any educational purpose. It encompasses different ranges from language learning software to classroom management software to reference software, etc. The purpose of all this software is to make some part of education more effective and efficient.
JumpStart is an educational media franchise for children, consisting mostly of educational games, produced by Knowledge Adventure. The series originally consisted of a series of educational PC games but has since expanded to include workbooks, videos, iPad apps, and other media, including a massive multiplayer online game located at JumpStart.com, that were launched March 10, 2009.
The company was established in the late 1980s in Los Angeles, then later merged with another large education software firm, Davidson & Associates during the late 1990s. Davidson & Associates was well-known with its line-up of Math Blaster related games, as well as developing educational software for Fisher-Price.
Davidson & Associates, Inc. was an American developer of educational software based in Torrance, California. The company was founded in 1984 by husband-and-wife Bob and Jan Davidson, the latter of whom led the company as president until January 1997. Specializing in the production of edutainment software, the company was acquired by CUC International in February 1996 and served as the base for CUC's CUC Software division, being made responsible for the sales and distribution of the combined company.
Fisher-Price is an American company that produces educational toys for children and infants, headquartered in East Aurora, New York. Fisher-Price has been a subsidiary of Mattel since 1993.
Until 1994, KA (their slogan in the early years is "Have fun, Get smart" and their current slogan is "Discover. Learn. Excel.™") had created DOS games, including Knowledge Adventure: The Game, Mario Teaches Typing, Isaac Asimov's Science Adventure, Space Adventure, Mario is Missing!, Dinosaur Adventure, Mario's Time MachineImax's Speed, Undersea Adventure, 3D Dinosaur Adventure, Isaac Asimov's Science Adventure II, America Adventure, Kid's Zoo: A Baby Animal Adventure, 3D Body Adventure, Space Adventure II, Aviation Adventure, Bug Adventure, Imax's Discoverers, Magic Theater, My First Encyclopedia, Mario's Game Gallery, Mario Teaches Typing 2, Lionel Trains Presents:Trans Con! and Zurk's Learning Safari.
Isaac Asimov was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. He was known for his works of science fiction and popular science. Asimov was a prolific writer who wrote or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. His books have been published in 9 of the 10 major categories of the Dewey Decimal Classification.
Mario's Time Machine is an educational video game originally released for MS-DOS and then for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super NES consoles. The Software Toolworks both developed and published the MS-DOS and Super NES versions in 1993, while the NES version was developed by Radical Entertainment and published by The Software Toolworks in 1994. The MS-DOS version was re-released as Mario's Time Machine Deluxe in 1996.
Speed is a 1984 documentary written and directed by Greg MacGillivray of MacGillivray Freeman Films which chronicles the development of human technology as part of our desire to go faster than before.
Dr. Brain is a series of educational games made by Sierra On-Line in the 1990s. The objective of each game is solving a series of puzzles in order to proceed further into the game. The series was later picked up by Knowledge Adventure who turned it into a more action-oriented game.
Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration.
Bear in the Big Blue House is an American children's television series created by Mitchell Kriegman and produced by Jim Henson Television for Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney preschool television block. Debuting on October 20, 1997, it aired its last episode on April 28, 2006.
In late 2004, Vivendi sold Knowledge Adventure to a group of investors interested in taking a more active management strategy, and in developing new educational software. The company has since released new products under both the Jumpstart and Math Blaster brands.[citation needed]
On March 17, 2014, Knowledge Adventure Inc. purchased Neopets from Viacom.
Neopets is a virtual pet website. Users can own virtual pets ("Neopets"), and buy virtual items for them using one of two virtual currencies. One currency, called Neopoints, can be earned within the site, and the other, Neocash, can either be purchased with real-world money, or won by chance in-game.
Viacom Inc. is an American multinational mass media conglomerate company with interests primarily in film and television. It is currently the world's ninth largest media company in terms of revenue, and has headquarters in New York City. Voting control of Viacom is held by National Amusements, Inc., a privately owned theater company controlled by billionaire Sumner Redstone, who also holds a controlling stake in CBS Corporation.
On July 7, 2017, Knowledge Adventure Inc. was acquired by Chinese online game publisher NetDragon.[1]
Back-catalog digital re-releases
On November 25, 2014, five Knowledge Adventure titles were re-released digitally as DRM-Free exclusives on ZOOM-Platform.com through a partnership between JumpStart and the Jordan Freeman Group. The five titles included 3D Body Adventure, 3D Dinosaur Adventure, Dinosaur Adventure (Original), Space Adventure, and Undersea Adventure.
On March 6, 2015, another Knowledge Adventure title, Bug Adventure, was re-released digitally as a DRM-Free exclusive on ZOOM-Platform.com. This title was also released through the partnership between JumpStart and the Jordan Freeman Group. ZOOM-Platform.com indicated the game was released due to the "incredible reaction" they got to the first batch of Knowledge Adventure titles.[2]
Related Research Articles
Platform games, or platformers, are a video game genre and subgenre of action game. In a platformer the player controlled character must jump and climb between suspended platforms while avoiding obstacles. Environments often feature uneven terrain of varying height that must be traversed. The player often has some control over the height and distance of jumps to avoid letting their character fall to their death or miss necessary jumps. The most common unifying element of games of this genre is the jump button, but now there are other alternatives like swiping a touchscreen. Other acrobatic maneuvers may factor into the gameplay as well, such as swinging from objects such as vines or grappling hooks, as in Ristar or Bionic Commando, or bouncing from springboards or trampolines, as in Alpha Waves. These mechanics, even in the context of other genres, are commonly called platforming, a verbification of platform. Games where jumping is automated completely, such as 3D games in The Legend of Zelda series, fall outside of the genre.
Mario Is Missing! is a 1993 educational video game developed and published by The Software Toolworks for MS-DOS, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). A Macintosh version was released in 1994. The player controls Luigi, who must travel around the world to find and return stolen treasures as part of a quest to find his brother, Mario, who has been captured by Bowser. Mario Is Missing!, part of a series of educational Mario games, marked Luigi's first starring role in a video game, which would not occur again until 2001, when Luigi's Mansion was released on the Nintendo GameCube.
The Blaster Learning System is an educational video game series originally created by Davidson, but is now owned by Knowledge Adventure. Titles in the series have been produced for various computer systems, video game consoles, and as stand-alone handheld units. Originally, the series simply taught mathematics, but eventually expanded to other subjects, such as language arts (reading) and science. Due to the popularity of the original Math Blaster series, Davidson introduced Reading Blaster in 1994, which also went on to become successful.
Math Blaster Episode I: In Search of Spot an edutainment game in a line of educational products created by Davidson & Associates and a remake of their earlier New Math Blaster Plus! from 1991. Versions of the game were released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis as simply titled Math Blaster: Episode 1. The program was translated to Spanish and was published as Mates Blaster: En Busca de Positrón. A remake was done in 1996 released as "Mega Math Blaster". When Knowledge Adventure merged with Davidson & Associates in 1997 the game had a new makeover the follow year under the title Math Blaster: Ages 6-9. Finally it was repackaged as Math Blaster: 3rd Grade in 1999.
Undersea Adventure is an educational software program developed by Knowledge Adventure, released in 1993.
GOG.com is a digital distribution platform for video games and films. It is operated by GOG Sp. z o.o., a wholly owned subsidiary of CD Projekt based in Warsaw, Poland. GOG.com delivers DRM-free video games through its digital platform for Microsoft Windows, OS X and Linux. In March 2012, it began selling more recent titles such as Alan Wake, Assassin's Creed and the Metro Redux series, among many others.
JumpStart Kindergarten is an educational personal computer game developed by Fanfare Software and released by Knowledge Adventure on the MS-DOS platform in 1994 (v1.0). It was the first product released in the JumpStart series and, as its name suggests, it is intended to teach kindergarten students. It was ported to the Windows and Macintosh systems in 1995 (v1.2). It was updated with a new version in 1998 (v2.0). In 2000, the game was specially designed on VHS. That same year it was updated with additional content in a 2-CD Deluxe version in 2000 (v2.6), that included JumpStart Around the World. Eventually it was replaced in 2002 by JumpStart Advanced Kindergarten.
Zone Raiders is a futuristic vehicular combat video game for MS-DOS and Macintosh focused around hovercars. Developed by Image Space Incorporated and published by Virgin Interactive, it was released in North America in 1995. The music in the game was created by the band CONTAGIAN, of which some of the Virgin Studios Audio Department were members.
Math For The Real World is a 1997 educational video game published by Davidson and Associates and was intended to be the first in a "Real World" game series. In 1999 Davidson merged with the large educational software company Knowledge Adventure, with the new business becoming the publisher of the game in association with Kaplan Inc..
The Arthur video games franchise expanded into the interactive software space from the 1990s.
Math Blaster Mystery: The Great Brain Robbery, is a product in a line of educational products created by Davidson & Associates that takes place in a different universe from the original Math Blaster one. It has no relation to Davidson's earlier Apple II game "Math Blaster Mystery". The game was released in North America, Sweden and Spain. The game was remade in 1998 with the title "Math Blaster: Pre-Algebra". The game is regarded as a 'Review and Practice' type of software.
Math Blaster! is a 1983 educational video game, and the first entry in the Math Blaster series within the Blaster Learning System. The game was developed by former educator Jan Davidson. It would be remade and re-released a number of times starting with Math Blaster Plus! and followed by New Math Blaster Plus. A complete makeover over was done for Math Blaster Episode I: In Search of Spot in 1993.
Master Blaster Jr. is a 1996 educational video game, aimed at ages 4–7. The game was re-released as Math Blaster: Ages 4 - 6 in 1997.
3D Dinosaur Adventure is a 1993 educational interactive CD-ROM by Knowledge Adventure and released on DOS, Macintosh, and Windows 3.x.
Isaac Asimov's Science Adventure is an educational interactive CD-Rom. The game was later updated as Isaac Asimov's Science Adventure II. It is part of Knowledge Adventure's Adventure series.
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