GeoSafari

Geosafari is an educational toy company that markets technological educational toys, including the Geosafari Globe and the Phonics Lab. It has been in existence since 1962.[1]

GeoSafari
Owned byEducational Insights, Inc.
Official website
www.educationalinsights.com/category/our-brands/all-geosafari.do

The GeoSafari was an educational toy released in 1987 by the National Geographic Society, and later the Educational Insights company. It originally cost $99.95.[2] The system used two-sided, laminated cards that fit into the front of the machine. The center of the card had numbered elements that were the answers, and the sides of the card had a list of questions or prompts. The device would turn on a light next to a random question, and the user would type in the number of the answer element. After all the questions were answered, it would present a score. Card topics included history, geography, math, astronomy, zoology, anatomy, geology, science, foreign languages, reading, and various others. Several versions were released through the 1990s, but Educational Insights no longer produces the GeoSafari.

Video games

In 1995, Educational Insights developed a computer product titled Microsoft Bob, which incorporated the first GeoSafari quiz game, published by Microsoft Corporation and released under the Microsoft Home group.[3] The following year, Education Insights developed other quiz games with a completely new interface independent of the Microsoft Bob framework and compatible on both Windows and Macintosh. Each game was about a specific topic:

  • GeoSafari Animals (October 1995)
  • GeoSafari Geography (1995)
  • GeoSafari History (1995)
  • GeoSafari Science (1995)
  • GeoSafari Knowledge Pad: The Plato Collection (2001)

The games are narrated by Richie Havens.[4] In those quiz games, there could be up to four players. A player would then pick a sub-topic out of a collection concerning the relevant topic. During the gameplay a player is asked a question, provided with facts and clues and then has to pick one out of several multiple choice answers in a limited time to score points. The player would have three chances to get the question right. Upon running out of time, getting the answer wrong or choosing to show answer, the player would be shown the actual answer with no points scored. Upon completing all the questions, the player's score would be totalled. Getting a perfect score would grant the player a medal. If a player gets medals for all the sub-topics of the game topic, the player is awarded a trophy.

On March 1995, GeoSafari Geography, History and Science were packaged together with Microsoft Bob on a CD titled "GeoSafari Multimedia".[4]

References
  1. "GeoSafari - Educational Insights". Archived from the original on July 22, 2001. Retrieved July 23, 2017.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  2. http://www.drtoy.com/1998_c/educational.html
  3. Frear, Suzanne (May 1995). "Say "Hello" To Bob". Electronic Entertainment. No. 17. IDG Communications. p. 23.
  4. Paul, Fredric (April 1995). "Take A GeoSafari". Electronic Entertainment. No. 16. IDG Communications. p. 34.
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