Check out www.flixprod.com for a successful edutainment developer, Tom Guthery.

Hi folks,

I know some people have mentioned that no market exists for edutainment games.

Hehe, I'm planning on making a game for that niche market. Does anyone here have edutainment games out on the market?

If so, how are they doing?

My belief is that most of the edutainment games are so boring that they haven't compelled most parents to buy 'em. Looking at the success of edutainment franchises like "Jumpstart", I feel there is some opportunity there (when executed right).

Does anyone have information that challenges this notion?

Thanks,
FinishIWannaBeA...

As a corollary, who would have thought 10 years ago that the Baby Einstein videos would be such a huge success. The founder of that company started on a shoe string and learned everything as she went. Now there are dozens of edutainment video companies out there. IMHO, I think the trick in this niche is selling the parents the hope that your games will make their kids little Mozarts or Einsteins. And make the games fun for both _parent_ and child.

Sorry for the incorrect ordering of the first two posts in this thread. I had to make some changes to the server, so it had an incorrect time for a short period, which is why some messages posted during that time may appear slightly out of order.

What did a 30 day trial period for some of your shareware server software expire and you had to set your clock back to keep using it? ;) (*playful poke*)

Funny guy!

My impression of the edutainment market is that it seems to be more brand-driven than other segments of the entertainment software market. For instance, all of the major commercial edutainment titles I've seen have a strong tie-in with some other well-known franchise (usually from television, such as Sesame Street, Little Bear, etc.). Of course, that's only part of it. The keys to success (I believe) are:
1. Building a strong brand, usually in the form of a likeable character or group of characters. Microsoft tried to do that with their Clippy character, but they didn't get it right and ended up annoying a lot of users.
2. Attracting parents by convincing them that your title will be both fun and educational--but not *too* educational. I think the Baby Einstein and Baby Mozart video tapes are popular because their very name suggests the possibility of greatness in any child --and what parent wants to be accused of ignoring the development of the next Einstein?--and yet they don't require a lot of interaction, especially by the parents. Basically, emphasize the fun and throw in a little learning to make parents feel good about it.
3. Make a series of titles that work together. When parents see that there is a "complete" series of titles that takes their child from 123 and primary colors to integral calculus and abstract art, they are looking at the modern day equivalent of the encyclopedia set, which my parents' generation found irresistable.

I'm sure this isn't a complete list, but this is what I've come up with in my research into this market. This is in addition to the stuff common to selling anything (marketing, advertising, etc), of course, and probably isn't any more important than that common stuff. I'm not currently working on an edutainment title, but I certainly haven't ruled it out in the future.

Originally posted by kerchen
I'm sure this isn't a complete list, but this is what I've come up with in my research into this market. This is in addition to the stuff common to selling anything (marketing, advertising, etc), of course, and probably isn't any more important than that common stuff. I'm not currently working on an edutainment title, but I certainly haven't ruled it out in the future. [/B]

Another thing to add to the list...

It needs to keep the kids busy for a while. Parents expect a game to last for 20-30 hours.