What a killer idea!  Now all we need are programmers, 3D wizzes, animatronics to get them to move
right, someone to kill, and a distributor.  Yeesh!

Well who ever decides to create this, let me know.  I am behind you 100 percent.

Aaron
--- Indigo Nights <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Lori and I are having a bit of a backchannel
> discussion.  In the course of responding to her, I
> have just come up with an idea and thought I'd throw
> it out to the group.
>
> Let me predicate this idea by saying I spent TONS of
> time working with young people as my children were
> growing up.  I will never forget the time we Girl
> Scout Leaders took our Troop to the now defunct
> Marineland.  We were so excited about giving the girls
> the opportunity to see the marine life.
>
> So what did the girls want to do, and what did they
> remember about the day?
>
> Well, besides the memory of watching all four leaders
> "bombed" by the seagulls (ewww), their biggest memory
> was of all the really cool video games they got to
> play with.
>
> We take them to see whales, sharks, and such; they're
> more excited about Ms. Pac Man and Donkey Kong (ok, so
> it's been a while).
>
> My son, his girlfriend, and my nephew are all
> 23--oops, my neff turned 24 today--and you know what
> they love to do?  You got it.  Play video games.
>
> The aforementioned grandkids are even into it.  A
> coworker gave me his son's hand-me-down Sega system
> for the 5-year old, and he and his parents often can
> be found playing with it.
>
> Me, on the other hand, I've refused to do the hands on
> thing with video games because I know, for a fact, I'd
> get addicted.
>
> So, with that as the predicate, and given our concern
> about adding to the customer base (as a way of
> increasing salaries) and teaching others to love what
> we love . . .
>
> HAS ANYBODY HERE THOUGHT about putting together a
> video game that is interactive, fast-paced,
> multiplayer, participatory, that involves a child or
> other lead character getting through multiple museums?
>
> The way I see this, it would be a collaborative
> effort.  Pictures of what can be found at the museums
> could be included in the video game (could be for one
> of the big brands and/or it could be for PC/Mac
> whatever).
>
> The lead character--and they should be able to pick
> between a male or female icon depending upon their own
> gender--would have some sort of a mission that
> involves rescuing treasures from different types of
> musuems (natural history, art, science,
> archaeological, you name it).  They should have to
> visit at least three types and earn bonus points for
> the items they preserve (maybe even a little
> information about what that takes).
>
> They could create their own archive so that their
> score is saved (enter their first name).  Each time
> they retrieve an artifact, it is added to their
> collection.
>
> You would need to have many different museums
> (different cities, countries, etc.) to keep it going
> and fresh for the kids, and, with the archiving
> process, they could trade items for what they need in
> their collection.  Some sort of a goal.
>
> Copies of the game could be distributed free to
> schools, with coupons available for printing for kids
> who wanted to purchase it for home use.
>
> If my grandbrats and their parents are playing video
> games together, what's to stop other parent/child
> teams from getting involved?  I'm thinking of
> something almost like a Laura Croft, Tomb Raider,
> adventure could be employed for parts of this.
>
> Once the children are given exposure to these museums
> in something that is fun, it is liable to spur
> familial curiousity.  Families looking for a place to
> vacation MAY be willing to include Museums in the
> itineraries--and these should not be just the majors,
> though clearly some of them should be included as
> options.
>
> I'm thinking a resourceful collaborative effort could
> pull this off with the help of some sort of a Museums
> whiz kid--like uh, let's just hypothetically say ROY
> HEMMAT of http://www.museumstuff.com
>
> I'm guessing you could get a grant or grants to fund
> this because of the educational involvement. Example:
> If you included museums that are integral for school
> curricula (like fourth graders in CA study California
> Missions, so throw one of those in there, and fifth
> graders study US History, so an historical museum that
> recreates America's story would work.  For science,
> maybe a planetarium or Cape Kennedy/Canaveral or
> whatever).
>
> Now, what are YOUR thoughts about this idea?  Anybody
> want to run with it?
>
> What are the motives here?  Increase awareness, bring
> museums back into or at least into the lives of a lot
> of Americans, and possibly increase funding, which
> could equate to salaries.
>
> Are there any potential losses?
>
>
>
> =====
> Indigo Nights
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
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=====
www.aaronmarcavitch.com
Webmaster, VAF (www.vernaculararchitecture.org)
Webmaster, ADM (www.americandinermuseum.org)
Co-Webmaster, RPPN (www.recentpast.org)
Grad. Student Caucus Chair, Am. Assoc of History & Computing

M.A. (Public) History, Middle TN St. Univ

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If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).