NASA MMO

[9mak9]

Another "learning" game; similar to the America's Army game

http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/956/956345p1.html

"...the gameplay is actually about being in a habitat on a planetary surface and doing things like mining Helium-3 for fuel, operating a hydroponics facility to grow plants and create oxygen and operating robots and vehicles," Jerry Heneghan, Virtual Heroes founder and CEO said to Big Downloads

 

[CrazyLazy]

Why the hell is NASA spending money making video games? The Army I get, they need a recruitment tool and the video game does that. As far as I can tell NASA is just doing it for shits and giiggles.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: CrazyLazy
Why the hell is NASA spending money making video games? The Army I get, they need a recruitment tool and the video game does that. As far as I can tell NASA is just doing it for shits and giiggles.

Um . . . .publicity?

There was an article on Phoronix I saw recently about how the NASA MMO would likely have a native linux client as well.

 

[lupi]

Originally posted by: Bateluer

Originally posted by: CrazyLazy
Why the hell is NASA spending money making video games? The Army I get, they need a recruitment tool and the video game does that. As far as I can tell NASA is just doing it for shits and giiggles.

Um . . . .publicity?

There was an article on Phoronix I saw recently about how the NASA MMO would likely have a native linux client as well.

yep, it's a government funded entity so good publicity goes a long way.

 

[CrazyLazy]

Originally posted by: lupi

Originally posted by: Bateluer

Originally posted by: CrazyLazy
Why the hell is NASA spending money making video games? The Army I get, they need a recruitment tool and the video game does that. As far as I can tell NASA is just doing it for shits and giiggles.

Um . . . .publicity?

There was an article on Phoronix I saw recently about how the NASA MMO would likely have a native linux client as well.

yep, it's a government funded entity so good publicity goes a long way.

I guess I would like to think that my hard earned tax dollars are used for more than trying to convince me NASA is a great organization.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: CrazyLazy

Originally posted by: lupi

Originally posted by: Bateluer

Originally posted by: CrazyLazy
Why the hell is NASA spending money making video games? The Army I get, they need a recruitment tool and the video game does that. As far as I can tell NASA is just doing it for shits and giiggles.

Um . . . .publicity?

There was an article on Phoronix I saw recently about how the NASA MMO would likely have a native linux client as well.

yep, it's a government funded entity so good publicity goes a long way.

I guess I would like to think that my hard earned tax dollars are used for more than trying to convince me NASA is a great organization.

Yeah, they're definitely better spent giving bank executives LA and Las Vegas parties with Sheryl Crow.

 

[Molondo]

Originally posted by: lupi

Originally posted by: Bateluer

Originally posted by: CrazyLazy
Why the hell is NASA spending money making video games? The Army I get, they need a recruitment tool and the video game does that. As far as I can tell NASA is just doing it for shits and giiggles.

Um . . . .publicity?

There was an article on Phoronix I saw recently about how the NASA MMO would likely have a native linux client as well.

yep, it's a government funded entity so good publicity goes a long way.

Where is the recruiting office for nasa, im so there!

oh wait..

 

[T9D]

...

 

[Newbian]

Originally posted by: v1001
I'm pretty sure every child in America already wants to be an astronaut. And it will still be unattainable even after playing this game.

Well if you unlock the Billionaire mode where you pay a few hundred million to go to space it works.

 

[9mak9]

It should be virtual reality...maybe the game will come with something that will allow us to float, then it would be realistic

 

[zerocool84]

Hopefully it'll be free like America's Army. I would play it if it was free.

 

[Zap Brannigan]

When will they be coming out with corporate whore mmo?

Perhaps crossing guard online will make it to store shelves by 2011.

 

[StinkyPinky]

So what's the game about? Learning the difference between metric and imperial? Embedding billion dollar communications equipment into a south pole mountain?

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: CrazyLazy
Why the hell is NASA spending money making video games? The Army I get, they need a recruitment tool and the video game does that. As far as I can tell NASA is just doing it for shits and giiggles.

How about getting people interested in science instead of being ignorant lumps that bitch and don't realize how much money NASA dumps into non-space-specific research. More people in science or at least understanding what goes on could lead to more funding and greater advancements.

But you can go back to your hole and continue to shout catchphrases.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: zerocool84
Hopefully it'll be free like America's Army. I would play it if it was free.

Unless they want the game to quickly descent into the toilet, like every other free MMO, they need to charge a monthly fee. Even if its only to cover the cost of the game's operation. It won't look good to congress, or the American people, when NASA asks for money, not for research or exploration, but to fund the servers running a game.

 

[Scrimmy]

Originally posted by: Brainonska511

Originally posted by: CrazyLazy
Why the hell is NASA spending money making video games? The Army I get, they need a recruitment tool and the video game does that. As far as I can tell NASA is just doing it for shits and giiggles.

How about getting people interested in science instead of being ignorant lumps that bitch and don't realize how much money NASA dumps into non-space-specific research. More people in science or at least understanding what goes on could lead to more funding and greater advancements.

But you can go back to your hole and continue to shout catchphrases.

Yep, god forbid NASA do something that could encourage children to get interested in science at an early age. Next thing you know, those kooky kids just might start thinking that maybe the earth isn't 6000 years old!

Something like this won't be aimed at adult gamers, it's much more of a learning tool. The relative cost of something like this is miniscule compared to the benefits of a freely-available game that encourages kids to learn more.

 

[leingod86]

NASA suffers from (serious) funding issues. Things got particularly bad under the Bush administration with his challenge to put another man on the Moon...but not give NASA any money to do it. Honestly, I think this is a good move. It gives everyone the chance to see what NASA does. This will hopefully create public support for the program and give them the finances to get their technology out of the 1960s.

 

[aka1nas]

Originally posted by: Bateluer

Originally posted by: zerocool84
Hopefully it'll be free like America's Army. I would play it if it was free.

Unless they want the game to quickly descent into the toilet, like every other free MMO, they need to charge a monthly fee. Even if its only to cover the cost of the game's operation. It won't look good to congress, or the American people, when NASA asks for money, not for research or exploration, but to fund the servers running a game.

If it is anything like Americas's Army, the cost of running the game is miniscule compared to even a single ad or PR campaign.

 

[CrazyLazy]

Originally posted by: Scrimmy

Originally posted by: Brainonska511

Originally posted by: CrazyLazy
Why the hell is NASA spending money making video games? The Army I get, they need a recruitment tool and the video game does that. As far as I can tell NASA is just doing it for shits and giiggles.

How about getting people interested in science instead of being ignorant lumps that bitch and don't realize how much money NASA dumps into non-space-specific research. More people in science or at least understanding what goes on could lead to more funding and greater advancements.

But you can go back to your hole and continue to shout catchphrases.

Yep, god forbid NASA do something that could encourage children to get interested in science at an early age. Next thing you know, those kooky kids just might start thinking that maybe the earth isn't 6000 years old!

Something like this won't be aimed at adult gamers, it's much more of a learning tool. The relative cost of something like this is miniscule compared to the benefits of a freely-available game that encourages kids to learn more.

So you get kids interested in science by getting them to play an MMO for hours on end? If that worked every teenager addicted to WoW would be a freaking genius, and trust me, they aren't.

Video games are fine entertainment, but kids playing a space based video game won't turn a nation of kids into PHDs. If you want kids to be interested in science, which I do, there are much better ways to promote it and actually teach kids something. Better schools, better teachers and outside scientific activities like the FIRST robotic league.

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: CrazyLazy

Originally posted by: Scrimmy

Originally posted by: Brainonska511

Originally posted by: CrazyLazy
Why the hell is NASA spending money making video games? The Army I get, they need a recruitment tool and the video game does that. As far as I can tell NASA is just doing it for shits and giiggles.

How about getting people interested in science instead of being ignorant lumps that bitch and don't realize how much money NASA dumps into non-space-specific research. More people in science or at least understanding what goes on could lead to more funding and greater advancements.

But you can go back to your hole and continue to shout catchphrases.

Yep, god forbid NASA do something that could encourage children to get interested in science at an early age. Next thing you know, those kooky kids just might start thinking that maybe the earth isn't 6000 years old!

Something like this won't be aimed at adult gamers, it's much more of a learning tool. The relative cost of something like this is miniscule compared to the benefits of a freely-available game that encourages kids to learn more.

So you get kids interested in science by getting them to play an MMO for hours on end? If that worked every teenager addicted to WoW would be a freaking genius, and trust me, they aren't.

Video games are fine entertainment, but kids playing a space based video game won't turn a nation of kids into PHDs. If you want kids to be interested in science, which I do, there are much better ways to promote it and actually teach kids something. Better schools, better teachers and outside scientific activities like the FIRST robotic league.

This isn't World of Fucking Warcraft. This is probably closer to the Magic School Bus games. I played those for hours when I was young and it helped me explore some of the basics that those games addressed. If I was even more curious, I picked up books, etc. It inspired me to do more.

And it isn't about turning out PhDs. It's about getting people interested in science, whether it gives people aspirations for becoming a PhD later or just someone who understands what science is about instead of being a complete ignoramus, but that's something I wouldn't expect you to understand.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: aka1nas

Originally posted by: Bateluer

Originally posted by: zerocool84
Hopefully it'll be free like America's Army. I would play it if it was free.

Unless they want the game to quickly descent into the toilet, like every other free MMO, they need to charge a monthly fee. Even if its only to cover the cost of the game's operation. It won't look good to congress, or the American people, when NASA asks for money, not for research or exploration, but to fund the servers running a game.

If it is anything like Americas's Army, the cost of running the game is miniscule compared to even a single ad or PR campaign.

It would be better if it was free cus you would reach a wider audience. We know that free MMO games can work. Guild Wars has done well and while it's not a true MMO it still has servers and things just like other MMO's. I hope it's either really cheap intitially WITHOUT a a monthly fee or just free altogether.

 

[xcript]

Originally posted by: zerocool84
Hopefully it'll be free like America's Army. I would play it if it was free.

Ditto, sounds pretty cool. :thumbsup:

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Yeah, they're definitely better spent giving bank executives LA and Las Vegas parties with Sheryl Crow.

Yeah, it's definitely impossible for money to not be wasted.