Knowledge Adventure
Subsidiary | |
Founded | 1989 (as Davidson & Associates) |
Headquarters | Los Angeles County, California, United States |
Products |
software for CD-ROM Neopets |
Website | KnowledgeAdventure.com |
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.
History
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.
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, Isaac Asimov's Science Adventure, Space Adventure, Dinosaur Adventure, Imax'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, and Zurk's Learning Safari.
After the merger with Davidson & Associates, Knowledge Adventure was owned by various firms throughout several corporate mergers. Its last owner was Vivendi Universal Games, as a part of its Vivendi Games division. During that time, Knowledge Adventure released many branded games such as Dr. Brain, Barbie, Bear in the Big Blue House, Teletubbies, Noddy, Jurassic Park III, Captain Kangaroo, Curious George and American Idol.
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.
In 2008, Knowledge Adventure Inc. was criticized for 'cramware' in their games. For some of the extra content made with the games, a subscription was required.
On March 17, 2014, Knowledge Adventure Inc. purchased Neopets from Viacom.
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.[1]
References
External links
- Knowledge Adventure website
- JumpStart website
- Math Blaster website
- JumpStart World website
- "Make Learning an Adventure" - article about Knowledge Adventure article at apple.com
- Official Neopets Website