MindArk posted a video on Youtube

RAZER · Mar 23, 2010

Some interesting video posted by MindArk. They seem to have teamed up with ESA after the NASA thing went south. This could be a nice source of income and advertisement if all goes well.

MindArk PE AB, developer and publisher of Entropia Universe and Entropia Platform, performed a study on uses of online game technology for space education and system analysis on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2009/2010.

MMO-based technology has strong ties to acquiring knowledge through discovery, collaborative problem solving and team-based learning. This is supported by the findings of the study and the project with the European Space Agency has been a great push forward for us in this area. MindArk´s interest in implementing educational content inside online games was sparked by our previous discussions with NASA about their online game plans. said Christian Björkman, MindArks Chief Marketing Officer. Besides applying our current experience from the global video game industry, the work on the study has helped MindArk in finding new means of mixing technical and educational content with entertainment in Entropia Universe. Working with ESA has made us ready to move on to the next level, ready to work with industry partners in building qualitative, engaging and top-class game content for online environments that will be both entertaining and motivating.

The study was performed to assess options for ESA with regards to using online game technology, specifically in the areas of outreach/promotion, education and collaborative engineering. MindArk has produced this visual mock-up based on a live game environment in Entropia Universe to illustrate the feasibility of the study findings. Showing human planetary exploration on Jupiter's moon Europa in a distant future, the mock-up demonstrates exploratory game play while highlighting learning aspects and multi-player event possibilities in an immersive online game.

Link to ESA website: http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMHGBFKZ6G_index_0.html

Shinobi · Mar 24, 2010

Amazing, just bloody amazing:) LOL @ angel armors. Tho it is very well done. Makes a collonist feel realy special.

Corrianna Trina Xenophage · Mar 31, 2010

I particularly laughed at the ore finders as computers and comm devices and the en mat finders as repair tools..

No wonder I do crap at mining in EU.. I got the wrong tools.

IluvBread · Apr 1, 2010

This feels like...
I dunno..

So far fetched?

FatherJack · Apr 1, 2010

"To enrol in this study please insert your credit card in your ass and watch 2 thousand dollars piss down your leg, thank you for participating!"

Mac y Lir · Apr 1, 2010

IluvBread said: ↑

This feels like...
I dunno..

So far fetched?

I kept thinking while watching this, isn't this what Second Life has been trying to do to some extent, with limited success?

I can't imagine MA pulling off porting PE as a "Training Platform". I think its an interesting idea. I know they could sell it though. They are good at selling hype and suckering people into parting with their money based on their big ideas.

I'm sure they can sucker some corporate noobs in who haven't dealt with them before to "Invest" in paying MAs salaries for a while until they find out MA can't deliver a product worth paying for that's not just a recycled hack.

I wouldn't advise my company to spend its training dollars on this. Maybe I'm just jaded from having been involved with PE all these years and seen how MA has managed up to this point, like anything else, I'll believe it when I see it and wish them luck.