Boy Scout Video Game--An Excercise

[OldGreyEagle]

So, do you know Walt, or Jeremy or Tom or Dave even?

[NEPAScouter]

Yes to all of the above fine Scouters!

[shortridge]

Create a Wii device out of a flexible cord, and you could have a hands-on knot-tying event.

 

Also do orienteering, night navigation and search-and-rescue.

[OldGreyEagle]

were you at the recent NEPA Powder Horn?

[NEPAScouter]

Hi OGE!

 

Now I understand how you know those fellows from NEPA. Alas, I was not at the Powder Horn at Goose Pond. But, knowing that you were, I bet you understand the need for a searchable plaque database on the GPSR disc!

 

[epalmer84]

Haven't see a Boy Scouting video game, but Pinewood Derby was just released:

http://www.pinewoodderbygame.com/

 

Ed Palmer

[NEPAScouter]

Well, we finally got a free downloadable version of "Goose Pond: A Timeless Adventure" online. The "freebie" version covers about 1/6 of the whole game. The whole thing is done in QuickTime (an installer is included if you don't already have it). It runs on Mac and PC computers. It is a 230 MB download...

 

http://gpsrcd.nepabsa.org

 

Get ready to swat some mosquitos, build scout spirit, avoid skunks, learn some merit badge stuff, put out fires, climb a COPE tower, solve some puzzles, and.... find tickets for the National Jamboree bus.

[frank10]

Bummer, can't try it because it requires a newer version of quick time than I can install on my win 2000 server system.

[Nike]

Get Lego to do the Cub version.

[NEPAScouter]

Just wanted to bump this to see if anyone has tried the Goose Pond game ( http://gpsrcd.nepabsa.org ) and has feedback to share. The game is a big download, so I thought I'd post on a weekend when everyone might have time to leave the computer in "download mode."

[xlpanel]

I don't believe there will be a big enough market for a scouting video game.

 

Some of the ideas that were listed were:

 

1. Capture the Flag

2. Shooting Sports

3. Find the Boy Scout

4. Campsite Bowling

5. Volleyball

6. Burro Racing / Pinewood Racing

 

The first three are already pretty well covered already by the VG industry. Capture the Flag is a key staple of online Halo play, as well as Shooting Sports. Try Halo without shooting? Find the Boy Scout can also relate right back to Halo - Arbiter.

 

Now, we must examine the marketability of a game featuring boy scouts. Will Johnny invite his friends over to play a game in which the players shoot at targets, play capture the flag, and look for a missing boy scout?

 

Johnny: Hey guys, lets play Scout-tacular!

Freddie: No thanks man, we are going to Joe's house to play Halo.

Johnny: Why's that?

Freddie: Well, Halo is competitive against each other. Like, in the scout game, we can't fight each other.

Johnny: Why's do you need to fight each other? Surely its not that much fun?

Freddie: Look man, All my other friends play Halo, the graphics are 20x better, It has all those features and more (such as shooting at each other). I don't need another game that does 1/3 of what I already can do, and an unpopular new game at that

 

Basically, for the first three items to succeed the Scout game would have to compete with Halo, one of the most arguably widely sold video game franchises of all time. Its popularity speaks for itself ---- at the UIL (Texas) State Meet the alternates that our school took stayed awake all night playing Halo. I even played with them a little bit.

 

 

Campsite bowling would be in direct competition with Wii Bowling - Works? No.

 

Volleyball - Yes! All the Boy scouts want nothing better than Volleyball! Which guy invites his friends over to play volleybal video games?

 

Burro/Pinewood Racing - Just by Nascar Simracing --- 100x the content plus a game wou would play with friends.

[AlabamaDan]

At first as I was reading I thought - cool idea. Then I remembered...we're supposed to be getting the boys outside and away from video games.

[NEPAScouter]

Hi AlabamaDan,

 

It's my opinion that a video experience (even a Wii-based one) will never replace the real outdoor activities of the BSA.

 

The jury's still out in my mind, though, as to whether it is possible to create a video experience that will get scout-age boys who haven't had the benefit of being recruited by some of the great recruiters on this site to want to try the real thing by joining the BSA. This is the "recruitment market" that xlpanel and others have been expressing doubts about. I'm not sure whether it was the market OGE had in mind when he started the thread.

 

There's also another potential market, which I'll call the "in-house market." These are boys already in Scouting who might enjoy using a video game to challenge themselves mentally on stuff scouts should know - like first aid, nature facts, etc. This was the market that the Northeastern Pennsylvania Council had in mind when developing the "Goose Pond" video game.

 

There was also the goal of promoting the camp and the goal of giving scouts and scouters some way to stay in touch with the camp electronically over the years...especially out-of-council units. There is a whole "promotainment" industry out there, though developers in the field usually deal in creating flash and web games for upcoming movies.

 

Frankly, I would be surprised if the Goose Pond game got any non-Scout who finds it on the web to *join* a scout troop. It incorporates too much scout knowledge. Will it stir interest in the "in-house market?" Well, we'll see as the summer progresses...

[Jeff S]

What do you guys think of a Wii Videogame that would have minigames based on various scouting activities and the kids would earn badges. It wouldn't try to simulate as much as just take some scout activites and make them into simple minigames that anyone can learn. Aim for an 8 to 12 market, so it doesn't compete with Halo and the like. It's more for the younger set. Any thoughts on this idea?