National Geographic Enters Video-Game Jungle

National Geographic, the organization that brought interest in geography and science into living rooms through its signature yellow-framed magazine and nature television shows, is getting into video games.



National Geographic Ventures, the for-profit unit of the non-profit National Geographic Society, said Tuesday it was forming a new division of the company that will publish games for consoles and handheld, online and mobile platforms.

The first title, released Tuesday and available for PC, Mac and the iPhone, is called Herod's Lost Tomb, based on a story to be published in the magazine's December issue and a television special on the biblical figure King Herod.

Paul Levine, the National Geographic executive who will lead the new games division, said the new platform will allow the geographic society to reach a younger audience more plugged into gaming than television or print.