Imagination Express

Imagination Express is an educational series of interactive storybook generator[1] video games developed by Edmark, and announced on November 14, 1994.[2][3] The titles in the series include Destination: Castle (November 15, 1994)[3], Destination: Neighborhood (November 15, 1994),[3] Destination: Rain Forest (May 5, 1995)[4], Destination: Ocean, Destination: Pyramids, and Destination: Time Trip, USA.

Imagination Express
Genre(s)Educational
Developer(s)Edmark
Platform(s)Windows, Macintosh
First releaseDestination: Castle
1994
Latest releaseDestination: Time Trip, USA
1996

Development

At the launch of the product line, Edmark CEO Sally Narodick commented that "kids love to tell stories", noting the creations that playtesters of the series had already made.[3] A perspective-based piece of technology was added to the game; dubbed "auto-sizing", it meant that the size of an object changed as it was moved by the player toward the foreground or background.[2]

Gameplay

The games, which are targeted at children aged 6–12, transport players to learning destinations around the globe, and "inspire them to create interactive on-screen stories and beautiful printed books".[5] The games aim to encourage creative writing and imagination skills.[2] The games included background information, such as the "Destination: Rain Forest's Rain Forest Fact Book".[6] Players can add text, music, and their own narration.[7]

Commercial performance

Destination: Rain Forest was the 5th most popular title in the education category sold across 11 Software Etc. stores in the Washington area in the week ending June 10, 1995.[8]

Critical reception

Chicago Sun-Times deemed the series "high-quality eduware" as well as "clever...mathematics teaching software". The newspaper said the series contained "some of the best software in years to help kids learn how to create stories".[9] Computer Shopper wrote that Destination: Ocean was less effective than it could be because it separated the education and entertainment portions of the game rather than seamlessly integrating them;[10] meanwhile Daily News said Destination: Ocean "provides such a balance".[11] The Washington Post thought Destination: Rain Forest was a "high-class creativity program".[12] Computers in Libraries praised the series for "provid[ing] a host of tools and interactive methods for children to learn how to write their own stories", rather than passively absorbing the work of developers.[13] PC Mag described Destination: Rain Forest as a "creativity tool".[14] School Library Journal noted that recorded sounds could take up a considerable amount of space on a contemporary computer's harddrive.[15]

According to Billboard, the series is "award-winning".[16] Destination: Rain Forest won a Newsweek Editor's Choice Awards for best children's software in 1995.[17] That same year, Imagination Express received the Silver Award for Best Elementary Education Program for Children at the NewMedia INVISION Awards ceremony.[18] The series won one of the four awards at the 1995-1995 Software Awards; Technology & Learning wrote that the series was "sophisticated" and "smart".[19]

References
  1. "New Titles Give Youngsters a Head Start on Learning". THE Journal. 1995-05-01. Archived from the original on 2016-10-08.
  2. "Edmark Software's Write Stuff for Kids". 1995-09-21. Archived from the original on 2016-10-08. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. "Edmark Announces Imagination Express; New Software Inspires Kids to Create Their Own Interactive Stories. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  4. "Edmark Introduces "Destination: Rain Forest"; a new release in the Imagination Express Series. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  5. "Imagination Express - Series". 1997-02-13. Archived from the original on 1997-02-13. Retrieved 2016-09-24.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. "Lots of choices to toy with". 1998-09-08. Archived from the original on 2018-11-19. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. Media, Working Mother (1995-12-01). Working Mother. Working Mother Media.
  8. "BESTSELLERS". 1995-06-19. Archived from the original on 2017-03-19. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. "Museum Quality CD Has Them Hooked". 1995-07-30. Archived from the original on 2018-11-19. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. "Destination: Ocean. (Edmark Corp)(The Learning Arcade) (Software Review)(Brief Article)(Evaluation)". 1996-03-01. Archived from the original on 2018-11-18. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. "PLUGGED IN.(BUSINESS)". 1996-06-03. Archived from the original on 2018-11-20. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  12. "Going Bugzerk Over Elroy". 1995-06-28. Archived from the original on 2018-11-18. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. "Literature and CD-ROM: Strange Bedfellows or the Marriage of True Minds?". 1996-05-01. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  14. Inc, Ziff Davis (1995-09-26). PC Mag. Ziff Davis, Inc.
  15. http://search.proquest.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/docview/211708936?rfr_id=info%3Axri%2Fsid%3Aprimo
  16. Inc, Nielsen Business Media (1996-02-24). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.
  17. "Edmark products win two Newsweek Editor's Choice Awards for best children's software. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  18. "Edmark products win two 1995 NewMedia INVISION Awards. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  19. http://search.proquest.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/docview/212123430?rfr_id=info%3Axri%2Fsid%3Aprimo
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