Context
Where in North Dakota is Carmen Sandiego? was created as a means to get North Dakota students more interested in the history of their state. North Dakota school teacher Bonny Berryman got the idea for the game when she heard her son remark "We should have one of these on North Dakota"while playing Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Thus, a project was born.
The Carmen Sandiego series at this point had only three games: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego, and Where in Europe is Carmen Sandiego? These images are of the first two. Broderbund Software, the developper of the franchise, had found a successful template for a game that taught players about geographical history while also being fun and engaging.
The Carmen Sandiego games were wildly popular among parents and schools alike. Copies of the game Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego? have been bought and used by schools and Carmen Sandiego herself has become somewhat of a pop culture icon, popular enough to merit a still-ongoing 2019 Netflix series. Evidently, the popularity of Carmen Sandiego and its easily adaptable game concept were instrumental in the creation of Where in North Dakota is Carmen Sandiego? Had it not been so popular, the North Dakota school teachers would have simply not had the idea to adapt it to North Dakota, and if it was not so easily adaptable, Broderbund Software could have much more likely refused the game proposal from the Minot Public School District. Where in North Dakota is Carmen Sandiego? is the fourth installment in the series. This advertisement for the other games really puts into perspective the fact that this moonshot type of school project actually made a place in an extremely popular franchise.
This Broderbund Software news release also helps to contextualize Where in North Dakota is Carmen Sandiego? among Broderbund's other Carmen Sandiego games. As these games were "best-selling programs in the school market, as well as among the general computer-owning public", it's clear that with this collaboration, Broderbund hoped to promote favourability among schools and educators across the country.
Berryman pitched the game concept to Craig Nansen, the Minot Public School District computer coordinator at the time. The idea was appealing in many aspects. If the game were to be successful, not only would it help in engaging fourth grade students in their curriculum, but also it would serve as good publicity for the teachers and schools involved. If many other state-specific Carmen Sandiego games were to be created, then North Dakota would be the first and most important.
This is one of Nansen's proposals to Broderbund, pitching the game. They help outline the conditions that convinced Broderbund to take up such a financially risky project. The game would have guarenteed consumers built in to the product. Furthermore, Nansen assures that teachers within the school district were willing to take responsibility of all research and accuracy of information. All Broderbund had to do was program such information into the general shell of the game.
All the information for the game was assembled by the North Dakota Database Committee, a group of Minot Public School educators who were familiar with the material that they hoped the game would teach their students. Truly, without this passionate group of people, the game couldn't be what it is. Not only did they contribute the questions and information for the game, but they also appear as characters within the game, as an artist was hired to create designs based off of them.
These photos demonstrate how personal and valued Where in North Dakota is Carmen Sandiego? was to these teachers. Working on the game was a second job that didn't stop during summer vacation. It shows the amount of sacrifice and care that these people put into the game, all just so that their students could find some fun in learning.
When the game was finally finished and bought by the schools, the teachers had to take a workshop on how to properly use the game and the database that came with it. In 1989, technology wasn't as prevalent as it is today, and thus computer proficiency and familiarity with a database weren't skills that all teachers had. These workshops helped to alleviate that problem.
These newpaper articles about Where in North Dakota is Carmen Sandiego? also put into perspective just how new and exciting this type of game was at the time. Looking from just the headlines, "Student posse tracks outlaws with a computer", "Software takes a bite out of learning", "Special software", "Cryptic computer games capture youths' minds", it's clear that the main event is the computer and the technology itself. The educational video game industry was still young. It's clear that the concept of a school-district-endorsed educational video game was a concept that fascinated children and adults alike.