It's Time To Stop Cd-romin' And Look For Local Content
The Sunday Age
Saturday August 30, 1997
Cookies are fine with a nice cuppa, and catsup goes well on a meat pie - but they are not our way. Some people are not bothered by these linguistic incursions, but to others such words are the cultural equivalent of cane toads, rabbits and mimosa scrub.
Michael Jordan probably isn't the Antichrist, and kids wearing their baseball caps back-to-front are more to be pitied than feared (perhaps the instructions were too complicated?), but the fact is that Australia is awash with McCulture.
Apart from the impact of TV, movies and top-40 music on average Aussie kids, nearly all of the readily available educational software comes from American developers and producers.
Fortunately, there is a strong market developing here for high-tech educational tools with local content. Software designer Allan House has released several outstanding products dealing exclusively with Australian subjects, such as 'The Explorers Database', from his Know Ware headquarters in NSW's Blue Mountains.
Of course, to be assured of long-term success companies must pursue the holy grail of exports. Melbourne-based Beam Software has gained an international audience for its high-quality action-adventure software such as 'Krush, Kill 'n' Destroy'.
'James Discovers Math' is another release from America's Broderbund Software, so it's pleasant to find that this superb program was created by a Sydney-based company, Brains Studio, using Broderbund's production and marketing expertise to gain international distribution. Apart from being a delightful introduction to math basics, it is simply nice to hear Australian accents, talking about koalas and tom-ah-toes.
With a bit of hard work and determination, we'll have those Yanks speaking properly yet.
Carlton Football Club Official CD-ROM
Distributed by Digital Media Integration. RRP $49.95 ($39.95 at Princes Park)
For Carlton Football Club supporters, this CD-ROM will make a welcome addition to their team merchandise collection.
This is an impressive package, from a design standpoint, full of excellent graphical displays and information presented in entertaining ways. The Robert Reynolds Trivia Game has an amusingly pointless animated backdrop, and Kouta's Spot the Ball Game is played against backdrop of Anthony Koutoufides' blue-painted face.
There are interviews with eight Carlton stars, video highlights of the 1996 season, a virtual tour of Optus Oval and some interesting background to the Carlton/Collingwood rivalry. You can also watch commercials for Optus and Hyundai.
Hardcore fans might find the statistical section less than satisfying. There are a couple of flat spots, but full credit is due the club for putting its name on a product that goes beyond traditional memorabilia.
Australia Unfolded
From Space-Time Research and AUSLIG. RRP $99.95
Australia Unfolded is not a toy. Produced by the Australian Surveying & Land Information Group - a commercial business unit of the Federal Government's Department of Administrative Services - it is a complex mapping tool designed for use as a reference in schools, libraries and homes (its designers state that it is not a professional mapping application).
Despite a clear and concise user guide, it takes time to master the software's many features. It doesn't generate richly illustrated maps like those found in an atlas; they are topographic line drawings based on data scaled from 1:10 million to 1:250,000. Users can choose the scale and details to be included in their maps.
Details include watercourses, lakes and swamps; principal and secondary roads and tracks; built-up areas and localities; contours; and much more. Your custom-made maps can be copied to the computer's clipboard and pasted into other electronic documents. It isn't as much fun as a well-made set of paper maps, but nevertheless it is a useful tool.
Australian Infopedia 2.0
From SoftKey. Distributed by The Learning Company. RRP $99.00
What gives this Encarta-type product its Australian flavor is the presence of the Macquarie Concise Dictionary, Thesaurus and Book of Quotations, and more than 1000 new entries on Australia.
These are joined by the 29-volume Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage, Webster's New Biographical Dictionary, the Hammond World Atlas, and a 1996 World Almanac, to make a valuable reference library on one CD-ROM.
All volumes are cross-referenced, and users can choose to perform searches across the entire library or just selected titles. The Infopedia makes good use of sound, film and video clips, photos, illustrations and maps.
Students can bookmark reference materials and activate an engine that will pull everything together into a report, including cover sheet and table of contents. The operating controls are simple and easy to master. Students will find more about Australia in this Infopedia than they will in comparable products.
Aussie EcoRanger
From New Horizons. RRP $90.00
James, a 12-year-old evaluation assistant enlisted to test this program, found that it made him aware of the need to study the environment, and he decided it was more of a learning tool than a game.
This is an Australian-made simulation game (tool; sorry, James) for ages 10-adult, which boosts environmental awareness while developing problem-solving skills. The storyline is set in the year 2997, and as a trainee EcoRanger, it is the player's responsibility to help save 80 native Australian species from extinction.
Despite the rather dire scenario, each screen is beautifully drawn - not animated - and the instructions are clear and easy to follow. The tasks themselves are not so simple, which prompted James to comment that it was harder than other science programs he'd used at school.
Players learn about food chains, habitats and other aspects of animal behavior and their relationships to the environment. There are three basic tasks, within which there are a multitude of variations and two difficulty levels. This is a well-made product with applications in the home or classroom.
World Walker: Destination Australia
From Soleil Software. RRP $69.00
This is an adventure-based language program set against an Australian backdrop, from a Californian company. It is recommended for children aged eight to 12.
The first sign that all is not quite right is that the buttons you click to choose between languages use national flags as graphical pointers - France for French, Spain for Spanish and America for English. As it turns out, the entire package shows Australia through American eyes, which leads to some minor yet irritating factual problems.
There are four modules: the Language Explorer, Reference Library, Food Chain Solitaire and Walkabout/Spelunker (the latter two are rather dull games). All use sounds, music and film clips to mixed effect.
The Reference Library contains information on Australian wildlife, making much of snakes and flying foxes while describing just 12 birds.
The segment on Australia's indigenous population is cursory and carries the following disclaimer: "Warning: Persons of Australian indigenous people descent may find the document images offensive to their belief." Documentation with the program is minimal. This is one to avoid.
Melbourne on CD
Discway 03 9347 8802, $79.99
If you are the type that gets lost on the way to the local milk bar, this is just the product for you. The latest Melway street directory has been condensed onto a CD-ROM, fitted it out with a search option so you can enter a destination or location, and added a zoom option so you can check out the big picture as well as the local details. Simple to use, it uses a slightly clunky text menu - but the makers promise a fully graphical version very soon.
Essential for mobile workers and people who want to show off their new laptop in the car.
Additional review by Jeremy Torr.
All products distributed by Dataflow Computer Services, Artarmon, NSW, unless otherwise noted.
© 1997 The Sunday Age