Worlds of Nasa: The Latest MMORPG?

When the term MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) is mentioned, there’s definitely one that comes to mind – World of Warcraft.  And space-exploration is no news to the gaming industry either – with hits like Mass Effect and all those Star Wars games, who could forget it?  Nasa took two and two together and decided to combine the best of both worlds – to bring us other worlds – possibly galaxies, from outer space on their MMORPG.

Alright, so it’s just an idea – so what?  I personally think that it’s great to promote space exploration like that – it sounds like an interesting albeit bizarre way to appeal to mainstream crowds – from hardcore tech geeks to the newest users of the internet.  Imagine what this would do for the future – all those worlds that appear in sci-fi flicks could actually be colonized, thanks to the best scientists that were captured into this field of study by Nasa.

Source: http://www.militaryplaques.com/Emblems/NASA.jpg

My initial impression was skeptical – how would this game work?  How would it be appealing yet accurate enough to help people learn subconciously?  After all, games like Mass Effect and Star Wars did have stories in them, which definitely did not revolve around space exploration (er, primarily speaking).  I highly doubt Nasa would be interested in incorporating guns or weapons to make their game seem a little more interesting, and I think that it should be something to avoid – firstly, the gaming industry is already too saturated with shooters, and secondly it would take away from what I’d like to consider it’s primary purpose – to educate.

This is all assuming that Nasa does indeed go forward with the initiative and dedicates some resources to make this project happen – which I am hoping for.  I can’t wait for it to be officially released – hopefully at my favourite price (for free) and with as much quality as a regular game (doubtful, as they’ve got different purposes though).

It really looks promising, but many things that do don’t get proper recognition for it nowadays.  Hopefully this makes it through the threshold of success and into the world of Earth, so that we can further expand our little minds and stuff it all with knowledge of the outer limits of the nearby galaxies.