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145-537: The franchise primarily focuses on teaching children geography, but has also branched out into history, mathematics, language arts, and other subjects. An attempt was made to create a series of state-specific games in the 1980s, but the only prototype to be completed was in North Dakota . Beginning in 1988, Carmen Sandiego Days became popular across American public schools. In the 1990s, the franchise extended into three television shows, books and comics, board games,

290-551: A concert series , two planetarium shows , and two music albums. By 1996, the Carmen Sandiego character and game concept had been licensed to over 20 companies including HarperCollins, University Games, Great American Puzzle Factory, DIC Entertainment, WGBH/WQED, Micro Games of America, Publications International and Troll Associates. Towards the turn of the 21st century, the Carmen Sandiego property passed through

435-577: A "keen but conservative fashion sense". In the Netflix animated series , she wears a black jumpsuit under her trench coat and a black stripe on her hat, as well as a choker with a triangle pendant, although she briefly wore the classic design in the second episode. She has olive skin, auburn hair, and grey eyes. In the Earth animated series, Carmen Sandiego also had a much larger role and was voiced by actress Rita Moreno . Moreno would later voice Carmen for

580-417: A "weird old PC game" that could be dug up for family game night. Atlas Obscura deemed the title as "little more than a barely remembered oddity" and akin to a "TV pilot that never went to series". North Dakota was the first state to adapt Carmen Sandiego into a state-specific video game. According to Education Technology News , the title was "picked up by several states and adapted to their needs". Though

725-404: A 2020 interactive special ), and is set to produce a live-action film as well. As of May 10, 2024, the franchise is owned by United Comics which acquired HMH's production permit The franchise has become known for its ability to surreptitiously teach facts, breed empathy for other cultures, and develop logic skills, while creating detective mystery experiences intended to entertain. One aspect of

870-480: A Wise Child (a reference to J. D. Salinger 's Glass family in Franny and Zooey and many of his short stories) when she was ten years old. She used the money to travel extensively around the world until she was twelve. Her partner when she was at ACME was Jules Argent, who still works for ACME and appears to be in her early twenties. Jules specifically notes that Carmen never talked about her childhood, and aside from

1015-748: A female character they could use to attract younger women to the game. From Siefkin's script, they expanded out the idea of the criminal organization V.I.L.E. - Villains’ International League of Evil – and the ACME Detective Agency – with ACME jokingly considered an initialism for "A Company that Makes Everything". The core gameplay was then established, having the player as an ACME recruit to chase down underlings within V.I.L.E., following geography-based clues to complete their search, and working up their ranks in ACME until they were tasked to go after Carmen herself. The game proved successful, unexpected from

1160-490: A film featuring the character, possibly starring Sandra Bullock as the titular thief. In 2011 and 2012, there was talk that Jennifer Lopez would play the titular thief. The 2019 Netflix animated series presents an intimate look into Carmen Sandiego's past where viewers not only follow her escapades but also learn her origins. Her backstory was that she was an orphan from Buenos Aires taken in and raised by V.I.L.E. at their secret Canary Islands headquarters. When she learns

1305-480: A first-look deal with DIC Entertainment subsidiary DIC Films. One such planned film involved Sandra Bullock as the title character. In 2011, Walden Media announced its own plans to make a live action film with Jennifer Lopez as both Carmen Sandiego and producer of the film with her production company Nuyorican Productions . Writer Darren Lemke was attached to write the screenplay in July 2012. In 2018, while

1450-585: A game not to provide enough character clues for the suspect to be identified, so that even the most conscientious players may occasionally be unsuccessful. The Main Playing Screen contains the location name, day/time, location description, and four other options that help the player progress. Notes are written in the Notebook, while warrants are issued in the Crime Lab. Choosing "Investigate" allows

1595-449: A geography lesson down kids’ throats and without talking down to them either". He quoted Elliott, who said "We don’t use small words. Kids are short but not stupid", and concluded "By treating children as the intelligent little people they are, the designers had no need to hide from them the fact that they were playing and learning at the same time. Kids knew. The beauty of Carmen Sandiego is that they kept playing anyway." PC Games deemed it

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1740-517: A map of North Dakota, and a page that asks the player to describe the game's final scene and mail it in to receive a prize. Other pages have a print version of the almanac and information about the cities in the game. A teacher's guide is also included. A second binder contains activities that correlate to the 18 database disks included in the package. A North Dakota centennial blue book and a booklet entitled Governors and First Ladies of North Dakota were also included in this binder. The retail version of

1885-680: A palatable way and in developing research skills. Joseph P. Karwoski of Computerist! said the NDDC did a "great job" creating a "fantastic learning tool", and hoped other states followed suit. The game was worthy enough for a softkey to be published in Computerist! . California-based historian Frank Cifaldi described it as "probably the hardest" Carmen Sandiego game because it had clues based on obscure North Dakotan historical trivia, which are sometimes impossible to solve via an Internet search engine, and later described it as "very challenging". On

2030-456: A particular impact on girls...because she was a symbol of cultural rebellion. She is the first major American pop culture example of a mischievous yet beloved hero who also happens to be both a woman and a Latin American." Julie M. Rodriguez of Care2 said: "There are so few examples of what a competent, successful Latina woman looks like in the media – and it’s wonderful to realize that, even in

2175-399: A point of refusing to steal something if the theft will cause anybody harm—a vow she frequently breaks outside this canon. The Earth series gave the franchise a timeline, with the mid- 1990s (the time the show was produced) being the present. According to this timeline, Carmen joined ACME in 1985, placing her birth in approximately 1968. Her birthday is on March 1 ("The Scavenger Hunt"). In

2320-480: A red, matching fedora and trenchcoat . Many of her crimes depicted in the games involve spectacular and often impossible cases of monument theft, which are used as a pretext to teach children geography via the simulated process of tracking down the character, the stolen monuments, and her accomplices all over the world with her sidekicks Zack and Ivy. Carmen Sandiego ' s authors were Gene Portwood, Lauren Elliott , and Dane Bigham. Writer David Siefkin, who wrote

2465-539: A series of five corporate hands: Broderbund (1985–1997), The Learning Company (1998), Mattel (1999), The Gores Group (2000), and Riverdeep (2001–present). Subsequent acquisitions and mergers of Riverdeep (licensed to Encore ) led to the franchise currently being in the possession of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt . For the next 15 years, the series would become mostly dormant despite a few licensed games. In 2017, soon after Netflix commissioned an animated show based on

2610-418: A series than a collection of sequels, Carmen has gone around the world and across the country, invaded the continent, and gone back in time twice. Only a series as strong as Carmen could have spawned not only books and board games, but a PBS TV show, too. This five-part series is easily the best selling "edutainment" title ever. PC Mag on franchise success in 1992 The Carmen Sandiego franchise began with

2755-544: A small group, or the entire class. Schools were encouraged to allow students to play the game before and after school, or when they completed their school work early. The game was not intended to be a replacement for the North Dakotan curriculum. Nansen saw it as an "enrichment activity" and a "motivating instructional tool" instead, merely one of many ways to get students interested in North Dakota. To promote

2900-457: A straightforward and educational way. The Earth animated series was broadcast on FOX from 1994 to 1999. In 1996, President Bill Clinton stated: "When I met the co-leaders of San Marino at the Olympics , I knew where it was because of Carmen Sandiego". After Brøderbund ceased to exist in 1998, The Learning Company apparently sought to redesign the series. The company determined that

3045-472: A thief, Carmen does have her nice moments. In one episode, Carmen eludes every ACME Detective at once, the detectives find that she has left them all a doll of herself that teases that it is the only Carmen that they'll catch, and wishes a Merry Christmas as a Christmas gift. In the episode "Trick or Treat" Zack and Ivy find Carmen's Halloween party. They see Sara Bellum handing out candy to trick-or-treaters , on Carmen's orders so her theft wasn't going to wreck

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3190-614: A unique backstory about Carmen Sandiego. According to the show, Carmen Sandiego was an orphan raised at the Golden Gate Girls' School in San Francisco. The Chief gave her a home at the ACME Detective Agency and, by age seventeen, she solved more cases than any other ACME agent. However, she then disappeared and turned to a life of crime. Her partner when she was at ACME was a Japanese man named Suhara, who left ACME after she did and appears to now be retired. Unlike in most of

3335-454: A user manual, and packaging for the retail version. While there were restrictions on how much the North Dakotan team could deviate from the Carmen Sandiego template, local nuances were added including using four-wheel drive vehicles for travel and changing the words "criminals" to "imposters" and "crimes" to "pranks" to add "a touch of North Dakota nice". The previous games in the series ( World and USA ) had been released with almanacs to help

3480-451: A workout with every adventure, obviously taking great delight in solving Carmen's geography riddles. According to the episode "Hot Ice", Carmen has been gone from ACME for 10 years, 3 months and 7 days. Unlike in most of the rest of the franchise, the reason for Carmen leaving ACME is not specifically stated in the Earth series, although it was speculated by Suhara ("Déjà Vu"). In the episode "Hot Ice", Carmen points out she didn't have all

3625-457: A yellow or orange dress under her trench coat, with a matching stripe on her fedora, and red high-heeled shoes (best recognized in this outfit). She also seemed to have a flair for elegance, being described in the classic 1985 video game as having "jewelry" as a feature and in its accompanying manual as wearing a famous necklace known as the "Moon of Moldavia". In the later games developed under The Learning Company and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt ,

3770-635: Is Carmen Sandiego? ended up selling approximately 5,000 copies; mostly to North Dakota schools and was very popular within the state. With a total of 517 schools in the state (as of 2013), this equates to roughly 10 copies sold to each school. The game was used in the Grand Forks GATE program as well as in other classrooms, generally by fifth and sixth graders. However, very few copies made it outside of North Dakota; in these cases they were generally people with connections to North Dakota such as grandchildren of North Dakotan residents. InCider

3915-462: Is Carmen Sandiego? was to be distributed statewide in the coming summer in preparation for North Dakota's centennial celebration in 1989. However, the game was delayed until February 23, 1989, when an official news release was issued by Broderbund explaining that the game was being made available to both schools and the public. Before its official release, a copy of a field-testing version was accidentally leaked, and educators who mistakenly believed it

4060-493: Is a fictional character featured in a long-running edutainment video games series of the same name created by the American software company Broderbund . As an international lady thief , a criminal mastermind , and the elusive nemesis of the ACME Detective Agency, Carmen Sandiego is the principal character of the video game series and the head of ACME's rival organization, V.I.L.E. She is depicted as an extremely intelligent, stylish, fashionable woman whose signature look features

4205-519: Is a movie that was made to be played in a planetarium . It is less like a traditional movie, and more like one of the Carmen Sandiego game shows featured on PBS with the live audience as the detectives. This film also featured Lynne Thigpen as "The Chief" and was based on Where in Space Is Carmen Sandiego? . This marked Thigpen's final appearance of the franchise before her death of a cerebral hemorrhage on March 12, 2003. A sequel

4350-511: Is a whole series of them out now: Where in the USA, Where in Time, etc. It's a great game and one that is often used in schools today." The 1991 document Three Instructional Approaches to Carmen Sandiego Software Series outlined three ways in which the Carmen Sandiego series could be utilized in an educational context: turning teacher instruction into a gamified cooperative/competitive experience, linking

4495-433: Is always the preservation of the artifacts. She even concerns herself with the kid detectives’ well-being and is known to step in on their behalf when there’s a danger. DVDTalk determines: Carmen, bless her heart, is a thief only in the sense of her love of a mental contest; she's not out to hurt anybody, often leaving valuables behind, and, in one episode, attempting to save Ivy from harm. The teens, then, give their brains

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4640-434: Is disagreement as to whether or not they are complimentary versions offered to educators who worked on the project, or stock left for mail order at a North Dakota game shop. There is currently no proof that retail copies were ever sold in stores. The game was "save[d] from the memory hole of history" by video game historian Frank Cifaldi and his archivist organization The Video Game History Foundation (VGHF). He believes

4785-411: Is due in part to its intrinsic fantasy that makes the game both fun and educational. The skill and the fantasy are intertwined, resulting in a much more engaging experience. When playing educational games with intrinsic fantasies, the users are more motivated to apply their educational skills because it feels natural, not arbitrary. The series as a whole has been met with critical acclaim, although most of

4930-509: Is not distributed by or sold under The Learning Company name. An animated Netflix series, Carmen Sandiego , aired for four seasons from 2019 to 2021. On March 29, 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported that HarperCollins , a division of American mass media and publishing company News Corp , had reached a deal to buy HMH Books & Media for US$ 349 million. The sale includes HMH's trade publishing division and computer game franchises such as Carmen Sandiego and The Oregon Trail . More

5075-403: Is referred to by such epithets as The Miss of Misdemeanor, Vicious & Cruel, The Queen of Crime, and The World's Greatest Thief. There are numerous discrepancies in the various media depicting Carmen Sandiego, and no official or correct canon has been designated or established. However, the following seems to have remained consistent throughout all Carmen Sandiego media created since around

5220-632: Is rescued by V.I.L.E. 20 years earlier, and trained as an agent. But when she learns the organization's true goal, she turns against them and seeks to dissolve it by stealing back from them. In this series, Carmen has no personal connection to The ACME Detective Agency, but they have parallel goals in opposing V.I.L.E. and the agency pursues Carmen to investigate the agenda of her crimes which appears to have some connection to their primary enemy. Carmen Sandiego has often been created through animation techniques in many games, either with various forms of computer graphics or traditional animation. The Time game show

5365-536: Is sometimes depicted as genuinely liking Zack and Ivy, and enjoying the ongoing battle of wits she has with them to the point where she will often congratulate the two for their successes regarding them as worthy opponents. Carmen thievery skills are highly complex as she has managed to steal the Mona Lisa's smile, technology to steal musical talent and even the entire beach of Kaimu Beach in Hawaii. Despite her nature as

5510-453: Is the fourth game in the Carmen Sandiego video game series after World (1985), U.S.A. (1986), and Europe (1988). Having observed the popularity of the Carmen Sandiego franchise in the education of school children, educators were inspired to develop a North Dakota version to teach North Dakotans about their state's history and geography. In contrast to the previous titles which were developed internally by Broderbund , North Dakota

5655-548: Is the only time the character has officially been portrayed in live action, aside from photographs in early game manuals. Carmen Sandiego's voice was heard for the first time on Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Deluxe Edition during her trial after she is captured by the player. Her voice was featured regularly in the World game show, though only during the phone tap skit. She had minor personality on

5800-529: The Fox Family Channel , the Pax network, Hub TV, and Univision . The first season was released on DVD by Shout! Factory in 2006 and the complete series was later released by Mill Creek Entertainment in 2012. The second animated series, Carmen Sandiego , is co-produced by Netflix , where it aired for four seasons from 2019 to 2021. In this series, Carmen Sandiego is not a villain or antihero , but

5945-465: The World show, aside being constantly exasperated by her crooks' incompetence and showing sarcasm. No voice artist was credited; however, later performers maintained the distinctive, slightly dusky voice she was given on World . Carmen Sandiego is almost always portrayed as a woman who often wears a red (" carmine ") trench coat , a matching fedora (though often portrayed similar to a sombrero cordobés ), and long brown hair , although her hair color

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6090-484: The "perfect childhood villain". Brittany Vincent of SyFy Wire stated that what drew her most to Sandiego was her "grandiose attitude and infallible confidence". Robert Workman of GameDaily elected Sandiego as the 21st most "evil mastermind" in video games of all time, and the website also included her among "the smartest video game babes". In 2011, Complex ranked her as third on the list of "most diabolical video game she-villains", and in 2012, they ranked her as

6235-883: The 27th coolest video game villain of all time as well as the tenth on their "The Most Evil Women In Video Games" list. In 2013, they placed Sandiego eleventh in a list of "12 Old School Video Game Characters Who Were Style Icons". Hugh Sterbakov of GamePro also included the character on its list of "The 47 Most Diabolical Video-Game Villains of All Time", placing her 44th. She was included in GameSpot ' s 2010 "All Time Greatest Video Game Villain" contest and lost to Sweet Tooth in "Round 1b". The same site included her in their "The Ten Best Female Characters". IGN placed Carmen Sandiego 62nd on their 2010 list of "The Top 100 Videogame Villains", saying she "is one tricky end boss". In 2012, GamesRadar+ included her on their "Mediocre Game Babes" article and in 2013 they ranked her as

6380-653: The Broderbund mail-order catalog. This meeting was filmed for S1E6 of the Redbull TV series Screenland , entitled "Eight-Bit Archaeologists". The game was imaged and made available online, providing Cifaldi with a raw rip of the unused version. Players need to use an Apple II emulator or write onto old floppy disks and play it on an Apple II. Cifaldi's copy was later sent to the National Museum of Play to supplement other Carmen Sandiego materials donated to

6525-761: The Los Angeles Times said "even the most sophisticated recent titles have a hard time competing with Carmen Sandiego, the grand dame of teaching kids where in the world they are". The Stanford paper "Why in the World Is Carmen Sandiego a Success?" by Todd Brown explained the long-lasting appeal of the series: "Ultimately, the keyfactor of success for the Carmen series has been cultural. The designers were able to appeal to all children, boys and girls, by developing an experience with something for everyone. Goals, conversations, intrigue, suspense, learning geography... it’s all there. Furthermore, they did it without just shoving

6670-536: The NASDAQ stock exchange as BROD. At the time, the Carmen Sandiego games were Broderbund's second-biggest revenue source, comprising 26% of total revenue; the biggest was The Print Shop , which brought in 33% of revenue. By 1997, Carmen Sandiego games had been translated into three different languages and over 5 million copies had been sold into schools and homes, worldwide. Carmen Sandiego also appeared in three television shows during this era. The World game show

6815-405: The NDDC, messages between the developers and Broderbund, classroom worksheet extensions, imagery of development, various builds of the game during its evolution, and the manual were all recovered. During this visit, Nansen gave Cifaldi one of only three known surviving versions of the game boxed for retail sale. This version differed from the version that was sold to schools and was sold only through

6960-555: The Netflix animated series Carmen Sandiego was still in production, Netflix announced plans to produce a related live action film adaptation, to star Gina Rodriguez , who also voiced the title character in the series. Rodriguez is set to co-produce the film, alongside Kevin Misher and the series' executive producer, Caroline Fraser. In September 2021, the official Twitter account for the Carmen Sandiego animated series confirmed that

7105-565: The North Dakota Roughrider Detective Hall of Fame, which contains 16 slots. Solving clues requires research using sources other than the game, which at the time meant almanacs, maps, and biographical dictionaries focused on North Dakota. In doing so, players learn facts about the geography, environment, economy, and history of the state, as well as techniques for conducting research, using databases, and deductive reasoning. The teacher's guide also suggests

7250-606: The Stolen Drums on the GameCube , Xbox , and PlayStation 2 . It is so far the only game of the franchise to use real-time 3D computer graphics, although many previous games had used pre-rendered 3D graphics. It was also an action game and while geographical facts were included, learning them was not necessary to complete the game. Although The Learning Company evidently licensed the use of the series as well as some of their own characters from Treasures of Knowledge , this game

7395-402: The abundance of available information in the computer age. She also knew that the franchise had achieved "great acceptance throughout [the] district and state" and believed the game could appeal to adults who would find it fascinating and informative. She deemed the Carmen Sandiego games a "novelty", allowing students to have fun while learning; she also liked the opportunity for randomness, and

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7540-626: The adventures of Zack and Ivy, two teenage siblings who work as ACME agents in San Francisco and are aided by the Max Headroom –like Chief, who had to stop Carmen Sandiego and her henchmen from stealing artifacts from around the world. The series was the first Saturday-morning children's program ever to win the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Animated Program , in 1996. Its episodes have subsequently been aired on

7685-459: The basics of using a database". After observing Where in the U.S.A.'s ability to hold her child's attention for hours, Bonny Berryman, an eighth grade social studies teacher at Erik Ramstad Junior High , came up with the idea of a special Carmen Sandiego program that would coincide with the state's centennial year. She felt the game could teach children how to "retrieve information from computers, rather than memorize it", an important skill given

7830-450: The brand was stagnating but thought it easier to revive an established brand than start a new one. Under The Learning Company, the series seems to take its premise more seriously and uses character-based humor. Since The Learning Company has only created two Carmen Sandiego games, one of which is no longer sold. This change is evident mainly through the marketing of select Brøderbund products. The first title released by The Learning Company

7975-432: The cases. In 1997 a series of junior novels was written by various authors and illustrated by S. M. Taggart . Each book in the series was subtitled A Carmen Sandiego Mystery and featured child detectives Ben and Maya as the protagonists. Six books were released: From mid 1996 to early 1997, four Carmen Sandiego comic books were published by DC in a series entitled Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? . They involved

8120-503: The character's appearance was rebooted so that she wore a grayish black catsuit under her trench coat, with the stripe on her fedora changed to match, and more practical footwear. In the canon depicted in the Earth animated television series, her hair is black, rather than the usual brown, as are her normally gray gloves. Her hat band on Earth is orange, matching a turtle neck and skirt she wears under her trench coat in this series. Frances Martel of The Mary Sue described her as having

8265-494: The classic video game in 1985, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? . Each subsequent video game in the series has a particular theme and subject, where the player must use their knowledge to find Carmen Sandiego or any of her myriad henchmen. This series was originally owned and developed by Broderbund, but is now owned by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt . This was the PBS game show designed for children ages 8–12. The World game show

8410-551: The collaboration which he compared to that of Crosscountry North Dakota . By March 1988, Broderbund had not spoken openly about the project, but Classroom Computer Learning had been informed that there was to be an "imminent" contract between Broderbund and the North Dakota Database Committee (NDDC), and that the project would be available to North Dakota's educators within six to nine months. The inter-business deal would give Broderbund rights to sell

8555-404: The company, he argued that while the series "wasn't meant to be an educational tool", it greatly appealed to educators and Where in North Dakota... should be developed for this purpose. Nansen recalled that "things fell into place and Broderbund was willing to do it", overcoming his previous skepticism. Subsequently, he contacted North Dakota's Department of Public Instruction. In March 1987 he

8700-532: The computer game Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? and a "non-computer-based board-style geography game". Kotaku explains the duality of the franchise thus: "In concept, it [is] a light edutainment game. In practice, it [is] a gateway to the rest of the world." Compute said of the series, "Although the gameplay varies only slightly from one title to the next, these games continue to be entertaining and, best of all, painlessly educational—a tough combination to beat". The Educational Technology Handbook says that

8845-505: The computer games, the thefts of the minor henchmen are almost always meant to keep ACME occupied before Carmen herself pulls off the real crime, usually something monumental and significant to the theme of the game. Carmen is incredibly, at times almost supernaturally, elusive and her permanent capture would be ACME's holy grail . Carmen Sandiego was voiced by Rita Moreno in the Earth animated series . This animated television series reveals

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8990-652: The crime computer using up to 14 characters and are informed about the case. Players are sent to the scene of the crime and tasked with capturing Carmen Sandiego and her cronies by questioning witnesses. Using these clues, players decipher the appearance of the imposters and follow their geographic trail to locations such as the International Peace Garden , Cando , and the Standing Rock Indian Reservation . Players always have six days' worth of allotted time to track down

9135-535: The crook and create a correct warrant. Every time the player captures three imposters, they are promoted to a higher rank and the game's difficulty increases. More difficult clues provided by witnesses are added to the pool, and players must travel to more locations related to the case; the lowest rank requires the player travel to four different locations, while the hardest level has them travel to 14. They must advance 10 ranks before having an opportunity to catch Carmen herself. When they do catch her, they are placed into

9280-483: The educational aspect. The game play succeeded in this by giving the player a sense of agency while travelling through an adventure and chasing the villain. Broderbund included response cards in their games to gather information, which once in a database could be used via direct mail to sell upgrades or future products. According to New Product Success Stories: Lessons from Leading Innovators , Broderbund had also built an "organisational capacity that supports creativity" and

9425-486: The educational market, as it became a staple in many classrooms. I think the problem is that geography, like far too many things, is presented as dry and dull and boring by people who must have personally found it that way. I don't think it has to be ... We don't use the word 'educational' anywhere on any of our products. The term translates into 'boring' in kidspeak. I prefer 'explorational'. Portwood and Ellliot produced storyboards and initial graphics, while staff completed

9570-406: The episodes he accepts the possibility that she might be his daughter. Before finding out the ultimate truth, Avalon falls from a roof during a battle with former ACME agent Lee Jordan and has selective amnesia of the events that have transpired. At the end of the final episode, Carmen hires a hypnotist in order to remember what happened the day of the fire. It is discovered she picked the locket off

9715-481: The exploits of Evan Sawyer, "Acme Detective Agency's newest and youngest gumshoe". University Games published a number of board games, and at least one card game, based on Carmen Sandiego throughout the 1990s. To promote the first board game, Broderbund made a special offer around Christmas when any Carmen Sandiego video game was purchased in tandem. Where in the Universe Is Carmen Sandiego?

9860-642: The first product to "defy characterisation", being a game to some and an education tool to others. The character of the Chief has been comedically portrayed by comedian Carl Tart as a recurring role on 15 episodes of Comedy Bang! Bang! as of May 2023. Where in North Dakota Is Carmen Sandiego%3F Where in North Dakota Is Carmen Sandiego? is a 1989 educational video game . It

10005-507: The first script of the project and invented the character's name, left to become a diplomat for the U.S. State Department before the first game was released in 1985. The character's identity as a Hispanic woman has remained a consistent and integral part of her character, and visually, she was partly influenced by the Brazilian singer and actress Carmen Miranda . Her last name alludes to the city of San Diego, California . Carmen Sandiego

10150-604: The franchise. Pacific Bell Carmen Sandiego Prepaid Phone Cards were made available. "Where in the Valley Is Carmen Sandiego?" was a scavenger hunt held in Yakima, Washington in 2017. By 1997, the franchise had received over 60 awards, including 12 Software Publishers Association Excellence Awards for Best Education Programs and 7 Parents' Choice Awards. By 2000, the franchise had won over 90 awards. They include: The commercial success of Carmen Sandiego

10295-456: The franchise. Awareness was built through editorials in magazines, placement on retailer shelves, and promotions. The launch price of $ 38 was chosen to suit cost-constrained teachers. Playing an entertaining game at schools led to children beginning to request the game from their parents, leading to a "pull-through effect" in the distribution chain. Broderbund emphasized that the games were fun and labelled them 'explorations' rather than highlighting

10440-420: The game Junior Detective and the planetarium film Universe . In the games Word Detective and Math Detective , Mari Devon took on the title role. More recently, her voice was provided by Christiane Crawford for Treasures of Knowledge and The Secret of the Stolen Drums . On Time , Carmen Sandiego also had little personality and was generally portrayed as a straight villain. Furthermore, her face

10585-430: The game after being shocked by its existence when browsing Misplaced Pages entries on Carmen Sandiego titles. After conversing with game designer and collector Mike Mika, he discovered that although Mika apparently had every Carmen Sandiego game, he did not have this entry; Mika said its existence was "blowing his mind" since the project sounded like a joke and made no sense. Cifaldi also discovered that Where in North Dakota...

10730-407: The game can be used to teach students skills in: using maps, thinking, studying, comprehension, vocabulary, writing, and computer literacy. The teacher's guide notes that while skill is an important factor, luck is also very important. The elements of each case are randomly generated which means repeats of the same case can have vastly different results. It is also possible, albeit highly unlikely, for

10875-415: The game from Broderbund; the balance of the money was used to pay the North Dakota Database Committee and for advertising and distribution costs. North Dakota's Department of Public Instruction aimed to recoup their costs by selling copies to North Dakotan schools while Broderbund planned to make a commercial version available. A January 1988 edition of It's Elementary revealed that Where in North Dakota

11020-525: The game is a great example of history that might have been lost had he not recovered documents for his archival non-for-profit organization. Where in North Dakota is Carmen Sandiego? is a first-person history and geography-based edutainment game for the Apple II platform. The interface of Where in North Dakota... is similar to the other games in the series, World , U.S.A. , and Europe . Two design changes were made for this game. The language

11165-484: The game was cased in a game box stylized like the earlier games. Having observed the popularity of the Carmen Sandiego franchise in the education of school children, educators were inspired to develop a North Dakota version to teach North Dakotans about their state's history and geography. In early 1987, the Minot Public Schools system was looking for "an interesting way to teach students and educators

11310-413: The game was heavily circulated in North Dakota school classrooms in the 1990s, it has become difficult to find in modern times. As North Dakota schools updated their computers, floppy disks became obsolete. This, coupled with the small production run, led to the title becoming rare. Cifaldi referred to it as "one of the rarest video games ever made", and openly encouraged citizens to unearth their copies of

11455-618: The game, Nansen conducted seminars in schools across the state, encouraging teachers to incorporate the game, as well as other North Dakotan database games, into their curricula. North Dakota public school districts interested in the program were encouraged to call social studies director of the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, Curt Eriksmoen, and before using it had to send at least one educator to one of Nansen's seminars. North Dakota's Department of Public Instruction would ship copies to qualifying schools across

11600-483: The game. A few school versions have survived; two are located at the North Dakota State Library while a copy was acquired by TanRu Nomad for his YouTube review. Nansen received an unprotected version from Broderbund after sales died off. By 2015 he and a group of students had digitized the game for play on Javascript emulators. Frank Cifaldi is a digital archivist, who became fascinated by

11745-414: The games released after Broderbund was sold to The Learning Company have received mixed to negative reviews. A review by Mr. Bill & Lela for Mr. Bill's Adventureland Review says of the 1996 game Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? "It teaches knowledge of world geography and cultures, electronic database research skills, map reading and deductive reasoning. This game became so popular that there

11890-520: The general public. World was used throughout Minot's 6th grade classes while U.S.A. was used in their 5th grade classes; the games were both popular in Fargo schools. Where in North Dakota is Carmen Sandiego? was targeted at fourth graders as the team believed this was the year when students began learning about their state. However, the teacher's guide suggested the game was suitable for students in grades four to twelve, for use either by an individual,

12035-425: The graphics, color, movement, and sound that other media such as board games did not provide. She noted that the target market played video games every weekend and this was a franchise with which they were already familiar. She pitched the idea to Minot Public School System computer coordinator Craig Nansen, who was initially skeptical, describing it as a "pipe dream or pie-in-the-sky idea". However, he saw promise in

12180-443: The ground, but cannot recall if it was because she dropped it, or if she found it while the hotel was burning. The finale ends with her saying, "But maybe there are just some things we aren't meant to know for sure." CommonSenseMedia explains: why Carmen breaks the law at every turn, but her thefts are somehow forgivable because she does it more for the challenge and the thrill of it than for any personal gain, and her main concern

12325-471: The help of school districts across the state. The "educators-turned-game-developers" came up with the pranks, selected locations, researched clues, wrote informational text such as the teacher's manual, created Carmen's imposters, and sourced graphic material. Afterwards, Broderbund's designers took the team's work, and programmed and tested the game using the interface and structure of its previous Apple II Carmen Sandiego titles. They also developed graphics,

12470-401: The heroine, who is recruited to V.I.L.E. in infancy and trained as a master thief, only to turn against them and seek to undo their thievery. In the early 1990s, in response to the successful Carmen Sandiego franchise, "editor Sharon Shavers was tasked with turning the games into a book series". She gave the responsibility to John Peel . His research consisted of playing all the games, and this

12615-471: The high-tech hardware Zack and Ivy have back when she was an ACME detective. In the episode "Retribution, Part 1" a scene shown in flashback shows how justified she was. This is further enforced in another episode, where Carmen is dared to try something without any of her high-tech equipment. She agrees to this, and actually pulls it off, hijacking the Orient Express with only conventional tools. Carmen

12760-440: The holiday for children. Although a villainess Carmen operates on her own brand of morals, such as being a thief in the strictest sense of the word and not killing Zack and Ivy despite gaining many opportunities to do so. She has even saved the Chief's life when he was suffering a viral malfunction and did not want to lose him and only had Manny "kidnap" him so she could get to play chess with him like they did every Christmas when she

12905-424: The idea of stimulating research by encouraging students to use an encyclopedia or dictionary to decipher clues about their state, thereby adding a state-based component to the database project. Additionally, his goal was to represent "'cool' software [that] attract[s] the attention of board members, superintendents, etc. [while being] educationally sound". He subsequently contacted series developer Broderbund about

13050-493: The idea of text adventure games like Colossal Cave Adventure , but create a menu-driven interface to be played on the Apple II computer. Initial work was done with Broderbund's "Rubber Room" artists, Gene Portwood and Lauren Elliott, creating a game where the player would chase down various crooks. Broderbund co-founder Gary Carlston suggested changing the concept to be focused on geography, anticipating shipping copies of The World Almanac to let players research clues and find

13195-420: The infancy of the video game industry, there was at least one game working to remedy that problem". The character has had mostly positive reception. St. Cloud Times described her as "glamorous", "shifty", "smart", and "great fun to chase". Heather Alexandra of Kotaku described her as "mysterious", "clever", "dashing", a "mastermind", "cunning", "sly", "sneaky", "smart", and fashionable, summing her up as

13340-708: The live-action film was in the "early stages." In the late 1990s, the Metro Washington Park Zoo in Portland , Oregon , (now the Oregon Zoo ), in conjunction with Brøderbund , ran a summer-long event titled "Where in the Zoo Is Carmen Sandiego?", which functioned as a full-immersion live-action Carmen game in which zoo patrons were the investigating detectives. Actors were hired to play Carmen's henchmen, who could be found around

13485-455: The mall is being referred to. It was part of the podcast NPR Programs: Ask Me Another . The Carmen Sandiego Licensing Program saw the Carmen Sandiego brand licensed to over 20 companies including HarperCollins, University Games, Great American Puzzle Factory, DIC Entertainment, WGBH/WQED, Micro Games of America, Publications International and Troll Associates. The Carmen Sandiego Connection website allowed players and fans to discover more about

13630-458: The material. In anticipation of the game's upcoming digital archive, Cifaldi visited Nansen in Minot with a film crew from June 13–15, 2016. He interviewed those who worked on the project and recorded various locations used in the game. Valuable material such as photographs and internal documentation was also recovered (such as the authentic Carmen's North Dakota Almanac ). Handwritten notes from

13775-449: The mention of her winning the aforementioned game show, no details of it are given. ( Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Treasures of Knowledge ) The game show Carmen wins may be a reference to the game shows the character herself starred in. According to Where in Space Is Carmen Sandiego? , her favorite writer is Ursula K. Le Guin and her favorite astronomer is Nicolaus Copernicus . In Carmen Sandiego: Junior Detective Edition ,

13920-479: The mid-1980s: In the games, ACME Headquarters is primarily located in San Francisco and the leader of ACME is called "The Chief". Carmen Sandiego was a brilliant agent for the ACME Detective Agency until she left and formed the Villains' International League of Evil (V.I.L.E.). V.I.L.E. seeks to commit incredible thefts and/or cause chaos in other ways, while ACME tries to thwart them and capture their agents. In

14065-661: The museum by Broderbund founder Doug Carlston in 2014. Jon-Paul Dyson, the director of the International Center for the History of Electronic Games at the National Museum of Play, personally thanked Cifaldi for his endeavours. In July 2016, the Apple II-focused KansasFest featured a Where in North Dakota is Carmen Sandiego? contest. Cifaldi has since added his work to his new initiative Video Game History Foundation . It aims to preserve

14210-597: The mythical " Prometheus Rock." Although Chase and Carmen apprehended the thieves responsible for stealing it, the rock itself was not found. When Carmen left ACME, Chase was forced to leave ACME as well since he had worked so closely with her. However, Chase began working with ACME again to stop Carmen's plan to steal language with the Babbel-On Machine, as depicted in Carmen Sandiego Word Detective . In Carmen Sandiego Math Detective ,

14355-465: The names or places in a region of the world, the gumshoe had to place a marker on the corresponding place on a giant map of that area within a 45-second time limit. A successful gumshoe who placed all the correct locations and captured Carmen Sandiego would win a trip to anywhere in the contiguous United States and later in North America . The Time game show refocused the show on history, but

14500-405: The pilot answered correctly, he/she passed through the gate. Otherwise, the pilot had to turn a crank, pull a lever, or do some other task within the 90-second time limit. A successful pilot who passed through all six gates and captured Carmen Sandiego would win a personal computer. The Earth animated series was a Saturday morning cartoon series produced by DIC Entertainment . The series features

14645-461: The player solve the game's riddles and clues; the state of North Dakota did not have an almanac at the time, so the educators wrote one. The project was completed in 1989 for the state's Department of Education to help mark North Dakota's 100th year of statehood. Ultimately, the entire grant was used for the project: $ 65,000 of the $ 100,000 was set aside by North Dakota's Department of Public Instruction to purchase an initial order of 2500 copies of

14790-412: The player to discover Character Clues and Location Clues, while "Go To Gas Station" allows the player to travel to the next location. Unlike previous Carmen Sandiego games, rather than including an almanac or reference work, the developers opted to use an online database to provide the clues. The North Dakotan educators wanted to include computerized materials in the game to allow their teachers to use

14935-444: The positive side, he felt the game was a "big hit, in terms of a fun story to tell". Kris Kerzman of Inforum deemed it "a fascinating piece of [North Dakota]'s history and video game history", and noted its existence could be puzzling even to fans of the Carmen Sandiego franchise. Cool987FM warned its readers of the difficulty in locating original floppy disks of the game. The Gamecola podcast described Where in North Dakota... as

15080-491: The possibility of creating the game, a prospect they liked. At the time, the recent success of Carmen Sandiego Days had resulted in schools from many states asking Broderbund to make state-specific versions of their games to fit into their Carmen Days. At the time, Broderbund CEO Doug Carston preferred to describe the series as "explorational" rather that "educational". In his opinion the term "educational... translate[d] into 'boring' in kidspeak". But when Nansen approached

15225-403: The previously discrete academic topics, and not playing it in its entirety but isolating segments for lessons on particular items. The 1994 journal article "The impact of a computer-based adventure game on achievement and attitudes in geography" by J. H. Wiebe and N. J. Martin found that there were no "significant differences in recall of geography facts or attitudes between the teaching methods" of

15370-418: The program as "a hit in North Dakotan classrooms, but a flop for Broderbund". Why is Broderbund interested in tying up its talented development staff in a project with an audience relatively small in number? It could be that the company is planning to market a consumer version in stores throughout North Dakota (which would open up a much larger home market for the product). But at least one educator involved In

15515-586: The project claims that Broderbund is not closed to the idea of doing versions for other interested states. —Holly Brady, Classroom Computer Learning (March 1988) Nansen expected the game to be in every North Dakota school that had a computer system, and for it to be as popular throughout the state's education system as the World and U.S.A. versions. Berrryman also saw the game's potential popularity outside North Dakota schools, commenting on its appeal to adults due to its agricultural, immigration, historical, and geographical content. Where in North Dakota

15660-562: The project. Other states approached Broderbund after the North Dakota title was released and were quoted millions instead of the $ 100,000 that funded the North Dakota game; none of these other projects came to fruition. According to Nansen, the biggest issue with these state-based projects was not the actual cost of producing them, but that Broderbund was forced to take their production team away from working on much more lucrative projects. By 2001 around 5,000 copies had been sold in North Dakota itself. The Video Game History Foundation described

15805-446: The property, HMH hired Brandginuity to reboot Carmen Sandiego through a licensing program built around the show and the franchise as a whole including toys, games, and apparel. HMH Productions, established in 2018, is currently the content incubator, production company, and brand manager for Carmen Sandiego. HMH Productions co-produced the animated Netflix TV series Carmen Sandiego , which ran for four seasons from 2019 to 2021 (including

15950-521: The release of Returns in 2015. By 1997, Carmen Sandiego games had been translated into three different languages, and over 5 million copies had been sold into schools and homes worldwide. The three 1990s-airing television shows have together been nominated for 45 Daytime Emmy Awards (winning 8), while World also won a Peabody Award . They had a combined viewing audience of over 10 million viewers each week. The original game idea started in 1983 from Broderbund programmer Dane Bigham, wanting to take

16095-422: The rest of the series, the reason for Carmen leaving ACME is not specifically stated, although it is speculated on by Suhara ("Déjà Vu"). In the latter seasons of the show, Carmen began to be portrayed as more of an antivillain than a proper villainess, even teaming up with the show's protagonists to defeat criminals more unscrupulous than herself on several occasions. Additionally, it was made clear that she makes

16240-400: The retail version while North Dakota's Department of Public Instruction would sell the school version. The Broderbund team agreed to publish the game but required local expertise to create the clues and write the text. As a result, Nansen created the North Dakota Database Committee with teachers who had taught North Dakotan topics in the past. It spent the next two years compiling facts with

16385-462: The right answers for geography questions. Bigham focused more on the interface, and Carlston hired David Siefkin to write the game's story. Siefkin had traveled around the world with a backpack and a map, and had also played "Colossal Cave Adventure". In his draft he substituted real countries for the rooms of the cave, and proposed a list of villains, including Carmen Sandiego . The other staff found this name mysterious and exotic, in addition to being

16530-462: The same characters. However, characters as well as some other elements often appear differently between the games due to the use of different animation styles. It is only in Word Detective and Math Detective that substantial information about Carmen is given. In this universe, Carmen's partner when she was at ACME was Chase Devineaux and one of the last cases they worked on together involved

16675-463: The second person and in present tense, and have removable inserts that provided clues and the identities of the villains. The books are published by the Canadian branch of Golden Books Publishing. Western Publishing was planning a September 1991 debut. Inspired by the video games, Peel wrote 16 new cases in the original four-book series. The books came with insert cards which became important in solving

16820-525: The series "engage[s] youth in tracking elusive villains across the earth". It suggest that the many games in the franchise "...hold your child's interest by putting them in touch with real-life places and events in a way no formal history or geography lesson can match". From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games suggests that software games like Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? challenge ideas of gender stereotypes in regard to games, due to it "hav[ing] equal appeal for boys and girls". In 2001,

16965-401: The series that has received consistent praise by critics is its diverse representation of strong, independent, and intelligent minority women. Carmen Sandiego herself is Latina . Carmen Sandiego has maintained a considerable popularity and commercial success over its history. Carmen Sandiego is one of the top 30 longest-running video game series , having existed for just over 30 years with

17110-435: The show's main theme song. The game was played in three rounds: the first round was Q&A, where the two gumshoes with the highest scores proceeded to a second round. In the second round, the two remaining gumshoes had to find the loot, the warrant, and the cartoon crook in the correct order. The winning gumshoe captured the day's crook and later advanced to the third and final round to capture Carmen Sandiego. As Greg shouted

17255-440: The software as an instructional tool; this led to them "chang[ing] the Carmen Sandiego program" and adding 16 different databases to the title with topics like parks and minerals. In the school version, the game's packaging consisted of a full lesson plan: a binder with a manual, a North Dakota state almanac, and the game on a double-side floppy disk. The binder included other information such as head shots of Carmen's henchmen,

17400-416: The software. They used a "Carmen bible" to maintain quality and consistency. Each design team consisted of 8-10 people. If a game idea became dull within a week, it was discarded. Games were play-tested in schools prior to release in order to identify problems. Prior to Carmen Sandiego, Broderbund had been involved in distributing and marketing software; therefore careful consideration was put into how to market

17545-490: The state. Meanwhile, the public could order the game from Broderbund Software-Direct at a recommended retail price of $ 34.95, while educators could order teacher's guides for $ 10. There is no proof the game was ever officially sold through retail stores (although one complimentary retail copy was sent to the NDDC for their work on the project). The game was never officially published; only 10 prototype retail copies were ever produced, which were all mailed to educators involved in

17690-426: The third version of Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? and Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Treasures of Knowledge , Carmen owns a red helicopter. In Junior Detective and in the 1996 versions of World and U.S.A. , she owns a pet cat named Carmine. In the 2019 Netflix animated series , which portrays Carmen as the hero instead of a villain, she is an orphan Argentine girl code-named "Black Sheep" who

17835-419: The truth, she turns on them and seeks to undo their thievery. Gina Rodriguez is the voice of the character for the series. Though her name is loosely based on the Brazilian singer and actress Carmen Miranda , Carmen Sandiego is commonly considered to be of Hispanic descent. Carmen Sandiego is cited as having a major "cultural impact [on] Latin American girls" in particular. Martel states that "Sandiego has

17980-447: The two-part finale, Carmen Sandiego attempts to rob millionaire Malcolm Avalon of a statue but finds a portrait of someone who she believes is her mother based on a locket she owns and sparks the possibility that Avalon might be her father. Avalon refuses to believe that she is his daughter due to her propensity of being a thief and that he believes his daughter died in a hotel fire along with her mother in San Francisco. However, later on in

18125-513: The video game industry's lost assets, such as Penn and Teller's Smoke and Mirrors . To help celebrate the launch of the foundation, IGN partnered to show off some of their recovered games, including Where in North Dakota... via a live stream. A playable version of the game was featured at the debut Retro Play area at the three-day GDC 2017 expo (along with Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors , Bound High! , Sound Fantasy , and Alter Ego ). The Video Game History Foundation, which

18270-562: The whereabouts of the Prometheus Rock became all too clear when Carmen tried to use it to make herself all-powerful, although her plans were thwarted by Agent 9 (the player) and Chase. As of Carmen Sandiego's ThinkQuick Challenge , Chase is again working for ACME. In the Carmen Sandiego Treasures of Knowledge canon, Carmen was a child prodigy , who won a substantial amount of money on a game show called It's

18415-683: The zoo, and on occasions a costumed Carmen appeared as well, but never in a location where patrons could interact with her. Clues were given out at various stations by members of the ZooTeens volunteer group. Campers aim to solve the mysteries and return the park to normal. In 2016, NPR held an homage to the WinWiCS gameshow entitled "Where in the Mall Is Carmen Sandiego?", in which incoming theft reports from ACME CrimeNet are relayed to contestants who must then work out which store in

18560-544: Was ThinkQuick Challenge , a quiz game with a similar tonality to Word Detective and Math Detective , which included the reappearance of Chase Devineaux. The new structure of Time was apparently to The Learning Company's liking since their new version of World , titled Treasures of Knowledge , was similar. The Learning Company decided to return the series to its original focus on geography, discontinuing Word Detective , Math Detective , and ThinkQuick Challenge . In 2004, Bam! Entertainment released The Secret of

18705-434: Was able to secure a $ 100,000 grant from the state legislature which also liked the idea, and appropriated the money to help fund the project. The game interested North Dakota's Department of Public Instruction because of its narrow scope compared with the previous Carmen Sandiego titles and its ability to teach computer skills. North Dakota's Department of Public Instruction employee Chris Eriksmoen would later speak highly of

18850-506: Was an ACME agent. The six Carmen Sandiego games produced from 1996 through 1999 ( Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? , Where in the U.S.A. Is Carmen Sandiego? , Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? ( Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time ), Carmen Sandiego Word Detective , Carmen Sandiego Math Detective and Carmen Sandiego's ThinkQuick Challenge ) seem to form a loose canon as they feature some of

18995-433: Was broadcast on PBS from 1991 to 1996 and won six Daytime Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award . World was followed by Time , which was cancelled in 1998 due to the geography-based premise having "run its entire course". It was acknowledged that history can be more subjective than geography, but the show hoped to tackle more challenging material like the infamous Japanese American internment camps during World War II in

19140-609: Was customer focused on its game development. From 1986 to 1998, Broderbund followed the first Carmen Sandiego video game with U.S.A. , Europe , Time , America's Past , Space , and Junior Detective , reboots of World , U.S.A. , and Great Chase Through Time , and finally released Word Detective and Math Detective . The first seven games of the franchise were each awarded one or more SPA Excellence in Software Awards, particularly for their educational effort. In 1991, Broderbund went public, trading on

19285-455: Was followed by "Sharon and [him] work[ing] out a format for the series" before he commenced writing. While in the past his natural tendency to add jokes to his work had been looked down upon, "Sharon [actually] asked [him] to put more in". The art was done by Allan Neuwirth. The premise of each choose-your-own-adventure book is that "you are the detective", and each title features "four exciting detective adventures inside!". The books are written in

19430-493: Was given to be " auburn " or " black " in some of the earlier games of the franchise. Her hat is often shown leaving her face in shadow and obscuring her eyes. When her eyes are visible, they are usually brown, although they were blue in the Earth animated series and in the Math Detective game . In many appearances, she also wears gray or black leather gloves . In the original Broderbund games, Carmen Sandiego wore

19575-504: Was hosting the exhibit, decided to include the clue guide almanac, which had been successfully preserved despite years in a fourth-grade classroom, for the public to use. Ultimately four participants attempted the game and none were successful in catching Carmen. In April 2018, an original staged reading with the game's namesake was performed at AwesomeCon in Washington, DC. Carmen Sandiego (character) Carmen Isabella Sandiego

19720-399: Was largely developed for the Apple II by a team of fourteen educators led by computer coordinator Craig Nansen, concept designer Bonny Berryman, and co-chairwoman Mary Littler collectively known as the North Dakota Database Committee (NDDC) of the Minot Public Schools , who made the game idea a reality. This "franchise extension" is the only game in the series based on a U.S. state and

19865-681: Was later created called Where in the Universe Is Carmen Sandiego? - II . Where in the World of Music Is Carmen Sandiego? is a concert series developed by Gary Sheldon. It consists of 3 concerts: The Case of the Missing Concert Hall, The Case of the Missing Bells, and The Case of the Missing Pyramids. By 1991, rumours were swirling about a movie adaptation of Carmen Sandiego. In 1998, Walt Disney Pictures extended

20010-476: Was never fully visible and all images of her were posterized, giving her a stylized, unreal look. Although the actress portraying Carmen in the show was not directly credited, it has been confirmed that she was played by Janine LaManna in the first season, and later Brenda Burke until the show's cancellation. LaManna and Burke also portrayed minor characters, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Eleanor Roosevelt . Efforts were made at least once, in 2006, to produce

20155-463: Was otherwise similar to World with Thigpen reprising her role as "The Chief". Kevin Shinick portrayed himself as a Time Pilot Squadron Leader and Rockapella was replaced by a different dance group, The Engine Crew. Gameplay for the first two rounds were much the same as World ; whereas the third and final round involved the pilot answering six various history-related questions to open time gates. If

20300-450: Was patterned after the previous games in the then-four year old series. Intended as a type of "pilot program" to test whether region-specific versions for the remaining 49 states were financially viable, the game was released in celebration of North Dakota 's centennial celebration in 1989. Although 5,000 school copies were sold to schools in the region, the game has become extremely rare and only three retail copies are known to exist. There

20445-405: Was puzzled by the specificity of the game. When listing the locations of various Carmen Sandiego games, it added that the imposter was also "in North Dakota, of all places". The Minot Daily News described the game as "special software". The Grand Forks Herald expressed surprise that there was "even" a North Dakotan game, though the writer commented that it succeeded in teaching geography in

20590-498: Was softened—"criminals" are called "imposters" and "crimes" are called "pranks"— and a four-wheel drive vehicle is used to travel between locations instead of an airplane. Where in North Dakota ... includes 38 locations within the state, 50 famous people connected to it, 16 pun-named gang members, and over 1,000 factual clues. Players begin in the office of the NoDak Detective Agency. They type their name into

20735-422: Was staged in a slightly off-skew detective office, which was part of the ACME agency with Lynne Thigpen portraying "The Chief" and Greg Lee portraying himself as a special agent in charge of training new recruits. Greg was helped in this training by various live-action and animated characters. Among the show's most popular were the members of the a cappella house band and comedy troupe, Rockapella , who also sang

20880-546: Was the finished product began calling and complaining. The first day the game had retail distribution was March 18, 1989, in the Dakota Square Mall , where members of the NDDC demonstrated the software. At the time of its release, Broderbund was the third largest developer of commercial computer software in the United States, and its Carmen Sandiego software was especially popular both in schools and with

21025-476: Was the only Carmen Sandiego game not to be represented in the National Museum of Play 's Broderbund Software Collection. In January 2015, Cifaldi began conversing with Nansen after posting on Twitter requesting information about the game. As Nansen was recently retired, he offered to round up all the information on the obscure game and make it available; meanwhile Cifaldi offered to write articles using

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