That being said, the leading non-profit scientific and educational institute is indeed preparing to make the creative jump into the videogame arena by utilising its National Geographic Ventures unit to launch new entertainment arm National Geographic Games.

While barely beyond its official unveiling, the National Geographic games division is already pushing its aim of spreading geographic knownledge by drumming up interest for its debut software title “Herod's Lost Tomb,” which was developed in-house and is available now as a free download for the PC, Apple Mac and Apple iPhone.

Not limiting its software reach to just online downloads, National Geographic Games and its focused brand of edutainment will also be bringing future titles to Nintendo's hugely popular Wii, Sony's powerhouse PlayStation 3 and handheld gaming platforms.

Some of the gaming creations currently in the pipeline include joint ventures such as “National Geographic Panda,” which is being developed in conjunction with Namco Bandai (Naruto, Tales of Versperia), and “National Geographic: Africa,” which is being crafted alongside Sony.

Tasked with holding the tiller at National Geographic Games is Chris Mate, an experienced gaming executive with prior industry connections with the likes of Bethesda Softworks (Fallout 3) and Take-Two Interactive (Grand Theft Auto IV).

In “Herod's Lost Tomb,” players face fairly simple hidden-objects gameplay developed from an initial article run in the December issue of the National Geographic Magazine and also a television show centered on the life of King Herod.