I’m old enough to remember how exciting it was to defeat the Bald Bull, Mr. Sandman and Super Macho-Man on Nintendo’s “Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out.”

 

Looking at those guys, or Mr. Tyson himself, in a YouTube (News - Alert) video now – having played “Mario Kart” on my brother’s Nintendo Wii – I feel like a dinosaur. (And yet, has a home video game better than NES’ “Metroid,” “Kid Icarus,” “The Legend of Zelda” or “Rygar” really been invented?)

 

That was back when video games were a distraction, but not quite a headline for education and fitness advocates who were watching us children grow steadily fatter and more lazy.

 

Now, with mobile devices, a slew of high-definition options and international, Web-based competition, video games are a different business.

 

This week, a company that works education technology is harnessing the power of that market to teach kids something other than how to save Princess Toadstool from the evil King Koopa in the Mushroom Kingdom. 
 

Here’s the back story to a DimensionM video game – a collaboration of Pearson and Tabula Digita – that will serve as the basis for a new game that’s expected to help students boost their math scores:

 

 

 

 

But in order to proceed, it appears our heroine must solve math problems:

 

 

Specifically, Tabula will create customized versions of its Dimension educational video games to complement the math curriculum in Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley enVisionMATH, an elementary math program, as well as Pearson’s two middle school programs.

 

According to Mike Evans, Pearson’s senior vice president for mathematics, research shows that when kids learn in an engaging, motivating environment with research-based, standards-aligned curriculum, their test scores soar.

 

“What better way to engage young learners than with the video games that they love customized to teach the critical math concepts that they will need to be successful in our 21st century economy?” Evans said.

 

(Those of you who heard about today’s news from Microsoft Corp. may be asking, “What economy?”)

 

Officials at Tabula say that DimensionM meets today’s digital students in the world they live in with a highly interactive 3D gaming format just like other popular video games they play every day. The games take students on action-packed missions in a virtual reality environment that’s supposed to be exciting and motivating. While they’re having fun, kids are learning math and developing critical thinking and problem solving skills.

 

For Tabula’s chief executive officer and co-founder, Ntiedo Etuk, we are witnessing a tremendous paradigm shift in the industry, because educators see the potential of video gaming.

 

“With the Pearson partnership, we now have the world’s leading education publisher recognizing the power and potential of these innovations,” Etuk said. “Educational gaming tools have turned the corner, moving from a niche product to a mainstream tool districts must have to fully engage the 21st century child.”