NASA Invites Journalists, Video Game Experts to Review Online Game

News media and video game reviewers have an opportunity to preview a new NASA video game, Moonbase Alpha, in advance of its worldwide release.

Moonbase Alpha is a game with single and multiplayer options where players step into the role of an exploration team member in a futuristic 3-D lunar settlement. Their mission is to restore critical systems and oxygen flow after a nearby meteor strike cripples a solar array and life support equipment.

NASA will release the game on Valve’s Steam network on Tuesday, July 6. The Army Game Studio produced the game with development by Virtual Heroes, a division of Applied Research Associates in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

Reviewers can get early access to the game by contacting Mitch Gross of Virtual Heroes at 347-688-9703 or mgross@virtualheroes.com by July 1.

The game is a proof of concept to show how NASA content could be combined with a cutting-edge game engine to produce an experience that inspires interest in science, technology, engineering and math – skills critical to achieving NASA’s exploration goals.

For more information about Moonbase Alpha, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/moonbasealpha

For information about NASA’s education programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/education