Over at Kotaku, Brian Crecente notes the re-release of Math Blasters for the DS, and then wonders why more console makers don't introduce at least a few good educational games on their systems in order to win over schools, parents, and other groups who might like both entertainment and education.

It's a good point, of course, and reminds me of the way Intellivision positioned themselves against Atari in the early 80s. Brian points out the way Apple muscled into schools during that decade too: much of the software used was educational games.

The first-party licensing regime is perhaps mainly to blame. Console makers fear flooding the market with "bad edutainment" titles, perhaps not realizing that, in fact, a few such titles, good or bad, might serve a bigger purpose.