National Geographic announced today that it has entered the video game business, by forming a division called National Geographic Games (NGG). Through a combination of in-house development and partnerships, NGG plans to release a series of educational games designed to further the player’s knowledge of the Earth. This fits with the organization’s mission statement, which promises to “encourage geography education for students, promote natural and cultural conservation, and inspire audiences through new media.”

According to NGG, the game releases will be cross-platform releases, including PC, console, handheld, and mobile devices.

National Geographic is serious about this venture, to the point of hiring industry veteran and former Take2 and Bethesda executive Chris Mate as the general manager for the NGG division.

As for so many educational games, the jury is out on just how much fun the games will be. National Geographic Games’ first release, “Herod’s Lost Tomb” was developed in-house based on December 2008 magazine content, and will be a free download for PC, Mac, and iPhone. This will be followed closely by two games developed through partnerships: “National Geographic: Panda” in cooperation with Namco Bandai, and Sony’s “National Geographic: Africa”.