Adibou

Adibou
Genre(s)Educational adventure
Developer(s)Coktel Vision
Coktel SAS
Neko Entertainment
Publisher(s)Coktel Vision
Knowledge Adventure
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Havas Interactive International
Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing International
Vivendi Universal Games International
Mindscape
Ubisoft
Wiloki
Platform(s)PlayStation
PlayStation 2
Macintosh
Windows
Amiga
Atari ST
DOS
Wii
First releaseAdibou (English: AJ's World of Discovery)
1991
Latest releaseAdibou: La Chanson d'Adibou (English: Adiboo: The Song of Adiboo)
2022

Adibou (English: Adiboo) is an educational video gaming series first developed by Coktel Vision in the 1990s. The franchise expanded into comic books, music and television series (such as Adiboo Adventure (2009)[1]). Titles in the series follow Adiboo, a young alien who teaches children about a variety of topics including nature, maths, and language. Most stories are set in the world of Celesta.

The series is divided into different categories based on target market: Adi for 10-14 year-olds, Adibou for 4-7 year-olds, and Adiboud'chou for 18 months-3 year-olds,[2] and characters have different names in different regions. The name Adibou is derived from the French acronym ADI meaning Accompagnement Didacticiel Intelligent (English: Intelligent Accompaniment Tutorial). Adibou games are now supported by ScummVM's "Gob" engine.[3][4]

The series was created by Roland Oskian, CEO of Coktel Vision and the brains behind the original Adibou concept as well as coordinator of the game's development; Manuelle Mauger, who managed the development of the content; Arnaud Delrue, responsible for the game's technical development; and Joseph Kluytmans, who was responsible for the visual quality of the universe. The games were designed specifically to be applicable within a classroom context.[citation needed]

In October 2005, Coktel Studio was sold by Vivendi Universal Games International to French publisher Mindscape which itself closed in 2011.[5][6] More than a dozen titles were published until 2009 when the series went dormant.[7]

Following the closure of Mindscape, the IP rights to Adibou were sold to Ubisoft, and in 2020, French company Wiloki, an educational start-up founded by the children of Adibou creator Roland Oskian, partnered with Ubisoft to revive the character. In May 2022, Wiloki released a brand new title titled Adibou: La Chanson d'Adibou for browser, iOS and Android under their partnership with Ubisoft.[8]

The new version of the game is now available in French, English and German.

  1. ^ "Adiboo Adventure". Tvtime.com. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  2. ^ "Adi Series". Mobygames.com. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  3. ^ "Gobsmacked". drmccoy.de. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  4. ^ "ScummVM". wiki.scummvm.org. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  5. ^ Poischich (21 October 2005). "VU Games cède Coktel à Mindscape" [VU Games sells Coktel to Mindscape]. Gamekult [fr] (in French). Archived from the original on 22 July 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  6. ^ Crookes, David (28 December 2018). "From the Archives: Coktel Vision". Retro Gamer. No. 189. Future Publishing. pp. 44–47.
  7. ^ Choppin, Damien (2018-10-25). "On vous présente Muriel Tramis, pionnière du jeu vidéo et première femme du secteur à recevoir la Légion d'honneur". Business Insider France (in French). Retrieved 2019-09-03.
  8. ^ "Meet Adibou, the Alien Who Introduced Many French Speakers to Videogames".