National Geographic launching games division

National Geographic has announced the launch of a dedicated games division, called (logically enough) National Geographic Games.

The division will focus on developing and/or licensing geographically themed games for various platforms, and it already has deals in place with Namco Bandai and Sony Computer Entertainment on the latter front.

However, it seems mobile fits into the new division's plans too. Its first game, Herod's Lost Tomb, will apparently be released for PC, Mac AND iPhone.

The last year has seen a few environmental mobile games, such as I-play's My Happy Planet and AMA's AMA Go Green.

However, if National Geographic puts its full weight behind iPhone and mobile versions of its games, it could grow the genre significantly.