History of MECC and Oregon Trail 149
Gammu writes "For the past thirty years, many children have been raised with a heavy diet of MECC games like Oregon Trail, Odell Lake and Lemonade Stand. These products weren't developed by a major game developer. Rather, they were developed by the state of Minnesota for use in their schools. What began as an initiative to get Minnesota students ready for the micro-computer age turned into a multi-million dollar a year business whose products are still used in US schools even a decade after MECC was sold off to another developer."
That takes me back... (Score:5, Funny)
I still blame these guys (Score:2, Funny)
Oregon Trail (Score:5, Funny)
YOUR MOM has died of dysentery
Good times.
Fond memories (Score:3, Funny)
And, using up the remaining minutes on xtalk and mmt (wait, was that YIM, AIM, or just texting) typing with people from as far away as luvern and worthington - the far reaches of civilization yet as close as a modem. All that time spent on appleseeds (oops, I suppose now I'm busted). And, of course, 'cheating' (no kidding, that was the accusation) on biology homework with just a brief soliloquy of code. *sigh*
It was all fun until the paper ran out. Thank god for crt's.
So much has changed, so much has stayed the same.
Re:Oregon Trail (Score:5, Funny)
We used to purposely pick names that would look good on the tombstone, since anyone who played the same disk after you would see it when they passed by wherever on the Trail you died. It also let you write an epitaph for yourself, which led to a trail full of stones like..
Here lies HEMAN
skeletor finally won
Here lies SANTA
no more presents for anybody
Here lies (TEACHER'S NAME)
still can't find the on switch on the IIc
Good times.
Re:Not a single bison shall stand (Score:5, Funny)
Paging Jack Thompson...Paging Jack Thompson...
Gateway software (Score:4, Funny)
If left unchecked, you can expect that these players will have moved onto a Dope Wars adulthood where they borrow money from shady lenders, sell drugs on the street, and shoot at law enforcement, all while holding onto just a slim dream of retiring to the Carribbean as their only possibility for redemption.
Re:Not a single bison shall stand (Score:5, Funny)
I hated seeing that.
Re:Not a single bison shall stand (Score:5, Funny)
River depth 3 feet
1: Ford the River?
2: Seal boat and cross the river?
3: Wait?
Ford the River!!
Your wagon turned over
You lost 3 Oxen
You lost 1200lbs of food
You lost 500 bullets
You broke a wheel
You broke an axle
You broke a yoke
Your wagon caught fire and exploded
Max drowned and died... we never found the body
Johnny died in the wagon fire
Betty was crushed by the panicking ox
Bill drowned
Jeff caught Cholera and died in under 30 seconds, a new record!
Jeff came back as a Zombie and killed everyone else, game over.
[load saved game]
river is 3 ft deep
1: Ford the River?
2: Seal boat and cross the river?
3: Wait?
wait
river is 7 ft deep
1: Ford the River?
2: Seal boat and cross the river?
3: Wait?
seal boat and cross river
The wagon sank, everyone DIED...
Mother Fucker..
[load save game]
river is 3ft deep
1: Ford the River?
2: Seal boat and cross the river?
3: Wait?
wait
The river is 19 feet deep, is flooding, full of debris, on fire, and has piranhas in it.
1: Ford the River?
2: Seal boat and cross the river?
3: Wait?
Everyone makes it across safely.
WTF?
Re:Not a single bison shall stand (Score:3, Funny)