View Full Version : How have console/portables avoided an Oregon Trail port all these years?
Frankie_Says_Relax
10-23-2007, 12:01 AM
I know this game has had several computer iterations since it's debut in 1971, with one of it's most notable (and super-nostalgic for anybody who was in public school in the 80's) being on the Apple ][ ...
... but I'm really shocked that it's never made it's way onto a single solitary console or portable from Atari to Playstation.
I think that the game, while basic in terms of being a turn based strategy/agrarian sim, is undeniably a classic in it's own right.
Broderbund who published the game on Apple and elsewhere - published a few titles for the NES back in the late 80's ... I wonder if they ever had any designs to bring the edutainment classic to the console world.
Would anybody pay for Oregon Trail on, say, XBLA (ala Catan), the PSN Store, or on the DS or PSP?
MrRoboto19XX
10-23-2007, 12:26 AM
That's a good point you bring up. The game was very popular, and I bet it would have fared well in the 16-Bit era.
I'm not sure how well it would do on XBL though, as its a bit on the easy side, and the multiplayer element just isn't there.
That's not to say I wouldn't buy it if given the oppertunity though. I'd be fording riviers until the break of dawn. :cheers:
Push Upstairs
10-23-2007, 12:33 AM
A whole new generation of people crying over Ben Dover's drowning death.
Kitsune Sniper
10-23-2007, 12:38 AM
Well, you couldn't type on many consoles until relatively recently. Having to buy a keyboard to play a really simplistic game... eh.
Now that there's actual keyboards for consoles? I can see it happening, but I doubt it would even turn a profit.
InsaneDavid
10-23-2007, 12:46 AM
Well, you couldn't type on many consoles until relatively recently. Having to buy a keyboard to play a really simplistic game... eh.
Now that there's actual keyboards for consoles? I can see it happening, but I doubt it would even turn a profit.
You really only need a keyboard for name entry, which can be done onscreen. Pretty much everything else is just numerical lists, which could be handled by scrolling with a directional pad like RPG menus.
Frankie_Says_Relax
10-23-2007, 01:32 AM
A whole new generation of people crying over Ben Dover's drowning death.
And dysentery.
Don't forget dysentery.
riffraff
10-23-2007, 01:59 AM
You hunt for some food, *Type BANG*!
B A N G
kainemaxwell
10-23-2007, 02:01 AM
Using the stylus for Oregon Trail for the DS would work.
dlopez9069
10-23-2007, 02:02 AM
ahhh memories.
if only i really owned 200 acres in oregon.
Sothy
10-23-2007, 02:39 AM
Best idea for a remake I have heard in years
I bet 3 people could make a new oregon trail with passable graphics for chump change and put it on a modern system and it would sell.
I was actually just wondering why they hadn't released it on mobile, it would work out quite well on a cellphone.
jcalder8
10-23-2007, 03:15 AM
I'm glad I don't think My Dick ever got over the last snake bite
Willem
10-23-2007, 03:24 AM
according to wikipedia there are some newer versions of the game:
click here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oregon_Trail_(computer_game)
Frankie_Says_Relax
10-23-2007, 04:01 AM
according to wikipedia there are some newer versions of the game:
click here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oregon_Trail_(computer_game)
Yes, the latest PC version was released around 2002 I think.
We're just postulating how it never made it to home consoles and/or portables.
Look at the success of just about any quote-unquote "classic" PC software that's ported to consoles from Maniac Mansion to Diablo to Civilization to Myst to The Sims ... they all moved units on consoles regardless of their relative quality.
Oregon Trail is freakin' RIPE for a port (or, maybe STALE for a port, considering how long it's been) ...somebody needs to get somebody on the phone and figure out how to pick up the license and bring it to the screens of modern console / portable gamers post-haste.
boatofcar
10-23-2007, 04:14 AM
This is probably the best question I've seen in a long time. I mean, if freakin King's Quest got ported to the NES, why not Oregon Trail?
Personally, I think Broderbund saw the sales figures for other "edutainment" titles and passed.
koster
10-23-2007, 12:47 PM
I wonder if licensing issues are hindering the release of a console port of the original game.
Unofficial versions/remakes playable by modern consoles are readily available online (e.g. Westward Trail (http://www.globalgamenetwork.com/westward_trail.html) and Thule Trail (http://www.thuletrail.com/)).
Frankie_Says_Relax
10-23-2007, 01:06 PM
I wonder if licensing issues are hindering the release of a console port of the original game.
Unofficial versions/remakes playable by modern consoles are readily available online (e.g. Westward Trail (http://www.globalgamenetwork.com/westward_trail.html) and Thule Trail (http://www.thuletrail.com/)).
Ah, neat.
I'll have to try those on the PS3/PSP/Wii browsers.
I wish that both Opera and Sony would get off their asses and upgrade their respective browsers' flash compatability to at LEAST Flash 8 if not fully to Flash 9.
Though, it's nice that they all do use flash in some capacity.
Pantechnicon
10-23-2007, 01:16 PM
Personally, I think Broderbund saw the sales figures for other "edutainment" titles and passed.
That's probably it right there. "Educational game" sounds lucrative from a marketing standpoint, as one envisions dutiful parents gladly queuing up to pay for something like that, along the lines of those horrible Baby Einstein DVD's . But in the reality of overall sales, not so much.
It's been the same cultural perception for a quarter-century now: If you want to play videogames, you buy a console. If you want to edumacate your kids, then you buy a computer instead and have them play videogames on it. :?
cyberfluxor
10-23-2007, 06:37 PM
I could have sworn there was a release on the PSone or on a CD console, maybe not? Either way I don't know of a re-release worthy of discussing in the past decade or longer. It's a shame there hasn't be some awesome 3D adventure game made based off the series including some fun hunting/fishing mini-games and a waggon simulation. How about fixing that broken axle? Fun times can be had with a modernized version if done right.
A whole new generation of people crying over Ben Dover's drowning death.
Since that was my middle school Algebra teachers' name most puns regarding it I've heard. :(
Bojay1997
10-23-2007, 07:05 PM
Are you serious? This is a game all of us loved to hate in elementary school. Why would you want a modern remake? It's only fun because of the kitsch factor, not because the game itself was particularly well made or addictive. I'd rather see a remake of MULE or something that actually has some replay value.
Frankie_Says_Relax
10-23-2007, 07:29 PM
Are you serious? This is a game all of us loved to hate in elementary school. Why would you want a modern remake? It's only fun because of the kitsch factor, not because the game itself was particularly well made or addictive. I'd rather see a remake of MULE or something that actually has some replay value.
M.U.L.E. at least had an NES port.
And, as far as the quality of OT - I think that it's well made.
Well ENOUGH anyway. If needed they could expand the graphics, gameplay and strategy elements to suit a broader audience / create more entertaining gameplay.
Oregon Trail's gameplay style reminds me a lot of the simplicity and form/factor of one of my other favorite basic-in-design/endlessly entertaining action/strategy games "Defender of the Crown" (which has had two excellent versions in recent years - for GBA and PS2).
Kitsune Sniper
10-23-2007, 07:38 PM
Ah, neat.
I'll have to try those on the PS3/PSP/Wii browsers.
I wish that both Opera and Sony would get off their asses and upgrade their respective browsers' flash compatability to at LEAST Flash 8 if not fully to Flash 9.
Though, it's nice that they all do use flash in some capacity.
I think Adobe doesn't want Flash 9 to appear in consoles for some reason. I don't know why.
Jorpho
10-23-2007, 10:31 PM
This is probably the best question I've seen in a long time. I mean, if freakin King's Quest got ported to the NES, why not Oregon Trail?
Heh. Don't forget Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego. (Really weird that the NES got a port of that one while the SNES got the port of Carmen World.)
Anyway, the earliest version(s) of Oregon Trail were written entirely in BASIC and ought to be completely portable far and wide, but they were text-based and lacking many of the niceties of the familiar Apple II version and its early PC ports. (I understand the later PC versions were not quite as pleasing, what with having heavy emphasis on multimedia flashiness.)
Jorpho
10-23-2007, 11:30 PM
Unofficial versions/remakes playable by modern consoles are readily available online (e.g. Westward Trail (http://www.globalgamenetwork.com/westward_trail.html) and Thule Trail (http://www.thuletrail.com/)).
Damme, that Thule Trail is so very awesome. A quality product, there.
The only thing that's missing is witty gravestones.
InsaneDavid
10-24-2007, 12:13 AM
The more I think about it, screw Oregon Trail - it's time for a remake of Odell Lake! (Apple II version)
rbudrick
10-24-2007, 06:03 PM
Shit, next thing you know, someone will be asking for a port of Math Munchers.
-Rob
Jorpho
10-24-2007, 07:01 PM
Shit, next thing you know, someone will be asking for a port of Math Munchers.
Actually, one of the last MECC products I ever saw in stores was a jewelcase version of something called Trivia Munchers. The character bears a cursory semblance to the classic muncher.
http://www.stock1.com/edeals/1966.jpg
http://www.stock1.com/edeals/1966.htm
A re-make is long over due, there are countless things that could be done with this franchise.. There could be Oregon Trail the MMO, Oregon Trail the Death Match, Oregon Trail RPG (filled with countless side quests and grave digging simulation) and Oregon Trail of the Dead, where all the horribly named pilgrims seek their revenge.
Ed Oscuro
10-24-2007, 09:26 PM
I'm kicking myself for letting a color Mac version of the game go a few months ago. Not sure I'd want a console version, not after seeing the mid-90s remake of the game, though :P
Jorpho
10-25-2007, 12:28 AM
Oregon Trail of the Dead, where all the horribly named pilgrims seek their revenge.
Sheer GENIUS!
Rob2600
10-25-2007, 10:29 AM
A re-make is long over due, there are countless things that could be done with this franchise.. There could be Oregon Trail the MMO, Oregon Trail the Death Match, Oregon Trail RPG (filled with countless side quests and grave digging simulation) and Oregon Trail of the Dead, where all the horribly named pilgrims seek their revenge.
If Oregon Trail were remade today, it'd probably be a first-person shooter.
miaandjohnrule
10-25-2007, 10:34 AM
If Oregon Trail were remade today, it'd probably be a first-person shooter.
You killed 4000000 pounds of meat. You can carry 50 pounds and leave the rest behind
You killed 4000000 pounds of meat. You can carry 50 pounds and leave the rest behind
LOL good stuff.
Push Upstairs
10-27-2007, 02:39 AM
I understand the hunting limit for the learning and strategic value, but realistically I can't understand why you could hunt a 300lb bear and *only* take 50lbs.
If me and my party were starving to death I'd damn sure try to make two or more trips.
bangtango
10-27-2007, 09:01 PM
If Oregon Trail were remade today, it'd probably be a first-person shooter.
And due to modern day programmers with poor historical knowledge, it'd be full of locations, guns, food and slang words that didn't even exist back when the original game was supposed to have taken place.
Actually, Oregon Trail is the exact type of stuff that should have been coming out on a format like Sega CD or perhaps the 3DO/CD-i.
boatofcar
10-29-2007, 12:10 AM
And due to modern day programmers with poor historical knowledge, it'd be full of locations, guns, food and slang words that didn't even exist back when the original game was supposed to have taken place.
These modern day programmers have nothing on the historical knowledge that the programmers who did Custer's Revenge imparted upon the world. :villagepeople: