History of MECC and Oregon Trail [Slashdot]

[DP ServBot]

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."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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[diskoboy]

Although its efforts are largely forgotten today, MECC was perhaps one of the most influential and important organizations in the field of educational computing to have ever operated. It was also more successful and had a much larger impact than earlier projects and initiatives to improve education and increase the awareness of computers in education.

Largely forgotten!!?? Please... I'll bet there isn't one person in this entire forum who didn't enjoy The Oregon Trail, at one point in their youths. And doesn't hold it very near, and dear to their hearts....

Hell, I even remember playing Lemonade Stand.

[coreys429]

Who didn't go hunting on the game and shoot every buffalo or bison and bring back only 200 pounds of food when you shot 1200 pounds of food.

[LAGO]

I was thinking of Odell Lake just the other day. I want to play that game so bad.

[Neil Koch]

Largely forgotten!!?? Please... I'll bet there isn't one person in this entire forum who didn't enjoy The Oregon Trail, at one point in their youths. And doesn't hold it very near, and dear to their hearts....

I'm from Minnesota and just about everyone my age (early 30's) probably remembers Oregon Trail, even if they aren't gamers... it was in seemingly every classroom when I was a kid, and people were always making bootleg copies to play at home.

I don't think I ever actually made it to the end of that game. I'd always waste money on ammo and whiskey

[Azraelscross]

Largely forgotten!!?? Please... I'll bet there isn't one person in this entire forum who didn't enjoy The Oregon Trail, at one point in their youths. And doesn't hold it very near, and dear to their hearts....

Hell, I even remember playing Lemonade Stand.

I never played Oregon trail. if i did i don't remember it at all. And the others i had never even heard off till i read this thread.haha

[DigitalSpace]

A little while ago, someone made an excellent post about the Oregon Trail in here (and considering that the guy got banned, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the best post he ever made ).

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=95150

Gamer or not, the odds are that most people who you interact with on a daily basis have played “The Oregon Trail.” So, next time you’re in a social situation where you don’t know what to say, just relate the conversation back an event in “The Oregon Trail,” and everyone will have a brief moment of nostalgia as they reach back to their childhood in their minds, and they’ll know exactly what you’re talking about.

Anyways, it's been a while since I last played Oregon Trail, and this thread makes me want to open up my Apple II emulator and play it again.