Minneapolis, Minnesota — May 17, 1996 — The Oregon Trail series-the classic, longest-selling, award-winning software from MECC, has become the first educational software title to endure for one quarter of a century. A special Oregon Trail 25th Anniversary limited edition will be available beginning in late September 1996 while supplies last.
“The Oregon Trail and the educational software industry have grown up together,” said MECC President and CEO Dale LaFrenz. “It’s been an exciting journey along the technological and educational highways. Like the original Oregon Trail emigration, The Oregon Trail has captured the hearts and minds of American families. In an industry in which most products disappear within a few months, MECC is honored to still be selling Oregon Trail after 25 incredible years and to have played this leading role in the evolution of educational software.”
The Oregon Trail has won countless awards and laudatory reviews from software critics, teachers, parents and children. Carol S. Holzberg, Ph.D. and computer journalist recently said: “It takes a remarkable program to grow an intellectually curious child. Oregon Trail introduces an exciting period in American history through the magic of computer simulation, multimedia and entertaining games. It’s an interactive adventure kids choose to play again and again because they step right into the action.”
The National Parenting Center President David Katzner said: “This is a trailblazing example of superb software design. Its ingenuity and creativity set the standard for the industry. Oregon Trail II stands as one the finest follow-up releases we have ever seen.”
Oregon Trail II began its historic saga in 1971. Then it was simply known as OREGON. It was the “grand daddy” of the current title and is credited with spawning the (then non-existent) educational software industry. OREGON also was a precursor to MECC’s Oregon Trail Online, part of the MECC Inter@ctive Explorer Series (IES), which will allow students to collaborate on an Oregon Trail learning adventure via the Internet during fall Œ96. Students will be teamed into “wagon trains” and will work together to overcome the trail challenges together, similar to the time share approach of the early 1970s.
Instead of using the Internet, however, students in 1971 ran the program on bulky terminals connected via telephone lines to a large mainframe computer. The MECC HP2000 time-share program owned by Minneapolis Public Schools was the first to deliver educational programs to students and teachers.
Later, OREGON was squeezed onto a diskette like other educational software for microcomputers in the late 1970s. It achieved stand alone status in 1985 as The Oregon Trail. Originally produced for the Apple IIe, The Oregon Trail was quickly developed for other platforms. Of these, the MS-DOS version, released in 1988, emerged as one of the most well received. The Apple version was released in 1987 to take advantage of the more sophisticated capabilities of the Apple IIGS. Since then, it has been available in all conceivable formats, including Windows, Macintosh, CD-ROM and Windows 95.
Numerous technological and content enhancements were made through the years, culminating in the 1995 release of Oregon Trail II, a fully-interactive CD-ROM that includes multiple levels of difficulty, nearly 200 live-video characters, 5,000 photo-realistic images, tens of thousands of possible play scenarios, more than three hours of digitized speech, an original soundtrack, and 3-D rendered towns that players can explore.
With Oregon Trail II, kids can relive two pivotal decades of U.S. history. The action is never the same as they travel from 1840 to 1860 and venture across hundreds of possible westward routes on the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails. On their journey, kids hunt for buffalo, barter for clothing, ride white water rapids, and interview historical characters for survival tips.
Oregon Trail II received a prestigious 1996 Excellence in Software (“Codie”) Award from the < a href=”http://www.spa.org”>Software Publishers Association (SPA). The Codie award, which was presented to MECC for its Oregon Trail II CD in the “best adventure/role playing” category, is considered the software industry’s highest honor for outstanding product achievement and creativity.
“Many factors have contributed to the enduring popularity of this product,” said MECC Product Line Manager Grace Trombetta. “Oregon Trail is one of the most well-known brands of children’s educational software. Children play it at school and also want a personal copy to play at home with their families. It’s been called the Œbest critical thinking software product on the market today.’ And our surveys consistently find broad appeal for Oregon Trail II among both boys and girls. It’s truly a gender-neutral learning adventure.”
Various reasons may explain the product’s enduring popularity. It provides a rich learning opportunity, provides players with an authentic “you are there” experience, is challenging, visually stunning, empowers children by allowing them to make real “life and death” decisions, and has been continually improved over the years.
MECC software developer Wayne Studer believes part of the appeal is that Oregon Trail taps into the American psyche. “Most Americans have some element of the pioneering experience in their background and many can trace their ancestry back to the trails. The Oregon Trail explores taking your fate into your own hands, which is something modern-day emigrants also can relate to,” he said.
Whatever the reasons, The Oregon Trail has timeless appeal. Notes Michael J. Madson, host of the Business News Network’s Computer Bits: “If the amount of time my family STILL spends on the trail’ is any indication, The Oregon Trail is more than just successful, it’s a classic!”
MECC can be reached by sending e-mail to mecc@mecc.co. MECC’s web site is located at https://www.mecc.co
