Oregon Trail, Number Munchers and A Plethora of Great Games

I would be amazed if any of my friends, who grew up in the USA, do not remember The Oregon Trail. You know, that game that everybody always brags about being able to play in school, acting like they were the only group of people who ever played the game and that their early education was so much better than yours for it. Let me first start out by saying, you are wrong sir/mam. We all played that game. We know what it was like to have a family member die of dysentery, hunt for buffalo and be sad that you could only bring back a fraction of the meat (what can i say, buffalo buffalo, buffalo buffalo buffalo, buffalo buffalo buffalo), and finally reach that rafting scene at the end. You are special, each and everyone of you, but not for the unrealistic idea that you were the only person who was able to play The Oregon Trail.

So what does The Oregon Trial have to do with Minnesota? Was Minnesota some barren wasteland your adventures had to travel through?

The Oregon Trail was created by MECC, also known as the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium/Corporation. That is right, MECC, that source for every reason why we loved computer hour in class, the reason why we all look fondly on the Apple II systems because none of you really used these outside of using it with a MECC program (especially if you were from my school system because I remember hacking around in these from 2nd to 5th grade). Most of you who say, I loved the old Apples or the old Apple IIs or the old Apple IIgs', really meant, I loved MECC. Which must translate to, I loved Minnesota.

There were tons of games, educational software that was surprisingly fun and educational games that were some of the best games I ever played in my life. One of those was Number Munchers. Who doens't like a game where you play some green frog like Muncher who is told to eat only prime numbers as they have to escape from Troggles? Probably somebody who hates math, but still, the concept is awesome.

Or what about creating your own Lemonade stand, learning all about economics, supply and demand, and uncontrollable factors harming/helping a business?

We all had our favorite games (mainly The Oregon Trail for most people I talk to) and the majority of us grow up having extremely fond memories of this period in our childhood, also known as the MECC period (sure I just created that). That is all thanks to the wonderful people here in Minnesota. Minnesotans understand that education is important (unlike some of your States) and finding innovative ways to change education for the better (or just for the most fun) is our calling.

The next time you bring up The Oregon Trail in your nostalgic conversations, remember, you weren't the only one who played it, and that is a beautiful thing, because Minnesota found a way that all of us non native Minnesotans could enjoy one of the best parts of our childhood education.

What kind of old school cheesy pixelated education games did you bliping and beeping city have to offer?

Terracide

I have a hard time deciding how I wish to write about music and bands on this blog. There are tons of bands that are great that are from here. We are quite proud of them. However,  I understand every city/state/country has great bands (well probably not every city. I'm looking at you Nashville (yes I realize Nashville has many great bands including the amazing From Ashes Rise that started there. I just wanted to rile up the famous Mr. Stogner, since he seems to accept my challenge to list good things from his state. Thanks Derek)).

Even though I would like everybody to move to Minnesota over a single band, I understand this will not be a strong selling point, especially to those who don't care for hardcore/punk/thrash/metal.

Allow me to introduce to you Terracide. I love this band and here are the reasons why:
1. The first time we played a show with them, I instantly was amazed (which is sometimes hard for a band to give a great first impression).
2. At the same show, I picked up their new release (at the time) on tape. Yes, they, like all good bands, have released music on audio tape.
3. Their albums are free through Jim's stellar ASS Records where you can download both The Dead and Crusades (my favorite) for those not fortunate enough to have access to the tapes.
4. The albums are theme albums, with continuing characters and stories throughout both albums (so definitely grab the lyrics when you download the songs)
5. They just rock. Enough said.

Like I said, one band isn't enough to make you want to move here, but don't write off Minnesota yet. Like many other aspects of Minnesota (as I have explained in earlier posts about various events like Zombie Pup Crawls and epic TV shows like MST3K), Terracide expresses one thing that I love about Minnesota and the Twin Cities. We create things that are for ourselves and from our hearts. We don't try to appease the rest of the world by creating generic crap. In the alleged words of another Minnesota great:

“When we write a joke, we never ask, ‘Who’s gonna get this?’ We always say, ‘The right people will get this’.” - Joel Hodgson

I think Terracide expresses this and is a great example of this entire area, an area you are missing out on enjoying.

What random unheard of thrashy sci fi hardcore band does your creating everything for the masses city have to offer?