Among my most prized t-shirts, is the “You Have Died of Dysentery” shirt pictured in this post. Consequently, I was very glad to see that Oregon Trail came out number one in Educational Game Research’s list of the top ten most influential educational video games of the 1980s list (via Sara Mead).
This reminds me that I’ve been wanting a better name for my generation than the derivative “Generation Y” or the vacuous “millennials.” My propsal is that we’re Generation Trail. This is little appreciated among members of other cohorts, but as best I can tell everyone of a certain age was forced, at one time or another, to play Oregon Trail in school. I think it’s people born approximately 1976-86 who played the game, though I haven’t undertaken the scientific survey that’s necessary. Many younger kids played O-Trail sequels, but adoption seems to have been less widespread and the game itself less memorable.
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