Hello class,

For this discussion I chose to research the Oregon Trail game. I loved playing this game in
school. The adventure and need for self-preservation were nurtured this game. It was one of the
few moments in school when we could play a video game. At the time, I didn’t realize how much
I was learning about life in 1848 and computers (advancements and limitations).
For those who don’t know, The Oregon Trail is a series of educational computer games. The first
game was originally developed in 1971 and produced by the Minnesota Educational Computing
Consortium (MECC) in 1974. The original game was designed to teach 8th grade schoolchildren
about the real life of 19th-century pioneer life on the Oregon Trail. The player assumes the role
of a wagon leader guiding a party of settlers from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon's
Willamette Valley via a covered wagon in 1848. The version I played was in DOS on a
Macintosh computer. After researching this game, I’m surprised and pleased to see it still exists
and is maintained and developed by Gameloft. It’s available for play on Nintendo Switch,[19]
Steam, Microsoft Store. The Oregon Trail is the longest running video game franchise. (Who
knew!) The game has gone through a lot of change and development. I found a video showing
the evolution of the game. The graphics and interaction of the game has successfully changed
with the times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fEWA3WGkZ0
I would update the brand by targeting a new demographic of children ages 2-5. By targeting this
demographic, the game will generate more popularity as this age group tends to repeat and
replay games and videos for longer periods of time. The game would be revamped and
accessible on a tablet or iPad format. The graphics and story line would be simplified and be
appropriate for this age group to understand and play. I would condense the name The Oregon
Trail into an acronym TOT (easier for the kids to say). The tagline would be “It’s T.O.T. time!”
(logos appeal) Endorsement by famous characters such as Blippi, Alphabet Lore, etc would
appeal to the ethos and pathos.