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Classic Games (Games)

What 'The Oregon Trail' Co-Creator Thinks of Apple's Plans for a Movie (cbsnews.com) 51

It's one of the most successful — and oldest — computer games of all-time. This week CBS News Minnesota interviewed Bill Heinemann, who in 1971 co-created "The Oregon Trail" as an educational video game simulating pioneers travelling west. "It's surprising and gratifying and humbling, in a way, that a little thing that I spent two weeks on has become a worldwide phenomenon," Heinemann said... The game's become known for the many ways players can die, including by dysentery, but Heinemann's favorite was death by snake bite. "It only happened once every several hundred times, and so people could've played it for months and all of a sudden, 'What? I got bit by a snake and died? This has never happened to me before!'" he said.
The game has been the subject of numerous satirical articles by McSweeney's. And long-time Slashdot reader whois_drek points out that a sketch comedy group also based a movie on the videogame in 2023.

So how does the game's co-creator feel about Apple's plans to film a new big-budget movie based on the game? "Surprising to me how popular it's become and how long the interest in it has been around," Heinemann said. "And this is just the next step I guess."

He won't be making any money off the movie. In fact, Heinemann's never seen a dime from the iconic game. He and his two co-creators, Rawitsch and Paul Dillenberger, turned it over to the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium shortly after they invented it. Heinemann says it doesn't bother him. "I didn't do it for money," he said. "I did it for just the love of the game and the love of teaching."

Thanks to Slashdot reader quonset for sharing the news.

What 'The Oregon Trail' Co-Creator Thinks of Apple's Plans for a Movie

Comments Filter:
  • by drnb ( 2434720 ) on Sunday December 01, 2024 @03:51AM (#64982729)
    I always thought of the comedy movie "A Million Ways to Die in the West" as a good unofficial adaptation of the game "Oregon Trail".
    • Believe it or not, it's actually the true story of Annie Oakley with a bunch of slapstick comedy filler about how dangerous it was to be a pioneer.

    • by geekmux ( 1040042 ) on Sunday December 01, 2024 @06:27AM (#64982891)

      I always thought of the comedy movie "A Million Ways to Die in the West" as a good unofficial adaptation of the game "Oregon Trail".

      ”1883” is probably a far better example. The Oregon trail is only comedic from behind a keyboard. The reality of the story is much more harsh. Dysentery still kills over a million people every year. Pretty sure none of them ever thought dying from shitting blood, was funny.

      America hung advertisements in many countries asking for foreigners to come “settle” the West. Oh, the native Indians that will come take (back) their land from you with deadly force? Yeah, the advertisements were ah, light on those ownership semantics. Settlers got to Texas and were being offered guns for sale. To protect against the Indian natives. Not a good sign when the settler responds with “What do I need a gun for? And what’s an ‘Indian’?” That’s how many settlers died. Being ambushed by the original settlers and land owners.

      • I see my parents receiving similar advertisements in the mail today. "Move to the Holy Land - Closer to God, great wifi, plenty of land for the taking".

      • by antdude ( 79039 )

        1883 was rad.

      • Add another shout out for 1883.
        In an extra feature, someone lists what killed people. IIRC, falling off wagon was #1. If that didn't kill, then being run over by wagon did. There's a great montage of settler deaths including being attacked by dogs.
  • The main "Oregon Trail" player will end up buried under a concrete slab.

  • Finally! (Score:4, Funny)

    by fluffernutter ( 1411889 ) on Sunday December 01, 2024 @04:48AM (#64982789)
    Finally I'll know if I should eat the food in the dented rusty can with no label!
  • It was a tough game ! never won.
    • I managed it once by luck on the original on an Apple II. I bought a (I think) the max amount of oxen, a big stack of spare wagon parts and spent most the money on bullets. Regularly hunted more than I could carry back to camp. After dozens of tries just got lucky enough not to die of disease or drown fording a river.

  • by Rosco P. Coltrane ( 209368 ) on Sunday December 01, 2024 @06:26AM (#64982889)

    but Apple sure does.

  • by TJHook3r ( 4699685 ) on Sunday December 01, 2024 @07:35AM (#64982953)
    Which tired choice will appear I wonder? Jack Black or The Rock? Or both? Saying that, Apple have put out the best content this year of all sub services, by far
  • I don't want to see a movie where everyone dies from dysentery.
  • by Bahbus ( 1180627 )

    Apple has never been responsible for a single good TV show or movie, so they'll ruin this just like they ruin everything.

  • You have died of dissing Bill Heinemann.

  • At least half the characters in this movie must die of dysentery.

  • "It's surprising and gratifying and humbling...

    I keep seeing people say that being nominated for an honor is humbling. Nobel prize recipients [nobelprize.org], Academy award winners [elle.com], etc. Many people have obviously forgotten the meaning of the word. [merriam-webster.com]

I'd rather just believe that it's done by little elves running around.

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