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MinnMax Releases First Game Documentary About The Oregon Trail

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Something cool came out this past week that might interest many retro gamers as MinnMax created a documentary about The Oregon Trail. The game itself is so engrained in gaming culture that to this day people make headstone jokes on Twitch and YouTube whenever they tragically die in a game. It also serves as one of the first educational titles to gain mainstream popularity along with games like Where In World Is Carmen Sandiego? and Math Blaster. You can check out the documentary below along with a description from the crew, but it actually serves two purposes. MinnMax co-founder Ben Hanson starts the video off by explaining that this doc is being used to launch a charity run for the New Vision Foundation. Which is an awesome effort in the same state where The Oregon Trail was first created as an educational game. You can click here if you wish to donate to the cause.

We're not the first to do this joke, but few images suit The Oregon Trail better.
We're not the first to do this joke, but few images suit The Oregon Trail better.

With the first documentary from MinnMax, we travel back to 1971 to tell the surprising story of how a college project from Bill Heinemann, Paul Dillenberger, and Don Rawitsch was donated to the state of Minnesota and its organization MECC and went on to become one of the most celebrated games of all time. A lot of us only know The Oregon Trail gameplay from the Apple II, but its true groundbreaking origins go back so much earlier. Since the documentary is about the power of teaching, programming, and selflessness, we've bundled the documentary with a charity drive for New Vision Foundation. This immigrant-led nonprofit is teaching underprivileged kids in Minnesota how to code to help decrease the racial income disparities in Minnesota.

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Gavin SheehanAbout Gavin Sheehan

Gavin is the current Games Editor for Bleeding Cool. He has been a lifelong geek who can chat with you about comics, television, video games, and even pro wrestling. He can also teach you how to play Star Trek chess, be your Mercy on Overwatch, recommend random cool music, and goes rogue in D&D. He also enjoys hundreds of other geeky things that can't be covered in a single paragraph. Follow @TheGavinSheehan on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Vero, for random pictures and musings.
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